Prater Hauptalle
Plaque name: Prater Hauptallee
Location: 1020 Wien, Austria
Plaque awarded: 06/04/2022
Reason: Plaque Category – Landmark
The Prater Hauptallee has been the home of organised running races since 1 May 1822.
The Prater, one of the most famous city parks in the world, covers an area of six million square metres in the centre of the Austrian capital. Traversing the park is the Hauptallee, a flat, 4.3-kilometre-long, paved route, lined with chestnut trees, which is closed to traffic and is easily accessible.
The Prater Hauptallee is Austria's number one running location, the venue for around 30 running events a year. These include the Vienna City Marathon and the Austrian Women's Run.
The tradition began in 1822 with the "Lauferfest" (Runners' Festival). A race between the professional runners (footmen) of the nobility in Vienna. A race of around 9-10 kilometres with tens of thousands of spectators was held on 1 May each year until 1847.
The Prater Hauptallee made global history on 12 October 2019, when Eliud Kipchoge ran the world’s first sub-2hour marathon.