St. Gallen Half Marathon, called Auffahrtslauf, takes place every year at Ascension Day. It´s a running festival for the whole family with a kid´s run, 10k and the half marathon. … MORE
St. Gallen Half Marathon, called Auffahrtslauf, takes place every year at Ascension Day. It´s a running festival for the whole family with a kid´s run, 10k and the half marathon. All races start in the afternoon and the last one is the half marathon at 6.30 pm. Included in the registration fee is a free ticket for the Swiss railway within Switzerland which made it very easy for me to get from Zurich airport to St. Gallen which is a 1 hour train ride. Also included i a free T-Shirt which runners should wear in order to get into the party zone with free beer and other drinks and snacks after the race. I normally never wear the official race shirts but this time I did even though I did not like the color. The course is VERY rich in variety starting at the St. Gallen arena which is about 6km out of the city centre. It´s a very hilly and tough course but it also has a flat part in between which takes runners through beautiful downtown of St. Gallen. The atmosphere along the course is fantastic – many spectators, music bands also playing traditional Swiss instruments like Alphorn. The finish is in the stadium and wearing the official T-Shirt (almost everybody did) you get entrance to the party zone with free alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer as well as other drinks and snacks. Unfortunately the weather was not good at all this year as Ascension Day was the only rainy, cold and windy day within a beautiful sunny period. I would love to run this race again with beautiful weather. It must be gorgeous then!
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Tough and beautiful!
St. Gallen Half Marathon, called Auffahrtslauf, takes place every year at Ascension Day. It´s a running festival for the whole family with a kid´s run, 10k and the half marathon. … MORE
St. Gallen Half Marathon, called Auffahrtslauf, takes place every year at Ascension Day. It´s a running festival for the whole family with a kid´s run, 10k and the half marathon. All races start in the afternoon and the last one is the half marathon at 6.30 pm. Included in the registration fee is a free ticket for the Swiss railway within Switzerland which made it very easy for me to get from Zurich airport to St. Gallen which is a 1 hour train ride. Also included i a free T-Shirt which runners should wear in order to get into the party zone with free beer and other drinks and snacks after the race. I normally never wear the official race shirts but this time I did even though I did not like the color. The course is VERY rich in variety starting at the St. Gallen arena which is about 6km out of the city centre. It´s a very hilly and tough course but it also has a flat part in between which takes runners through beautiful downtown of St. Gallen. The atmosphere along the course is fantastic – many spectators, music bands also playing traditional Swiss instruments like Alphorn. The finish is in the stadium and wearing the official T-Shirt (almost everybody did) you get entrance to the party zone with free alcoholic and non-alcoholic beer as well as other drinks and snacks. Unfortunately the weather was not good at all this year as Ascension Day was the only rainy, cold and windy day within a beautiful sunny period. I would love to run this race again with beautiful weather. It must be gorgeous then!
Race with THE Swiss spirit
... running up and down hills, in a beautful old town/ through a monestary and fanatic crowds ringing cow bells and alp horn blowers... all that in St Gallen/ North … MORE
… running up and down hills, in a beautful old town/ through a monestary and fanatic crowds ringing cow bells and alp horn blowers… all that in St Gallen/ North East Switzerland.
I ran the race for the third time for various reasons- I always had picture perfect weather conditions, it is not far from where I live, it is held on Ascencion Day/ public holiday and you get a lot for your money (e.g. free public transportation ride within Switzerland to get to the race and to get home); goodies included a t-shirt (one is only eligible to get to the post race beer stand when you wear the t-shirt), a water bottle and food. If you want a medal, you have to prepurchase it upon registration. Start and finish is in the St Gallen soccer stadium. Plenty of restrooms, changing facilities and showers. The course is technically not easy with many ups and downs and partially very narrow tracks but beautiful… probably not the last time for me in St Gallen.