While you might be the only pedestrian around, you will by no means have the city to yourself. I discovered another group that wants to avoid tourists: Delivery vans.Įver wondered how and when that ‘Austria has no kangaroos’ umbrellas get to the shop shelves or the Spanish riding school gets rid of the manure of dozens of horses? All of this happens in the small window between first light and tourist take-over. One morning I decided to beat the sight-seers to it, and head out at 7 am. Dodging tourists makes this option difficult running terrain. The centre is usually packed with tourists trying to snap selfies and catch rides on carriages. And while I admired the city’s grandeur, so did everyone else. I ran through the city centre multiple times and loved the stately buildings, statues and fountains. I did many of my 7 to 8 km runs along the river, but during a 14 km run, the riverbank faded into a gravel path before disappearing unexpectedly and leaving me stuck on a meadow between the highway and the river. I started getting bored with the graffiti and endless flatness of the banks.Īlso, there is a limit as to how far you can go. In the weekend you may pass by poetic speeches or musicians.ĭon’t get me wrong, running along the canal is a special experience, but I found it got old. You are likely to spot artists working on sculptures, mosaics or murals. All of this is set against miles of uninterrupted street art. In stark contrast to this behaviour, non-runners on the river relate substantially more social as they hang around popup beach bars, drink alcohol and exhale sweet smelling smoke. Verbal greetings seem to be serious faux pas. Under no circumstances should you make eye contact. I guess there is some unspoken rule between runners in Vienna: When you see a fellow jogger, look in the other direction while passing them. You will certainly encounter hordes of other runners who will do their best to ignore you.
VIENNA WAITS FOR YOU FREE
If you are staying near the centre and going to Prater is not an option, you can enjoy the traffic and traffic light free bank along the canal.
Running along the Danube canal is a great runner-up to Prater. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed on the track, but the bartender in the cafeteria gave me a perplexed: “Why shouldn’t you be able to run on it?”, so I felt I had the needed permission. I did a speed session on the track overlooking the stadium. Not only does is have 4.3 km straight asphalt road with marked distances, forest trails and drinking fountains, it has a 400m running track and beer gardens. Brook’s run tour, the 100km championships and the University’s business run where all hosted in Prater. It is the heart and soul of running in the city. It is a large park between the Danube and the Danube canal. Prater is all you need to remember if you want to have the time of your running life in Vienna. I have jotted down three areas I found for discovering the rich running culture this magnificent city has on offer: I didn’t plot out all my runs in advance, because I first tried to identify good running areas, and then try to stick to what I learned works. I even happily spectated at the Wien 100 km national championships happily, because I was glad not to be running 2.5 km laps in the Austrian heat myself. I joined the Brooks run tour event and entered the universities’ 5 km. In the 12 days I was there, Vienna hosted multiple running events in the city itself and many, many more in the surrounding area. This meant I could meet other runners and at the same time not worry about ending up between a factory and the highway. I first tried to fill as many runs as possible with races and running events. Of course, claiming I plotted a dozen routes through an unknown city is vastly exaggerated.
While that lead to a frustrating 11 dirty running shirts and 22 stinky socks, it gave me the chance to plan almost a dozen routes in a foreign city. The company kept its word and immediately send me to Vienna for a fortnight.ĭuring this time, I had 11 runs scheduled on my Hanson marathon plan. I jumped at this opportunity primarily because it promised to send me around the world on runcations. In the beginning of June, I started a new job.
Bored with the flatness of the Danube bank, I played games with Vienna’s graffiti The chorus repeats: “Vienna waits for you”. It’s about being young and ambitious and learning to slow down and pace yourself. Like his other tunes, it sad and it sweet and you’ll feel like you know it complete. Are you’re a Billy Joel fan? Do you know his song “Vienna”?
0 kommentar(er)
