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Austria: Mattsee Halb Marathon

By Rosie Carnage

While visiting Salzburg in early October, Austria, I entered the Mattsee Halb Marathon, which was about one half hour away near the German border. The race and festivities surrounding the event were absolutely delightful. I finished in two hours and six minutes. Rather than describe the race in words, I have put together a photo essay.

That's me prior to the race mixing fitness with a little history as the Salzburg Fortress looms in the background.

This is my friend Franz who drove me up to Mattsee for the race. Franz gave me a hot tip about a marathon in Lubiana, about six hours away in Serbia. It's amazing, 10 years ago Lubiana was a war zone. Now, they are holding marathons!! I have to send The Great One to investigate!!

I got the sense that food is a very important part of every race in Austria. This was the spread they put out for runners and their families right next to the start line at the Mattsee Half Marathon. Even our own prize-winning chef Bin Reuter would be hard pressed to match the cuisine at Mattsee.

About 200 runners made it to the starting line of the half marathon.

For the first half of the race, we ran around a lake. The running conditions were perfect!!

The country roads we ran on were beautiful.

The Mattsee would be a perfect location for a triathlon. The lake looked ideal for swimming. Petra will have to follow up on this!

The race was beautifully organized and marked. Here we are about to bid auf wiedersehn to the lake and strike out across country.

Living looks really good around the Mattsee.

I especially liked running across the fields in the second half of the race.

This artistic shot was produced when I opened up my camera by mistake and exposed the film.

I whipped this guy across the line.

The race quickly turned into a boozer once runners crossed the finish line. The beer tent was erected only about 20 yards from the finish.

Race?...What race? Not much Gatorade to be found at these post-race festivities!

It was party time at the Mattsee half marathon!

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