Vice world champion Hermann Achmüller and Edeltraud Thaler are the winners of the 2nd Brixen Dolomiten Marathon. The thermometer showed -0.2°C when Achmüller reached the finish line after 3:35:40; with this time he bet his last year’s result with one and a half minutes. Edeltraud Thaler won the women’s race with 4:09:59. 436 Athletes of 14 nations participated on the 42.195 km long challenge 2340 m altitude difference).
Since last year, Switzerland, the mekka of mountain marathons has a serious competitor: in the Unesco-World Heritage Site of the Dolomites, South Tyrol, the second Brixen Dolomiten Marathon featured a beautiful landscape and a very demanding marathon with a running time of over 30 minutes more than the Jungfrau-Marathon. Starting in the town of Brixen/Bressanone, the marathon finishes on 2450 m sea level.
The thermometer showed freezing -0.2°C when Hermann Achmüller reached the finish line. However, the vice world champion from 2007 in mountain marathon did not care much about this after his victory of one of the world’s most demanding marathon. “It is something special be first in such a marathon. This year I planned the run better and so I coped quite well in the last rise.” Between km 33 and 39 Achmüller had most problems: he even had to stop for a few seconds due to a feeling of dizziness. However, his victory was never in danger. Already in the first quarter part of the track, Achmüller was first; his only real opponent was the time. Indeed he was faster than last year for just under one and a half minutes. Second was Michael Fischer who reached the finish line four minutes later. Alois Niederkofler finished third and was already nine minutes behind.
Edeltraud Thaler is a mountain running specialist. Usually, she runs 10 km and a altitude difference of 1000m. Today, the South Tyrolean showed that she is also able to run twice as much in altitude difference. Her winning time of 4:09:59 bet Irene Senfter’s victory of last year of nearly half an hour. The Second Gertraud Höllrigl was already 13 minutes behind. The nation of the third is remarkable: Judit Kinney is from Saudi Arabia.
At the Brixen Dolomiten marathon, a relay competiton with four runners each took place. Alexander Rabensteiner, Manfred Kritzinger, Matthias Niedermair and Simon Pertinger were the fastest. With a time of 3:33:58 they were the only relay faster than Hermann Achmüller. 436 runners from 14 nations participated on the second edition of the Dolomiten Marathon. OC-president Claudio Zorzi’s conclusion: “We doubled the number of participants and with 14 nations we are becoming more international. I think we are on the right track. Our plan is to position this run somewhere in the front of Europe’s mountain runs. We score with the panorama of the Dolomites and the difference of town and mountain”.
The results:
Men:
1. Hermann Achmüller (Italy) 3:35:40
2. Michael Fischer (Italy) 3:39:25
3. Alois Niederkofler (Italy) 3:44:54
4. Alfred Mair (Italy) 3:45:19
5. Günther Mair (Italy) 3:48:51
Women:
1. Edeltraud Thaler (Italy) 4:09:59
2. Gertraud Höllrigl (Italy) 4:22:45
3. Judit Kinney (Saudi Arabia) 4:32:52
4. Katherine Bray (Italy) 4:53:39
5. Zala Zdouc (Austria) 4:54:14
Relays:
1. SG Eisacktal/Italy (Alexander Rabensteiner, Manfred Kritzinger, Matthias Niedermair, Simon Pertinger) 3:33:58
2. Pseirer Team/Italy (Martin Holzeisen, Thomas Pfitscher, Alexander Schweigl, Peter Pfitscher) 3:40:31
3. Hotel Cendevaves/Italy (Christian Stuffer, Birgit Klammer, Georg Demetz, Daniel Ploner) 3:41:57