TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca celebrates fast and furious fifth anniversary – Spanish beat course record / TUI donates 13.615 euros to UNICEF

Palma de Mallorca, 19 October 2008. Anniversary atmosphere on and along the route – once again in this fifth year thousands of runners and spectators enthused by the TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca. It is quite clear that the “most beautiful island marathon in the world” has now gained a firm place in the European marathon scene.

The number of runners also confirms this: 6.310. Runners from 50 countries took part, of which 1.223 ran the marathon and 2.463 the half marathon. Some 1.124 runners took to the start of the 10km run. Compared to the previous year the organiser registered an increase of 20 percent in the number of participants during the weekend.

At temperatures of around 26 degrees the runners enjoyed the panoramic route winding through the old town, around the harbour and along the Playa de Palma. With the Cathedral La Seu as a backdrop, Dr Michael Frenzel, chief executive of TUI AG, fired the starter’s gun. By moving the start and finish area this year to the wonderful Parc de la Mar the event gained a lot of atmosphere. “The international mood and feeling of the event is attracting more and more runners from all over the world. Indeed this development confirms that Mallorca as well as TUI are definitely on the right track,“ said Dr Michael Frenzel.

Marathon winner from Spain improves course record
Miguel Capó Soller Spain left all the other runners behind: He set the winning time coming in at 2:28:28 and improved the course record for the TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca by three minutes. In second place was the US-American Brian Godsey, finishing in 2:37:15. Third was Niklas Kroehn from Austria (2:43:00).

In the women’s section Svenja Gayk from Germany was the first over the line in a time of 3:04:05. Following hard on her heels in second and third place were the German Monika Turra (3:15:00) and Susan Gawley from Great Britain (3:18:25).  

The fastest half marathon runner finishing in 1:09:39 was Blazej Brzeziski from Poland, who at the same time beat the course record. Second place was taken by the Dutch Michael Woerden, he completed the course in a time of 1:14:05. In third place was Marc André timed at 1:14:16. First in the women’s race was Tracey Morris from Great Britain in a time of 1:18:00. She beat the course record as well. Crossing the finishing line behind her were Stefanie Wiesmair (1:24:21) from Germany and mountainbike world champion Marga Fullana (1:24:46) from Spain.

Celebrity runners: the “Battle of the giants“
Pop singer Jürgen Drews and Achim Achilles, author of the popular column on running in the Spiegel Online, afforded an exciting dual over the half marathon distance. In the end they crossed the finish line together in a time of 2:31:49. As part of the marathon supporting programme Achim Achilles read from his book “Achilles’ Verse“ and “Achilles’ Laufberater“ and entertained the audience with anecdotes from his life as Germany’s most well known amateur runner.

13.615 Euro for UNICEF
1.500 children – more than twice as many as last year – revealed their sporting abilities in the second Kids’ Run. “Children of the North run for children of the South“, was the motto for up-and-coming athletes between four and twelve year olds. On the day before the main event they ran a circular course on the Paseo Antonio Maura. Besides running for the fun of it, there was a good cause behind it. For every child that took part TUI donated five euros to the UNICEF programme for education and sport.

This good cause also applied to the starters of the most prestigious discipline – the marathon; TUI donated for each runner who completed the 42.195km course likewise five euros to the United Nations Children’s Fund. The total donations amounted to 13.615 euros.

Here’s to the next time – running event goes into its sixth year
Michael Lambertz, head of TUI AG Group Marketing and responsible for the TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca, took the opportunity already at this early stage to announce the continuation of this running event: “For next year we are expecting even more runners to come. And we will continue to fill TUI guests and the inhabitants of the island with enthusiasm.“ The 6th International TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca will take place on 18 October 2009.

For more information go to www.tui-group.com.