Preparations underway

On your marks, get set, Grazathlon and go!

Off into the mud: The Grazathlon is already fully booked this year!(Bild: Sportograf)

Year after year, the sporting tour through Graz captivates the participants. Once again, the crowd-puller is sold out! The "Krone" has put together what you can expect on June 8.

This has never happened before: Days before the big running event, all places for the Grazathlon are completely sold out! This means: 6400 adventurous men and women will be rolling through the mud on June 8th, overcoming numerous challenging obstacles on either the five or ten kilometer sporting sightseeing tour through Graz.

Young and old alike will overcome exciting obstacles in the Mur metropolis during the Grazathlon.(Bild: GEPA pictures / Christian Walgram)

Right at the start, after overcoming the not-so-tasty "Murnockerln" in Graz's Augarten garden, the motto is "Hupf in Gatsch", as Ludwig Hirsch would have it. Finely breaded, you continue through and over tubes before swinging like jungle king "Tarzan" over lianas to the next challenges. And these are quite a challenge: the "Krone" Burpee Boulevard requires you to flex your muscles, and the steep climb up the hemp rope will be a memorable experience for many! And because it's so much fun, you can even do it twice.

The Grazathon combines fun and exertion
Then it gets really exhausting, because the Schloßberg stairs show you what it means when your calves are really burning. Once at the top, a fun reward awaits with a good slide at Karmeliterplatz, which ends in the cool water. The breather only lasts a short while, because immediately afterwards your muscles are in demand again. At the perfect wave, you sprint up the tried-and-tested quarter pipe, but are then hoisted to the top - with the help of ready hands.

Finally - sweaty and dirty - you reach the finish line!(Bild: Gepa)

Shortly afterwards, the runners catapult themselves to the next level and shoot down the poles like a fire department to another mission. For the finale, the runners scramble like monkeys through Monkeyland - before being propelled to the finish line by the roaring crowd. Done, now it's time to celebrate with party music in the event arena in Augarten! The award ceremony will take place from 8pm, before the after-run party at Monkeys and Kottulinsky really gets going.

The day before, around 1500 kids will be at the start of the Junior Grazathlon. Here too, the run for the starting places is huge! Of course, every finisher receives a medal, and even before the start there's a goody bag with lots of cool prizes. You can find more information about the Grazathlon HERE.