Cologne Marathon – Wikipedia

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Annual race in Germany held since 1997

The Cologne Marathon (Köln-Marathon) is an annual marathon held in Cologne, Germany. Since October 1997 the marathon has been held annually in early October, except for 2004, 2005 and 2014 when it was held in late September.

History[edit]

The inaugural race took place on 5 October 1997 as the “Ford Cologne Marathon” (German: Ford Köln-Marathon) with at least 13,000 registered runners, a world record for inaugural marathons at the time.[1][2]

The 2020 in-person edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the option of obtaining a refund (minus an administration fee).[3][4][5]

Since 2013 the course starts at Ottoplatz in Deutz and leads the runners through the city of Cologne and finishes at Komödienstraße beneath the Cologne Cathedral.

The marathon time limit is 6 hours.

Running through a crowd in 2004

Approaching the finish in 2015

Events and categories[edit]

From the beginning there has also been a contest for inline skaters. They start ahead of the runners and try to finish the course in the time limit for skaters, which is 2:30 hours. This competition as well as all others including inline skates were ultimately held in 2013.

Since 1998 there has also been a contest for handcyclists.

In the last years it has been more and more difficult to utilize the starting field because of diverse interests. To countervail, the management of the marathon created new events and contests, which all take place at the same course on the same day.

Here is a list of all competitions:

  • Marathon – 42.195 kilometres (26 miles 385 yards)
  • Half marathon – 21.0975 kilometres (13 miles 192.5 yards)
  • Inline marathon – for skaters
  • Handcyclist marathon
  • Run 63 km (39 mi) – a full marathon plus a half marathon
  • Run&Skate 63 km (39 mi) – first run a half marathon and afterwards skate a complete marathon
  • Run&Skate 84 km (52 mi) – first skate, and then run with the peloton
  • 105 km (65 mi) of Cologne – run 21 km (13 mi) (half marathon), skate 42 km (26 mi), run 42 km (26 mi)
  • School Relay – schools may set up their own relay teams, the handover is at fixed points
  • Cultural Relay – any group of people that is committed to any kind of cultural activity (e.g. carnival groups), may set up relay teams (again with fixed handovers). These teams are often dressed up specially.

Winners[edit]

Key:    Course record (in bold)

Marathon[edit]

Half marathon[edit]

Sabrina Mockenhaupt is a two-time winner of the marathon and four-time winner of the half marathon.

Development of starting field[edit]

  Records

Date finished fraction
Total Men Women Men Women
5 October 1997 11,221 9,571 1,650 85% 15%
11 October 1998 8,572 7,408 1,164 86% 14%
3 October 1999 10,896 9,217 1,679 85% 15%
1 October 2000 12,720 10,799 1,921 85% 15%
7 October 2001 13,056 10,974 2,082 84% 16%
6 October 2002 14,224 11,775 2,449 83% 17%
5 October 2003 13,867 11,452 2,415 83% 17%
12 September 2004 12,960 10,646 2,314 82% 18%
11 September 2005 10,856 8,859 2,006 82% 18%
8 October 2006 10,469 8,412 2,057 80% 20%
7 October 2007 9,680 7,824 1,866 81% 19%
5 October 2008 7,553 6,131 1,422 81% 19%
4 October 2009 7,847 6,370 1,477 81% 19%
3 October 2010 5,468 4,414 1,054 81% 19%
2 October 2011 5,469 4,382 1,087 80% 20%
14 October 2012 4,807 3,953 855 82% 18%
13 October 2013 5,132 4,116 1,016 80% 20%

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Media related to Köln Marathon at Wikimedia Commons