Image: REUTERS
After the turbulent and tragic new edition with 18,000 participants, the makers of the Vienna City Marathon are looking positively towards the next event, which is already scheduled in seven months. “We are back on stage, now we can look to the future with the great learning process that we have gone through,” emphasized VCM organizer Wolfgang Konrad on Monday.
The long-time head of the event was proud that the marathon had been pulled through under difficult corona conditions and some prophecies of doom. “We wanted to send a signal to the outside world, and we succeeded.” The processing, including previous Covid test evidence of all participants, was an enormous challenge. “It can't get any worse than now. But we have proven that we can,” said Konrad, who emphasized the signal effect of his event as the first major marathon in Europe since the beginning of the pandemic.
Other major events, but also small and medium-sized ones, would be grateful for the example given that events can be held despite adverse circumstances. The runners have also recognized that many times. “We offered them a platform that they succeeded, that makes them proud.”
Of course, Konrad was not happy with the disqualification of the original winner because of illegal footwear, and of course the death of a hobby half marathon runner was particularly regrettable. “At the end of the day we would have earned different headlines. But it doesn't change the general statement that it was the most important marathon since 1984, I'll stick with it.”
Thanks to the experience gained, one is prepared for the next edition on April 24, 2022. “I don't panic,” emphasized Konrad. But he must hope for an increase in the number of participants, which has fallen from the pre-pandemic level of over 40,000 registrations to 26,000. Because the financial situation is not easy. “It wasn't a business this year. It was a challenge, we had less budget. More participants – that has to happen,” said Konrad. The former athlete is happy that his sponsors stayed on board and some of them have already extended their contracts.
It was also important for Konrad and his team to point out that the Saturday competitions with the inclusion run, children's runs and the 10 km race had been retained and that they wanted to continue doing so. “We could have made it easier for ourselves and say, let's leave it on Saturday. But no, we want to offer our participants something and show them that nothing has changed.”
Organizational manager Gerhard Wehr pointed out that in addition to the usual work, the extensive Corona concept also had to be implemented this time. “The bottom line was the attempt to launch a controlled offensive towards normalcy. It was a successful start-up of the systems that had been slumbering for two and a half years.” Not only all participants, but also over 3,000 accredited OC and external employees had to show corona tests.
