The Neujahrsmarathon Zürich (New Year's Marathon Zurich) is a marathon race founded in 2005 that is held annually on January 1.
The start takes place at midnight, exactly at the beginning of the
New Year. The start and finish are located in
Schlieren
Schlieren ( ; , ) are optical inhomogeneities in transparent media that are not necessarily visible to the human eye. Schlieren physics developed out of the need to produce high-quality lenses devoid of such inhomogeneities. These inhomogeneit ...
near
Zurich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
in Switzerland. The track consists of four laps along the river
Limmat
The Limmat is a river in Switzerland. The river commences at the outfall of Lake Zurich, in the southern part of the city of Zurich. From Zurich it flows in a northwesterly direction, continuing a further 35 km until it reaches the river A ...
. Besides the marathon, there are also 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 shortcu ...
(two laps), a quarter marathon (one 11K lap) as well as a marathon relay. The start of the marathon and the finish area of all races are located inside a sports hall. The participants run through the sports hall after each lap. The race is subject to a time limit of 5 hours, which may be extended in case of bad conditions (snow, ice).
Since 2014 there is also a kids marathon on a 750 meters track, which starts at 10 p.m. on 31 December. This race is free of charge for all participants.
International Membership
All courses of the Neujahrsmarathon Zürich are officially measured according to the rules of
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...
(International Association of Athletics Federations). It is one of only seven Swiss road races sanctioned by the AIMS (
Association of International Marathons and Distance Races
The Association of International Marathons and Distance Races, also known as AIMS, is an association of the organisers of long-distance road running races. It was founded in 1982 at a meeting in London of marathon race directors. Its membership wa ...
), so the times are accepted officially by IAAF. The other Swiss AIMS events are the Zürich Marathon, the
Zermatt marathon, the Swiss Alpine Marathon, the
Jungfrau Marathon
The Jungfrau Marathon is one of the best known mountain marathons in the world, in full view of the famous Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau mountains in the Bernese Oberland area of the Swiss Alps.
The first Jungfrau Marathon was held in 1993. ...
, the
Swiss City Marathon and the
Lausanne Marathon. Thanks to its starting time at the very first second of the year, the Neujahrsmarathon Zurich is the first AIMS running event of the year, and hence the performances of the winners automatically qualify as first official world record times of the year. This possibility to run an official record time of the year for the home country attracts runners from about 50 different countries from all continents.
Organizer
The Neujahrsmarathon Zürich is organized by the ''Verein Neujahrsmarathon Zürich'', a non-profit association founded in 2004. In the association's standing rules the intended purpose is described as: ''The association aims to foster and promote the sport of running. In particular, the association organizes each New Year's Eve the Neujahrsmarathon Zürich. The association does not pursue commercial purposes and does not seek profit.''
The latter is reflected directly in the entry fee of the Neujahrsmarathon Zürich. Despite its status as recognized by IAAF, the Neujahrsmarathon Zürich is one of the least expensive marathons in Switzerland.
Winners
Marathon
Half marathon
(2013: 18.052 kilometer run)
10 kilometer run
*2013: 12.016 kilometer run
*2010 to 2012: quarter marathon (10.549 km)
*2006: 12.234 kilometer run
Other distances
Participation
All distances
Marathon
Half marathon
10 kilometer run
(2013: 12.016 kilometer run)
(2010-2012, 2015-2020: quarter marathon (10.549 km))
(2006: 12.234 kilometer run)
5.980 kilometer run
4.2195 kilometer run
Fastest times
Marathon
Half marathon
10 kilometer run
See also
*
List of marathon races in Europe
External links
Official website in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neujahrsmarathon Zurich
Marathons in Switzerland
Half marathons
New Year celebrations
Sports competitions in Zurich
Recurring sporting events established in 2005
2005 establishments in Switzerland
Annual events in Switzerland
Winter in Switzerland