The Munich Marathon (german: München Marathon) (also known as Generali Munich Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon

road running Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road. This differs from track and field on a regular track and cross country running over natural terrain. These events are usually classified as long-distance ...

event hosted by the city of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, usually in October, since 1983. The event features a full marathon () as well as a

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

and

10K run 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body fo ...

History

Following the marathon races at the

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

, a number of shorter running events were held in the city every year. In 1983, an annual marathon was established 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 Coubertinplatz in Olympic Park Munich and finishing the last 300 Meters to the finish line in Olympic Stadium.Gasparovic, Juraj & Loonstra, Klaas (2011-10-10)
Münich Median Marathon
Association of Road Racing Statisticians. Retrieved on 2011-10-28. 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. 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). In 2000, the race was relaunched 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 2001.2. medien.marathon.münchen: Ergebnisse
Championchip. Retrieved on 2011-10-28. The race established itself among Germany's largest footraces and had a record high of 9041 marathon finishers in 2004. The 2006 event was the official German Marathon Championship race and Matthias Körner and Carmen Siewert were declared the men's and women's champions, respectively. The event hosted the national marathon championship again in 2012, 2013, and 2014. The 2020 in-person edition of the race was cancelled due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

Course

The marathon starts in in

Olympiapark The Olympiapark (English: Olympic Park) in Munich, Germany, is an Olympic Park which was constructed for the 1972 Summer Olympics. Located in the Oberwiesenfeld neighborhood of Munich, the Park continues to serve as a venue for cultural, social, ...

, and ends in the nearby

Olympiastadion Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to: * Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'') * Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...

(Olympic Stadium).https://web.archive.org/web/20201209110511if_/https://www.generalimuenchenmarathon.de/fileadmin/user_upload/2019/run_gmm19_plan_olympiagelaende_v2_181119.pdf The course first heads south out of Olympiapark and then east along Elisabethstraße and Franz-Joseph-Straße until it intersects

Leopoldstraße Leopoldstraße is a street in the Munich districts Maxvorstadt, Schwabing and Milbertshofen. It is a major boulevard, and the main street of the Schwabing district. It is a continuation of Ludwigstraße, the boulevard of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, n ...

at Giselastraße station. Runners then head south and west to hit Königsplatz and circle before heading back north to Giselastraße station. The marathon then heads northeast to enter

Englischer Garten The ''Englischer Garten'' (, ''English Garden'') is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Bavaria, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Count ...

and nearly reaches its northern end before turning back southwest to exit the park near the Chinese Tower around the race's halfway point. After crossing the Isar river via the , runners head northeast along Oberföhringer Straße and then south along Cosimastraße, eventually crossing the train tracks at Berg am Laim Station. The course then heads west to Altstadt via the , and then heads north on Leopoldstraße back to Giselastraße station. The marathon then returns to Olympiapark via Franz-Joseph-Straße and Elisabethstraße, and finishes inside Olympiastadion.https://web.archive.org/web/20201209102903if_/https://www.generalimuenchenmarathon.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Streckenplaene_2019/run_gmm19_plan_strecke_marathon_rz_181115.pdf

Winners

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). Key: : Course record (in bold) : National championship race

Marathon

Half Marathon

10K

Notes

References

;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 websiteOfficial times website
{{Marathons in Germany Marathons in Germany Recurring sporting events established in 1983 Sports competitions in Munich 1983 establishments in West Germany Annual sporting events in Germany Autumn events in Germany