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2nd Zurich Marathon powered by ewz
: Largest Swiss marathon with record winning times
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.
source Zürich Marathon
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