The 17th SwissCityMarathon - Lucerne on Sunday, 27 October 2024 offered a running festival in glorious autumn weather and with record participation. The preliminary results are positive across the board. From a sporting perspective, the equalised course record in the marathon and the new course record in the CityRun 10KM for men stand out. Next year, the marathon route will lead all the way to Alpnachstad, making it a one-lap course.
With 13,122 registered runners, this year's SwissCityMarathon was sold out well in advance. This record number of registrations meant that more running enthusiasts took to the course and crossed the finish line than ever before. In the end, 11,444 runners took part, around 600 more than last year. Of these, 11,313 running enthusiasts reached the finish line, setting a new finisher record: Marathon with 1,635 finishers, Half Marathon with 6,735 finishers, CityRun 10KM with 2,257 finishers. Lucerne and Horw thus hosted the biggest half marathon and one of the biggest marathons in Switzerland.
65,000 people along the route
The warm autumn weather provided ideal running conditions and a large crowd along the route. The police estimated the number of spectators at around 65,000, slightly higher than last year. The atmosphere was relaxed everywhere and there were no incidents. From a medical point of view, the running day was also calm. The preliminary results are therefore very positive, said Reto Schorno, Managing Director of the SwissCityMarathon: "We had a fantastic day without any hectic rush and with smiling faces. Everything went according to plan."
Men's marathon: course record equalled
In the marathon, half marathon and CityRun 10KM, the fastest women and men started in performance blocks. The overall winner of the men's marathon was Briton Jack Nixon. With a time of 2:24:24, the 39-year-old equalled the previous course record set by Andrea Salvisberg in 2022. "The time doesn't matter," said Nixon at the finish. "After my fifth place last year, I was very disappointed and came back to Lucerne to win." When asked if he was a professional runner, the 39-year-old laughed: "No, I just run for fun. I work as a dustman and fireman." Stefan Trummer from Spiez came second in 2:25:44 and Philipp Arnold from Zug third in 2:34:58.
Women's marathon: Victory at the premiere
The overall marathon winner was Ronja Hofstetter from Ballwil. The 21-year-old, who only started running seriously during the coronavirus pandemic, was overwhelmed: "This victory means a lot to me. It was my first time running a marathon and I've never won anything before." What helped her on her way to victory was the good atmosphere and the experienced runner Doris Nagel-Wallimann. "I simply followed in her footsteps," confessed Ronja Hofstetter. She ultimately won in 2:43:38, almost one and a half minutes ahead of Doris Nagel-Wallimann from Zug, who finished in 2:45:09. Third place went to multiple SwissCityMarathon winner Fränzi Huwyler-Inauen with a personal best time of 2:48:16. Aisling Ryan also deserves special mention, as she ran to second place in the women's W20 age group with an outstanding time of 1:20:03.
Half marathon: first place with a clear lead
Seare Weldezghi from Zurich won the men's overall half marathon in 1:06:30. "I'm super happy with my time, partly because I fell seriously ill with Covid a fortnight ago," said the 28-year-old from the Generali Running Family. Weldezghi won by over three minutes ahead of Jerome Furer from Spiez and Manuele Polli from Lucerne. The winner of the women's overall half marathon was also set back in her preparations for the SwissCityMarathon. "I approached the race cautiously because I suffered a thigh strain a fortnight ago," explained Anja Kuhn at the finish. "The fact that I've now won makes me particularly happy." After finishing fourth in 2023, the 27-year-old won this year in 1:18:00, well ahead of Selin Scherrer from Fribourg and Alexandra Wallimann from Davos Platz.
CityRun: New course record for the men
Ali Abdi-Salam won the CityRun 10KM once again. The 21-year-old has already won in 2022 and 2023. With his winning time of 29:59, he even beat his own course record from last year by 23 seconds. "I'm very happy and had a lot of fun running. The atmosphere and temperature were perfect." He narrowly achieved his goal of running under 30 minutes. "It was particularly tight in the last few kilometres and I had to be considerate of the other runners. So I couldn't run as fast as I wanted to." Eliane Gemperle from Liebefeld won the women's race in 36:33.
New one-lap marathon course from 2025
The organisers also announced today that there will be a new marathon course from 2025. For the first time, the two-lap course will become a one-lap course. As before, the marathon will start at Haldenstrasse in Lucerne and run around the Horw peninsula. The course will now continue along the lake to Hergiswil, around the Lopper to Alpnachstad. The turning point is 750 metres before the Alpnachstad level crossing. The route then leads via Hergiswil back to the centre of Horw and along the previous route via Allmend and Lucerne's old town to the finish line at the Museum of Transport. "This route is feasible from an organisational point of view, but from a running point of view it is simply magnificent and offers pure Swissness," said President Jost Huwyler.
Registration for 2025 now open
Registration for the SwissCityMarathon - Lucerne 2025 opened today, Sunday, 27 October 2024, at 3.00 pm. If you want to secure a starting place for 2025, you should register quickly. This year, the SwissCityMarathon was already completely sold out by the end of August.
The SwissCityMarathon - Lucerne 2025 will take place on Sunday, 26 October 2025.
