Exercise connects, inspires and brings people together. The 24th edition of Upper Austria's largest grassroots sports event starts with exactly this self-image. Run The Steel City!
The Oberbank Linz Donau Marathon stands for a living culture of movement, for a strong sense of community and for a city that sees movement as part of its quality of life. Whether ambitious top or amateur runners, children, people with disabilities or thousands of spectators along the route.
With the "starting signal for anticipation" at the official Marathon Kick-off 2026 at the end of January in the Oberbank Donau Forum Linz and the "Super Friday" next weekend in the TipsArena, the passion of many runners has noticeably taken off again. The rush for starting places is correspondingly high at the moment - entries for all events of the 24th Oberbank Linz Donau Marathon are arriving at the LIVA Marathon Service Center at a rapid pace. The second entry deadline was on January 30, the third and final entry deadline is scheduled for March 20.
As of February 10 - around nine weeks before the starting flag is waved - an enormously strong starting field is already emerging. With just under 14,000 registrations, the number of entries is currently around 30% higher than at the same time last year, which was already very strong, impressively underlining the continuing momentum for Linz. For race director Günter Weidlinger, this interim result is more than a pleasing signal: "The great response shows that the numerous recent impulses have arrived exactly where we wanted them to - with the runners. This gives us a tailwind and spurs us on to consistently improve the level and quality of our competitions."
State Marathon Championships in Linz again in 2026 and 2027
Linz will once again take center stage in Austrian running in 2026. The Austrian National Marathon Championships will be held as part of the 24th Oberbank Linz Danube Marathon. This means that an established international running event will meet the highest national performance level - and a city that has stood for professional organization, sporting expertise and a running-enthusiastic audience for years.
"Hosting the 2026 national championships is both a recognition and a responsibility for us. Our aim is to offer the best runners in the country a professional and worthy setting - embedded in an overall experience of sporting quality, organization and atmosphere. The fact that Linz will also take on this role in 2027 for the 25th anniversary is a strong sign for the sustainable development of the event," emphasizes race director Günther Weidlinger.
Current partnerships
The Oberbank Linz Donau Marathon can also build on a stable foundation of long-standing partnerships with top Austrian companies in 2026. Nevertheless, there is a striking new addition to the race sponsors: the second longest distance in the program - the 21.1 km half marathon - will be presented by ORLEN Austria for the first time, giving it a new, strong name partner.
Oberbank is celebrating its 10th anniversary as the main sponsor. Oberbank has been involved practically from the very beginning, from 2003 as sponsor of the half marathon and for ten years as main sponsor, name sponsor and highly reliable partner. The marathon also plays an important role within Oberbank. Every year, around 250 employees from all regions of the Bank take part. Running groups, joint training opportunities and the well-deserved after-run event for employees and their family and friends promote exchange, motivation and team spirit.
