Vienna, Austria · April
Pacing the Vienna City Marathon
Flat, shared with the half marathon
Flat, along the Danube and through the centre of the city. The half marathon runs the same roads until the courses split, and that shared start is the defining pacing problem of the race.
Official site: dates and entry
Dates, ballots and entry rules change every year and are not listed here. Check the official site.
How to pace it
The elevation is not the story here. The shared course is, and it catches out more runners at Vienna than any hill does elsewhere.
For most of the first half you are running among people racing a distance half as long as yours, and pacing themselves accordingly. The effect is subtle and dangerous: the pace around you feels social and sustainable, because for everyone else it genuinely is sustainable, over 21 km. You are being set a pace by a field that is going to stop when you are halfway.
When the courses split the field thins dramatically and the noise drops with it. Runners who let the half marathon field dictate their first half arrive at the split already in deficit, and now have to run the hard part alone and quiet. It is a brutal combination.
The answer is unglamorous: run your own numbers from the first kilometre, let people go, and expect to be passing a lot of them later.
Worth knowing
- Half marathon runners around you are racing a different event. Their pace is not your pace.
- The field and the atmosphere thin noticeably after the courses separate. Be ready for it mentally.
- The Danube stretches are exposed to wind.
What the common targets ask for
| Finish | Per km | Per mile |
|---|---|---|
| 3:00:00 | 4:16 | 6:52 |
| 3:30:00 | 4:59 | 8:01 |
| 4:00:00 | 5:41 | 9:09 |
| 4:30:00 | 6:24 | 10:18 |