VCM 2025: The youngest winner and records despite the freezing cold!

VCM 2025: The youngest winner and records despite the freezing cold!

The Vienna City Marathon (VCM) recorded a new record of the finisher on April 7, 2025, despite the cold weather conditions. In total, numerous participants took part in this popular event, which gave the organizers and the organizers a lot of reason to be happy. According to Kleine Zeitung , the age segment of the 21 to 35-year-olds played an essential role in the positive development of the marathons.

The youngest winner in the history of VCM, Hatermu Abadi, set a new yardstick with a time of 2:08:28 hours. For women, the proportion of the marathon finishers has also developed pleasantly and exceeded the 25 percent mark for the first time. Betty Chepkemoi led the field with a time of 2:24:14 hours. It is noteworthy that the proportion of women in the half marathon is currently 46 percent, with a tendency towards a 50:50 distribution.

participation and expectations for the future

The managing directors Dominik Konrad and Kathrin Widu see great potential for further increases, especially in the program for Saturday. An earlier start time on Saturday will also be considered to increase the number of participants. The children's runs that take place as part of the marathon could also gain popularity. The organizers set themselves the goal of reaching a total of 50,000 participants, which is considered feasible.

marathon statistics and comparison to Germany

While developments in the Vienna City Marathon make themselves pleasant, a similar trend is evident at the largest marathon events in Germany. According to Welt , the running boom continued here in 2024. The 15 largest marathons recorded a total of 102,181 finisher, which is an increase of 20 percent compared to the previous year. The proportion of women rose to historical 29 percent, with the Berlin Marathon set up a new world record with 54,164 finishers. It should be noted that the proportion of women at VCM in Austria is 22 percent.

The Hamburg Marathon, which takes second place, was able to achieve 11,265 finisher and an increase of 30 percent. The numbers clearly show that more and more women are participating in marathon events, while US marathons such as those in New York or Chicago even reach a proportion of women of almost 45 percent.

Overall, the marathon boom is visible in both Austria and Germany. The support of the population and the musical accompaniment along the route played an important role in the success of these events. These highlights contribute to the fact that the number of participants could continue to increase in the coming years.

The oldest participant this year, Felix Pauli, celebrated his 85th birthday on Sunday and proves that endurance sports are possible at all ages and that many people inspire. On April 19, 2026, new record holders and winners are already expected, which will further increase the anticipation for the next events.

A comprehensive analysis of the marathon events illustrates that the development continues from year to year. In the future, new standards could be set, which motivate the community for further long -term successes. According to HD Sports , the trends in the German marathon run will continue to remain solid, which will grow the sporting ambition from year to year.