Zurich Marathon

The Neujahrsmarathon Zürich (New Year's Marathon Zurich) is a marathon race held on January 1 each year, since 2005. The start takes place at midnight, exactly at the beginning of the New Year. Start and finish are located in Schlieren near Zurich in Switzerland. The track consists of four laps along the river Limmat. Besides the marathon, there are also a half marathon (two laps), a quarter marathon (one lap) as well as a marathon relay. The start of the marathon and the finish area of all races are located inside a sports hall. The participants run through the sports hall after each lap. The race is subject to a time limit of 5 hours, being extended in case of bad conditions (snow, ice).

Since 2014 there is also a kids marathon on a 750 meters track, which is started at 9 p.m. on 31 December. This race is free of charge for all participants.

All courses of the Neujahrsmarathon Zürich are officially measured according to the rules of IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations). As one of only seven Swiss road races it is part of the AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races), which implies that the times run are accepted officially by IAAF. The other Swiss AIMS events are the Zürich Marathon, the Zermatt-Marathon, the Swiss Alpine Marathon, the Jungfrau-Marathon, the Swiss City Marathon and the Lausanne Marathon. Thanks to its starting time at the very first second of the year, the Neujahrsmarathon Zurich is the first AIMS running event of the year, and hence the performances of the winners automatically qualify as first official world record times of the year. This possibility to run an official record time of the year for the home country attracts runners from about 50 different countries from all continents.

The Neujahrsmarathon Zürich is organized by the Verein Neujahrsmarathon Zürich, a non-profit association founded in 2004. In the association's standing rules the intended purpose is described as: The association aims to foster and promote the sport of running. In particular, the association organizes each New Year's Eve the Neujahrsmarathon Zürich. The association does not pursue commercial purposes and does not seek profit.

The latter is reflected directly in the entry fee of the Neujahrsmarathon Zürich. Despite its status as recognized by IAAF, the Neujahrsmarathon Zürich is one of the least expensive marathons in Switzerland.

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Wikipedia