Rhein-Ruhr-Marathon
Introduction The '''Rhein-Ruhr-Marathon''' is a marathon in Duisburg, which was first held in 1981.It is therefore one of the oldest city marathons in Germany. In addition to the classic 42.195 kilometer race, the current program also incorporates a half marathon, a marathon for inline-skaters and a wheelchair marathon.
History When, in  1981, the sport  budget of the City of Duisburg had a sum of 8,000 DM at its disposal, Eintracht Duisburg 1848 audaciously applied for funding for its intention of setting up a marathon. With assistance from sponsors Thyssen Bautechnik, it succeeded in staging the race as a city marathon,  directed in a clockwise fashion through 12 city districts – this was only the second city marathon to be held in Deutschland, after the Frankfurt Marathon which had been run for the first time in the spring of the same year. The then Oberbürgermeister Josef Krings personally fired the starting pistol for this first race on 18 September 1981, in  the  Sportpark Wedau . With 385 competitors making it to the finish, it admittedly lagged behind Frankfurt and the Berlin Marathon of one week later, which each notched up over 3,000 entrants. However the positive response to the first staging of the race lead to Duisburg also being able to report four-figure entrant numbers from 1983 onwardsIn 1987 the Deutscher Leichtathletik-Verband conferred its championship on  Duisburg, resulting in a record of  3155 runners reaching the finish line. The administration had by this time however taken on such proportions that the organizing club ''Eintracht Duisburg'' was reaching the limits of its capabilities. A decision over the future of the race was postponed when in 1989 Duisburg received the contract for the  Universiade, whose marathon was staged within the framework of the Rhein-Ruhr Marathon. In 1990 however came a (temporary as it turned out) cessation.In 1991 and 1992 a second attempt was undertaken with  ''Eintracht Duisburg'' as organizers  and the  ''Duisburg Werbe- und Touristik GmbH,'' a municipal organization, as administrators. Competition with the considerably larger city marathons such as the Berlin Marathon, which was also staged in September, was   however futile and so both organizers and administrators finally pulled out, resulting in the marathon failing to be staged in 1993 and 1994.In 1995 a new beginning was undertaken by the ''Stadtsportbund Duisburg e. V.'' and the ''Lauf-Club Duisburg e.V. '', who still administer the race today, and a broader sporting outlook was followed. The direction of the race was altered so that now it went through the town in a counter-clockwise direction and the date was changed from Saturday afternoon to Sunday morning.In 2000 an  inline-skater event was entered into the program, in 2002 a  half marathon and wheelchair marathon followed. The German Championships of 2000 and 2003 were staged within the framework of the  Rhein-Ruhr Marathon.
Course The course consists of a full circuit. The start is in the Kruppstraße in the  Sportpark Wedau, from where it goes through Neudorf to the  city center. While the half-marathon course branches off here in a southern direction towards the Dellviertel, the marathon course leads to the  Inner Harbor and then via Kasslerfeld and the Ruhr as far as Ruhrort. After a diversion through Meiderich it goes over the  Friedrich-Ebert-Bridge taking you to the left bank of the  Rhine (Rhein). From Alt-Homberg it turns South and goes via  Essenberg and Hochemmerich to Rheinhausen. The  Brücke der Solidarität takes it back over the Rhein into  Hochfeld, where at the  28 km mark, it meets the half-marathon course coming in from the North. Shortly after this, the course turns to the South and leads via Wanheimerort, Buchholz and Huckingen as far as its southernmost point and then via  Großenbaum and Wedau to the finish in the  MSV-Arena.
