On Wednesday, 19 October 2005, the 16th
Vienna-Budapest Super-marathon
was flagged off at 9:00 am in the Ernst-Happel-Stadium at Vienna's Prater. The United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna is promoting this event as a landmark of the 2005 International Year of Sport and Physical Education and of the 60th anniversary of the United Nations. The two countries covered by the route of the Super-marathon, Austria and Hungary, are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of their membership of the United Nations this year. With the theme "Run without borders!", this event helps to underline United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement: "Sport is a universal language that can bring people together, no matter what their origin, background, religious beliefs or economic status."
At the start of this year's Super-marathon over a total distance of 352 km were 140 teams of 5 runners; 42 individual runners; 100 cyclists and 10 inline-skaters from African, Asian and European countries. The atmosphere was very lively as athletes headed towards their first stop in Sopron (Hungary). After flagging off the race together with two-times Olympic marathon winner Waldemar Czierpinski of Germany, Christian Strohmann, deputy to the director of UNIS Vienna, was asked for statements by various media e.g. AFP, DPA, Duna-TV and the Hungarian Sport channel 8.
The aim of the competition - which is to run over a course of five days, from Vienna to Budapest, from 19 to 23 October - is to strengthen international collaboration, with a particular focus on the good relations between Austria and Hungary. The idea is to further promote the friendship of the two countries through sharing cross-border ideas by the means of sport. One objective of the run is also to promote a healthy lifestyle through sports. By providing racing possibilities for long-distance runners of all ages, and by enabling the participants to explore both Austria and Hungary, the Super-marathon is not a mere race, but a sports festival.
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