Wörthersee Marathon: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

One lap, one lake: the Wörthersee Marathon starts at the Strandbad in Klagenfurt, runs the south shore west to Velden and returns along the north shore through Pörtschach and Krumpendorf to the Strandbad. The race debuts in 2026, and with more than 7,000 registrations it already ranks among the largest marathon events in Austria in its first year. The course is AIMS-measured, the race sits in the World Athletics calendar, and start and finish are wrapped in a festival site with expo and music right at the water.

The first half on the south-shore road is the rolling one: the road lifts and drops in short, shallow swells between Reifnitz, Maria Wörth and Dellach, and at kilometre 9 comes the only real climb of the lap, a good 700 metres at four percent on average and just under seven at the steepest, up to the highest point of the course at kilometre 10.5. The whole route stays between 441 and 470 metres above sea level; the lake offers no more relief than that.

From Velden the running turns fluent. The north shore returns to Klagenfurt without a climb of any note, a good two thirds of the total distance counts as level, and the final ten kilometres are effectively flat. Run the swells of the first half cleanly and the north shore is a profile on which time can be won back.

Pacing Strategy

The Wörthersee Marathon is won on even pace. Nothing in the profile forces a change of gear: the swells on the south shore are short and shallow, and even the climb at kilometre 9 costs only a few seconds if you take it at constant effort rather than constant pace. Run the first half a touch conservatively by feel and let the watch drift over the crests.

As on every flat marathon, the race is decided between kilometre 30 and 42, on the north shore, where nothing slows you down except your own legs. Whoever was disciplined until Velden holds the pace here while the first-half pace-chasers fade.

The trap sits at the start. Start and finish at the Strandbad, a huge field and the knowledge that this is a fast course all tempt you to run the rolling first 20 kilometres too quickly, precisely because the swells look so harmless. Stick to your target pace, use the aid stations from the first one on, and expect wind off the lake along the open north shore in late September.

Training plan for Wörthersee Marathon: 12-week build

Plan on roughly 3:15 to 4:45 hours for the lap of the lake, depending on your level. The demand is that of a flat road marathon: aerobic throughout, hours inside a narrow pace window, with no climb that forces an anaerobic spike. That is precisely the challenge, because a fast course punishes pacing errors harder than a hilly one does.

The decisive section is the north-shore finish from kilometre 30, with 20 rolling kilometres already in your legs. So the emphasis belongs on long runs with a fast finish: twelve to 18 kilometres at marathon pace at the end of a long session reproduces exactly the situation the lap puts you in.

The swells of the south-shore road ask for no climbing form, but they do ask for an economical stride on gently rolling asphalt. Move part of your long runs onto softly undulating terrain so the constant small rhythm changes are nothing new on race day, and occasionally run short rises of 500 to 800 metres at marathon pace, like the one at kilometre 9.

Late September on the Wörthersee usually means mild, fresh in the morning, with open shoreline sections and the chance of wind off the lake. Heat preparation matters less than for midsummer races; long sessions at ten to 18 degrees replicate the conditions well. The surface is asphalt throughout, so your key sessions belong on the road too.