The Vienna City Marathon (VCM) is experiencing a running boom like never before. At Austria's biggest active sports event, the three Sunday events - marathon, Wiener Städtische half marathon and Powerade relay marathon - are already fully booked. Although the organisers have increased the capacity for the event on 5 and 6 April 2025, the limit has never been reached so early.
Where does this enthusiasm for running come from?
‘Running is a personal superpower,’ says VCM Managing Director Kathrin Widu about the reasons. ‘We are seeing the biggest growth among 20-30-year-olds and women. New running communities play an important role in this. In general, there is a strong awareness of physical and mental health.'
As the organiser of the Vienna City Marathon, how is the VCM Group preparing for this?
In order to enable many of the running enthusiasts to actually take part, the VCM Group has been working since autumn to increase the capacity of the event while ensuring the best quality of experience for the runners. Growth is particularly feasible over the 42.195 kilometre marathon distance. ‘Our goal is to sustainably shape the running boom and strengthen the marathon competition in order to reach the next level internationally over several years,’ says VCM Managing Director Dominik Konrad.
One thing is certain: Vienna will experience its biggest marathon in the history of the event on 6 April. In the past, the highest VCM registration figure for the 42.195 km distance was 11,138 runners in 2001. This number was already surpassed in 2025.
There will be a total of around 39,000 registrations for VCM Sunday, around 4,000 more than in recent years. An exact figure will only be known once all reserved tickets from companies, charity organisations and travel agencies have been redeemed and waiting list places have been allocated. In addition, there will be several thousand participants in the Saturday events, for some of which registration is still possible.
Mathematics of the marathon start: How all runners get over the course smoothly
The VCM Group is working with crowd science expert Marcel Altenburg from Manchester Metropolitan University to plan the record-breaking event.
His expertise is sought after by the World Marathon Majors as well as the British government. For example, he developed the access system for Queen Elizabeth II's immediate memorial service in Edinburgh in September 2022.
Altenburg calculated the potential for the VCM Group to give more runners the opportunity to participate based on previous runner and timing data in combination with the conditions of the Vienna course.
‘There is still room for growth on the existing marathon course in Vienna thanks to specific adjustments in crowd management. More runners will be able to start than before and the density on the course will still decrease,’ says Altenburg. The closing times for traffic and the overall duration of the event on Sunday will remain unchanged.
‘The start is the decisive point at which we can influence the field of runners. After that, everyone runs their own race, with all the challenges and excitement that goes with a marathon. If we do our job right at the start, then every runner has the best possible conditions on the course and all resources are ideally coordinated.’
Altenburg's analyses are based on a total of 29 million calculations. ‘This crowd science model makes it possible to accurately predict how many runners will be at which place on the course at any given time. This is an extremely helpful tool for the organisation and the involved institutions during preparation and on race day,’ says VCM Head of Organisation Florian Holecek.
Altenburg's calculations have passed the reality check many times over. His model for a previous edition of the New York City Marathon, which he created six months before the event, predicted the actual progression of the event with an accuracy of 99.6 per cent.
Altenburg compares the start of a marathon to a ‘tap that you turn on more or less as required’. Too much water at once would lead to too high a density on the course. If, on the other hand, the runners ‘flow’ over the start in a measured and even manner, everyone feels more comfortable running, even in the narrower sections of the course.
What steps are being taken
In order to create a great experience together with the running community, there will be small but effective changes in several areas of the VCM.
- > Proof of participants' stated running times is mandatory when registering (faster than 3:00 marathon or 1:30 half marathon)
- > Precisely balanced allocation of runners to the different start waves
- > Clear labelling of entrances & routes at the start
- > Direct information to the individual runners about the start organisation
- > The passage width at the start line will be reduced, allowing runners to flow evenly onto the course.
‘We are responding to the wishes of the participants with these points. A survey after the VCM 2024 clearly showed this. We are convinced that we will meet with a lot of goodwill and support,’ says Kathrin Widu. Hobby runners will also be timed with net scoring, i.e. the running time from when they cross the start line.
How you can still take part in the VCM
Runs on Saturday, 5 April
- > Starting places are still available for the Vienna 5K, the children's races The Daily Mile 800 & 1600 and the Coca-Cola Inclusion Run.
- > The new ‘Bat Run’ for the youngest runners aged 3-6, which is organised in cooperation with Johann Strauss 2025 Vienna, is already fully booked.
Runs on Sunday, 6 April
- > Registration for the marathon and Wiener Städtische half marathon is closed. A waiting list has been set up in case reserved starting places are cancelled by companies, charities or travel agencies.
- > Registration for the Powerade Relay Marathon is closed. There is no waiting list.
