Records tumble as vegan runner wins half marathon

He’s planning a marathon after running a blistering half marathon (21.1 km) that places him among the all-time best.

“For me moving up in distance was the ‘natural evolution’ of the runner. Ten years ago the 1500m was my special distance before moving up to 5000m in 2018 and 10,000m in 2021/2022.

“For me the timing felt right now with the Olympic Games 2024 coming up and the qualification period for the marathon starting with the beginning of 2023.”

Andreas won the Vienna City Half Marathon by over seven minutes, finishing in 1:02:30. The time was the fastest by an Austrian since 2016, and the fastest ever by an Austrian in Austria. It’s the second fastest of all time, just 48 seconds behind the national record.

Vegan

Andreas turned vegan in May 2018 after 18 months vegetarian. ”I learned more about dairy and eggs…it was not hard for me to change” he says. He eats a lot of whole grains, legumes, veggies and fruits.

Recently he had around 40 national titles, although we have to admit we’ve lost count as Andreas keeps adding to them.

“I´m really looking forward now to my marathon debut, especially as it will be a home race in Vienna on April 23rd” Andreas told Great Vegan Athletes. “It will also be their 40th anniversary of the event!”

“After my half marathon on Sunday with an 11km solo effort at the end I´m confident I can run even my debut in the area of the current national record of 2:10:06.”

The astonishing adaptation to the longer distance is one many of us are watching eagerly!