Munich Marathon

Runners at the start of the mass race in 2005

The Munich Marathon (German: München Marathon) is an annual marathon road running event which takes place in October in the city of Munich, Germany. It also features shorter half marathon and 10 km events.

Following the marathon races at the 1972 Munich Olympics, a number of shorter running events were held in the city every year. An annual marathon was established in 1983 by Michael Schultz-Tholen's company (FVS) and was later jointly organised with the Munich Road Runners Club. The marathon followed the same course as the 1972 Olympic race, beginning in the Olympic Stadium and finishing nearby.^[1] The competition featured nearly 2000 finishers at its inaugural event and this quickly grew, reaching to over 6500 by the late 1980s. As well as the mass race, it attracted high level international competitors in elite races. Participation had a sudden decline after 1990 – going from 6340 finishers that year to 3360 six years later.^[2] This change resulted in the eventual bankruptcy of the parent company and its president Schultz-Tholen (who was a polo specialist with limited prior experience in the sector).

The race was relaunched in 2000 on a course outside the inner city, but its popularity returned only when the competition returned to the city streets and the Olympic stadium. Over five thousand people finished the race in 2001.^[3] The race established itself among Germany's largest footraces and had a record high of 9041 marathon finishers in 2004. The 2006 event featured was the official German Marathon Championship race and Matthias Körner and Carmen Siewert were declared the men's and women's champions, respectively.^[1]

The course records over the entire history of the city's marathons are held by Michael Kite of Kenya (2:09:46 hours in 2000) and Hungary's Karolina Szabó (2:33:09 hours in 1991).^[1]

Past winners

Amateur runners mid-race in 2005

Fun runners reaching the finish at the Olympic Stadium in 2004

The two-time women's champion Bernadette Pichlmaier en route to her 2011 win

Key:       Course record       Country's championship race

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (h:m:s)	Women's winner	Time (h:m:s)
1st	1983	Kjell-Erik Ståhl (SWE)	2:13:33	Christa Vahlensieck (GER)	2:33:45
2nd	1984	Karel Lismont (BEL)	2:12:50	Christa Vahlensieck (GER)	2:38:50
3rd	1985	Marjan Krempl (SCG)	2:19:30	Olivia Grüner (GER)	2:45:52
4th	1986	Istvan Kerekjarto (HUN)	2:17:46	Olivia Grüner (GER)	2:38:51
5th	1987	Ahmet Altun (TUR)	2:13:37	Angelika Dunke (GER)	2:40:59
6th	1988	Ernest Tjela (LES)	2:12:55	Janeth Mayal (BRA)	2:42:34
7th	1989	Herbert Steffny (GER)	2:11:30	Janeth Mayal (BRA)	2:37:04
8th	1990	Steffen Dittmann (GER)	2:13:47	Charlotte Teske (GER)	2:33:12
9th	1991	Joao Alves de Souza (BRA)	2:15:34	Karolina Szabó (HUN)	2:33:09
10th	1992	Ivan Uvizl (CZE)	2:14:28	Birgit Lennartz (GER)	2:39:17
11th	1993	Gidamis Shahanga (TAN)	2:14:28	Fatima Neves (POR)	2:39:34
12th	1994	Gidamis Shahanga (TAN)	2:17:27	Svetlana Kazatkina (RUS)	2:53:45
13th	1995	Zoltan Holba (HUN)	2:18:42	Karin Steiger (GER)	2:47:43
14th	1996	Lars Andervang (SWE)	2:19:11	Maria Bak (GER)	2:41:56
Not held from 1997 to 2000
15th	2000	Michael Kite (KEN)	2:09:46	Elżbieta Jarosz (POL)	2:37:34
16th	2001	Andriy Naumov (UKR)	2:13:57	Valentina Delion (MDA)	2:43:41
17th	2002	Jonathan Wyatt (NZL)	2:23:19	Silke Fersch (GER)	2:46:18
18th	2003	Gemechu Roba (ETH)	2:19:26	Silke Fersch (GER)	2:44:59
19th	2004	Reinhard Harrasser (ITA)	2:21:21	Christine Lelan (FRA)	2:46:18
20th	2005	Herman Achmüller (ITA)	2:24:28	Cornelia Firsching (GER)	2:54:03
21st	2006	Matthias Körner (GER)	2:21:55	Carmen Siewert (GER)	2:47:22
22nd	2007	Falk Cierpinski (GER)	2:25:26	Cornelia Firsching (GER)	2:56:33
23rd	2008	Steffen Justus (GER)	2:21:38	Melanie Hohenester (GER)	2:49:20
24th	2009	Maksim Saliy (UKR)	2:28:13	Luzia Schmid (GER)	2:53:16
25th	2010	Andriy Naumov (UKR)	2:18:23	Bernadette Pichlmaier (GER)	2:35:28
26th	2011	Richard Friedrich (GER)	2:19:27	Bernadette Pichlmaier (GER)	2:38:02

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Gasparovic, Juraj & Loonstra, Klaas (2011-10-10). Münich Median Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2011-10-28.
2. ^ Lennartz, Karl (2007). Marathonlauf. Chapter 2: Ost und West und gesamtdeutsch. (German). ISBN 978-3-9811512-0-6
3. ^ 2. medien.marathon.münchen: Ergebnisse. Championchip. Retrieved on 2011-10-28.

List of winners

• Gasparovic, Juraj & Loonstra, Klaas (2011-10-10). Münich Median Marathon. Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2011-10-28.

External links

• Official website