Archive photo of Muhammad Reda Al-Arabi
The Swiss City Marathon has nearly 11,000 participants in the marathon, half marathon and 10K. Weather conditions are good in Switzerland and records are being broken on shorter distance courses. Tickets for the sporting event were sold out at the beginning of October.
The half marathon has the highest number of registrations. The World Military Championships are also held at this distance in Lucerne. Moroccan Mohamed Reda Elarabi wins with a time of 1.01.29 hours, a course record. There is also a new top time for women: Viola Gepchumba Kilonzo (Bahrain) with a time of 1.07.54 hours. Among the men, Englishman Jack Wood won the marathon with a time of 2:25:14. He is famous as a mountain runner and lives in St. Gallen. Christine Collard of France wins the women’s race with a time of 2:43:09.
Young German woman Kira Weiss has a big lead in the 10 km distance. Winning in 32.31 minutes, the 19-year-old immediately took first place after training at altitude in St Moritz. She remained just seven seconds above German junior Konstanze Klosterhalfen’s record. In Europe she is the fastest athlete in her age group this year. Defending champion Ali Abdi Salam (21) wins again with a time of 30.22. There are two course records for the 10km. The event will run on October 27, 2024 next year.
