Athletics: Largest Swiss marathon with record winning times

2nd Zurich Marathon powered by ewz

The second Zurich marathon which drew 7476 registrations and 6038 running participants was the largest marathon event in Switzerland, and thanks to Viktor Röthlin's sensational Swiss record it produced the fastest marathon running time recorded in Switzerland. Röthlin, who came in 14th at the Marathon world championships in Paris, ran the Zurich marathon in 2:09.56 and broke the Swiss marathon record (previously 2:10.54) by almost a minute. Last year's winner Eticha Tesfaye crossed the finish little more than four minutes later and took second place. The winner in the women's category was Annemette Jensen from Denmark who broke her personal record with a running time of 2:30.07. A total of 5761 runners finished the marathon within the allowable maximum time of 5 hours.

Röthlin achieved his goal to run a kilometer in 3.04 minutes until about three quarters through the race. He crossed the half marathon line at 64:23. Up until the three quarters mark he even increased his speed and ran 10.5 kilometers in 32:07 minutes. He was able to use his time reserves while dealing with some minor difficulties on the last 10.5 km and managed to cross the finish line in record time. Claudia Oberlin, the prospect to be the Swiss winner in the women's category, got off to a promising start and was running well until the last four kilometers. The young Swiss athlete's goal was to reach the time limit required for the Olympic Games (2:33.30). However, despite a personal pace setter she failed to reach that goal. She lost approximately 10 seconds on each of the last few kilometers. The ambitious runner nevertheless broke her own record with a finishing time of 2:34.09.

Fun-fair atmosphere in Zurich
Not only the runners but also the spectators took advantage of the ideal weather conditions (dry, 12-13 degrees Celsius) and flocked to Zurich in large numbers. Tens of thousands of spectators cheered on the runners in downtown Zurich and along Lake Zurich between Zollikon and Meilen. Several thousands more gathered at the finish area around noon to enjoy the special marathon atmosphere.

No major problems
Luckily, very few participants needed medical treatment or first aid. Only one person was taken to the hospital after suffering from a circulatory collapse. A few runners suffered minor injuries during the race, and 10-15 athletes received IV treatment in the finish area. It seems that the time limit of 5 hours kept many ill-prepared runners from entering the race.

Interested runners can now register online for the third Zürich Marathon, which will be held on April 3, 2005, at www.zurichmarathon.ch.