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TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca becomes more international

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The 8th TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca clearly showed its international character at the award ceremony. Runners from five different countries were standing on the podium and in total participants of 59 nations took part. Furthermore, several record have been achieved: Two runners finished with a new course record in the short distances. Jonatan Gomez Espinola finished with 01:08:41 a new record on the half marathon distance and Guillem Duran Galletero finished the 10k race in 00:31:51 minimum time. The TUI Marathon continues to return top figures for the year with a growth rate of 13.14 percent compared to the previous year. 9,205 runners from 59 countries displayed their athletic prowess in the “most beautiful island marathon in the world“. 1,404 runners attempted the top discipline of the marathon, 3,487 runners started in the half marathon. Running or walking over the ten kilometre distance were 329 entrants and in the Unicef Kids Run some 2,000 children aged from two to twelve showed their sporting enthusiasm. Along the route thousands of spectators cheered on the athletes in bright sunshine at a temperature of 23 degrees.

Standing in front of the impressive “La Seu“ cathedral, Michael Frenzel, TUI AG Chief Executive, fired the starter’s gun for the 8th TUI Marathon. “The continuous increase in the number of runners and the marvellous atmosphere along as well as on the route show us that the TUI Marathon on Mallorca has won the hearts of the running scene,“ said a pleased Frenzel. He continued: “By holding the TUI Marathon we want to give something back to the most popular destination of our customers and offer an event for the whole family. The positive feedback from runners, holidaymakers and the local population shows us that this idea has really taken off.“
 
Marathon winner is from England
The Englishman Mark Dalkins was the fastest marathon runner, leaving the competition behind him. His winning time was 02:34:17. Second home over the 42.195km was Mikael Zetterberg in a time of 02:34:26. In third place was Toumi Danmani from Morocco(02:37:50). The first woman to cross the finishing line with a great margin was Sonja Oberem from Germany. Her winning time of 02:51:53 was followed up by Frida Södermark from Sweden (03:12:49) and Gabriella Maine from England (03:16:34) in second and third places.
 
Half marathon winner comes from Spain
Jonatan Gomez Espinola from Spain recorded the fastest time of 01:08:41 over the distance, which is attracting the most new runners to the TUI Marathon. In second place was the German Paul Althues, who completed the course of 21.0975 km in a time of 01:10:11. Third place was taken by Stephen Littler from England (01:10:16). In the women’s discipline Zoe West from England took the honours in a time of 01:26:03. She beat Christin Kulgemeyer (01:26:57) from Germany and Bev Wright from England (01:29:25) into second and third place.
TUI donates €10,000 to Unicef and €15,000 to RTL fund-raising marathon
In the Unicef Kids Run 2,000 young upcoming athletes aged from two to twelve years ran for a good cause. Depending on the age group the children ran either a 600 or 1,200 metre course in the old town on the day before the marathon. Their sporting ambitions were rewarded by TUI with a donation of five euros per child who took part. The amount collected will go to the Unicef aid project “Water for Niger – Every drop counts“, which aims at improving the living conditions of children in that country.
RTL presenters Ulrike von der Groeben and Wolfram Kons ran to collect donations for the RTL fund-raising marathon (“Wir helfen Kindern“ – We help children). TUI supported the charity of the television station with a donation of €15,000. Besides the RTL celebrities, the pop singer Mickie Krause mingled among the athletes as a celebrity support. Together with his running team he won the second place of this year’s Running Award for the title of the ”Fastest company in Europe“.
TUI Marathon 2012 to have new highlights
Michael Lambertz, Director Group Marketing at TUI AG and responsible for the TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca, announced the continuation of the running event: “With every passing year the TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca has become increasingly popular. We are again hoping for a record number of runners in 2012. Perhaps we’ll break the 10,000 mark.“ TUI is planning to further broaden the supporting programme next year by combining the sporting event with even more cultural happenings. The 9th International TUI Marathon Palma de Mallorca will take place on 21 October 2012.

Visit www.tui-marathon.com for further information and the results list. Free television material is also available there for television stations.

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Author: Editor