Statistics === Course records ===* Male: 2:14:33, Tibor Baier (Hungary), 1989* Female: 2:35:09, Irina Bogachova (Soviet Union), 1989=== Winners 2008 ===''Marathon''* Male: Magnus Kreth, 2:33:18* Female: Marlies Meyer, 2:58:17''Half Marathon''* Male: Boško Bjelajac, 1:13:58* Female: Lisa Müller, 1:21:27=== Finishers 2008 ===''Number reaching the finish''* Marathon: '''1286''' (1095 men and 191 women), 71 less than the previous year* Half Marathon: '''2874''' (1996 man and 878 women), 625 more than the previous year=== List of winners – Marathon ===Sources: website of the organizers, arrs.run Date Men Time Women Time  Magnus Kreth 2:36:44  Vanessa Rösler  3:02:18  Samson Kosgei (KEN) 2:32:03 Dorothea Frey (GER) 2:56:41  Richjard Ngolepus (KEN) 2:30:30 Silvia Krull (GER) 2:46:16  Magnus Kreth 2:29:43  Antje Möller 2:58:41  Sascha Velten (GER) 2:32:16  Marlies Meyer 2:56:56   Magnus Kreth ''-2-''  2:33:18   Marlies Meyer  2:58:17   Robert Jäkel  2:33:57   Martina Schwanke  2:55:32   Magnus Kreth  2:30:07   Antje Möller ''-3-'' 2:56:30   Volker Dorn  2:35:12   Antje Möller ''-2-'' 3:12:42   Karsten Kruck  2:35:23   Ulrike Ewald  3:09:11   Michael Fietz  2:23:15   Sylvia Renz  2:41:57   Salvatore Di Dio  2:27:10   Alexandra Zaparty  3:08:40   Carsten Breidenbach ''-3-'' 2:30:21   Antje Möller  3:06:42   Matthias Körner 2:20:04   Ines Cronjäger  2:40:57   Winfried Spanaus ''-3-'' 2:32:12   Heike Säger  2:58:11   Carsten Breidenbach ''-2-''  2:24:53   Andrea Thieken  2:45:07   Carsten Breidenbach  2:27:13   Svetlana Waack  2:57:12    Winfried Spanaus ''-2-'' 2:25:58   Bärbel Halfmann ''-2-'' 2:56:09   Winfried Spanaus  2:25:22   Bärbel Halfmann  2:55:40   Jean Weyts (BEL)  2:20:39   Olga Parlyuk (RUS)  2:38:30    Thomas Eickmann  2:17:55   Birgit Lennartz ''-4-'' 2:43:30   Tibor Baier (HUN)  2:14:33   Irina Bogachova (URS)  2:35:09   Jan Huruk (POL)  2:17:11   Irena Hulanicka (POL)  2:47:23   Régis Ancel (FRA)  2:17:32   Monika Lövenich  2:38:26   Edi Kaul  2:18:18   Gaby Wolf 2:38:13   Wiesław Dubiel ''-2-'' 2:17:34   Bernadette Hudy  2:46:13   Wiesław Dubiel (POL) 2:18:07   Birgit Lennartz ''-3-'' 2:42:18   Jean-Pierre Crochon (FRA) 2:16:55   Birgit Lennartz ''-2-'' 2:43:23   Jerzy Kowol (POL)  2:21:16   Birgit Lennartz  3:05:57   Manfred Brucks  2:26:36   Mary-Ann Christen-Meyer  2:53:50=== List of winners – Half Marathon === Jahr Männer Zeit Frauen Zeit 2008  Boško Bjelajac 1:13:58  Lisa Müller ''- 3 -'' 1:21:27 2007  Oliver Minzlaff ''- 3 -'' 1:06:41  Lisa Müller ''- 2 -'' 1:23:40 2006  Oliver Minzlaff ''- 2 -'' 1:05:06  Lisa Müller  1:24:52 2005  Muharrem Yilmaz  1:13:15  Svenja Jütte 1:24:21 2004  Oliver Minzlaff 1:06:51  Ulrike Hoeltz 1:22:46 2003  Moses Cheserek (KEN) 1:08:13  Rosemarie Kössler 1:22:31 2002  Carsten Thoma 1:08:40  Bärbel Halfmann 1:24:18=== Finishers year by year === Year Marathon Half Marathon Total Men Women Total Men Women 2008 1286 1095 191  2874 1996 878 2007 1357 1161 196 2246 1657 589 2006 2214 1842 372 3223 2147 1076 2005 1344 1183 161 2585 1875 710 2004 1575 1378 197 2332 1690 642 2003 2103 1787 316 1664 1211 453 2002 2152 1897 255 ? ?? ? ?? ? ?? 2001 1742 1515 227 --- --- --- 2000 2592 2249 343 --- --- --- 1999 1867 1675 192 --- --- --- 1998 1643 1481 162 --- --- --- 1997 1620 1465 155 --- --- --- 1996 1655 1486 169 --- --- --- 1995 1671 1486 185 --- --- --- 1992 1404 1309 95 --- --- --- 1991 1703 1559 144 --- --- --- 1989 1903 1781 122 --- --- --- 1988 2135 1990 145 --- --- --- 1987 3155 2913 242 --- --- --- 1986 2628 2481 147 --- --- --- 1985 2145 2006 139 --- --- --- 1984 1258 1000 58 --- --- --- 1983 1005 966 39 --- --- --- 1982 616	 589 27 --- --- --- 1981 385 368 17 --- --- ---
See also * List of marathon races in Europe
Footnotes
External links *  Offizielle Website*  ''Duisburg-Marathon 1981-92'', Website der ''Eintracht Duisburg,'' Abteilung Leichtathletik (PDF; 2,45 MB)*  Läuferbericht vom Rhein-Ruhr-Marathon 2008 auf marathon4you.de