Accommodations and Sight Seeing
Since this is a destination race for most readers I will mention our accommodations, dinning suggestions, and tourism as well as a race report. We are staying at Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten which is just shy of a mile walk to the start line. There are some much closer hotels but since we booked late the rates were already very high. If you do stay close to Franz-Josef –Stra’B’e/Stelzhamerstra’B’e “Pasta & Vino” is an excellent restaurant where you will need a reservation, especially for a weekend. They have 3 dishes per night and each one is superb. The three most important things to see in Salzburg are: first the Mirabel Garden, which was almost just across the street from our hotel. Second are the Mozart museums which include his birth place and residence. These are great for either history or music lovers, or just someone who is interested in learning a little more about 18th century Salzburg culture. Third is the Salzburg fortress. It should be no surprise this was my husband’s choice! You can check out my Facebook if you would like to see pictures of these sights.
There are special bus routes on race day so don’t expect to get much closer than Meribel Garden via bus line. My preference is always to stay as close as possible to the race start in order to not worry about transportation morning of.
Run
My expectations for this run were to enjoy the sights and take tons of pictures, I did not run this race for time. There were 2,364 participants, which is small compared to other ½ marathons I have run. The ½ marathon course is one loop and the marathon does it twice. There is only 100 ft of elevation gain which makes this course extremely fast! It is a good race to PR with. The course has five aid stations that provide water, PowerAde, coke, bananas, and oranges.
It starts at 9:00 am by heading south east out into the country, where at mile two, you are taken through Frohnburg Palace courtyard, where scenes from the “Sound of Music” was filmed.
There are beautiful views of snow-capped mountains, green flower filled fields, and country houses. At mile three the course turns right. You can see the Salzburg fortress to your right. The first half is by far the most beautiful and is worth the run!
You eventually make your way farther north where you cross the Salzach River just after mile 11. At mile 12 you pass in front of the Mirabel Garden. In the last mile of the race you cross the Salzach River again, back to the City Centre. The finish line is next to the Salzburg Cathedral. The weather was unseasonably cold and started lightly raining at about 11:00 am but it was still a great race and I highly recommend doing it if you can.
