The joy was written all over Jonas Teufel’s face. The nine-year-old was still a bit out of breath after his phenomenal victory in his age group at the ÖGK junior marathon on the grounds of the Lissfeld sports park on Saturday. “I didn’t do any special training. I’m happy that I’ve won now,” said the man from Linz during the winner’s interview with the OÖN, which presented the marathon again this year.
More than 1100 children took part in the running event on the day before the 20th Oberbank Linz-Donau Marathon. Parents, grandparents, siblings and friends cheered them on from the side of the track. As always, the focus was on the joy of movement – although some young runners were naturally ambitious. “I’m there with a friend who will definitely make it into the top five. I want that too,” said ten-year-old Leon Obermüller from Linz shortly before his run.
You can see all the pictures from the junior marathon here:
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Accompanied safely to the destination
The individual runs were graded according to age group and gender – the youngest children from the 2019 group were only three years old. Because the hustle and bustle on the race track can be quite impressive, the younger generation had “running buddies” again this year.
One of them was Nina Friedl from the St. Georgen volleyball club, which supports the Linz marathon team. “My job is to accompany the children to the starting area. On the run, it’s all about encouraging them and giving them the strength to make it to the finish,” said the 26-year-old.
Stefanie Klausberger came with her entire family – as in previous years. “It is important to me that the children have fun with the movement. They absolutely want to be there, I want to support that,” says the mother.
Her daughter Elena was looking forward to one thing in particular: “I think it’s really cool that I get a medal. And maybe I’ll even make it into the top three and get a trophy,” says the 10-year-old. They are then displayed in the bedroom. Elena’s brother Lukas has already completed his run and is very satisfied with his performance. “I didn’t have to train,” says the six-year-old, proudly holding up his medal.
Long preparation time
With great seriousness it is already with the over ten year olds. Niklas Luger from Altschwendt is a member of the Igla Longlife sports union and took part in several youth marathons in the spring. His placement on Saturday in Linz proved that the 14-year-old was doing well in training: After finishing second in the youth marathon last year, he won this year over a distance of 2.1 kilometers.
“I am very happy with the way I divided the run. I was second three quarters of the way, then I overtook in the final sprint,” he said. As a running veteran, he has two showcases especially for his trophies, but he faces a space problem: “Both are full, now I have to see where the new trophy goes.”
Incidentally, there was also a success for the Oberösterreichische Nachrichten: Vitus Mostdipf emerged as the winner of the run of the mascots of the marathon sponsors, which has meanwhile become a tradition.
Source: Nachrichten
