Marathon: voestalpine in Linz on board as a strong partner

With up to 20,000 participants and around 100,000 spectators along the route, the Linz Danube Marathon is an annual fixture in the Upper Austrian sports calendar. This year, voestalpine will once again support the 22nd edition of the running event on April 7th as a strong partner and provide the winners’ trophies. In addition, numerous voestalpine employees will lace up their running shoes themselves.

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With its involvement in the Linz Donau Marathon, the international steel and technology group based in the Upper Austrian capital is once again underlining its connection to the region. As an important leading company and employer in Upper Austria, voestalpine employs over 11,000 people at its headquarters and the group’s largest single location in Linz alone.

In addition to Donawitz, the location is also the focus when it comes to the transformation to green steel production. With “greentec steel”, voestalpine has initiated Austria’s largest climate protection program. The group wants to produce carbon-neutral steel by 2050 – also a marathon. The first intermediate stage will be reached when, from 2027, emissions can be reduced by up to 30 percent by replacing one blast furnace at each of the Linz and Donawitz locations with an electric arc furnace powered by green electricity.

The group’s largest training center is also located in Linz, where around 400 young specialists are currently being trained. It has now become a tradition for the exclusive trophies for the various Linz Marathon competitions to be made by voestalpine apprentices in the modern training workshop.

“With the Linz Marathon, we are supporting a top event that is known beyond the country’s borders and stands for the joy of running and top performance. I am also particularly pleased that numerous voestalpine employees will be at the start again this year,” says Herbert Eibensteiner, CEO of voestalpine AG. Special goodie bags, T-shirts and a quota of free starts for relays provide additional motivation. At the same time, numerous kilometers can be collected for the “voestalpine cares run” during the marathon competitions. Following last year’s great success, the group-wide exercise initiative will enter its second edition in March. Until the end of May, all voestalpine employees can use an app to collect digital points – so-called “cares” – while running, walking, hiking, wheelchair riding and handbiking, which the steel and technology group converts into donations for charitable purposes. Last year, 700,000 euros were handed over to aid organizations.