Marathon Details - Marathon Hamburg

International Marathons > Germany > Hamburg > Marathon Hamburg

Haspa Marathon Hamburg & Half Marathon, Relay

Hamburg, Germany

April 28, 2024

http://www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de/en

More Info:	News Press Releases
Results:	Top 3 Finishers by Year

Contact

Name:	Wolfram Gotz
Address:	Marathon Hamburg Veranstaltungs GmbH Alsterdorfer Straße 262 22297 Hamburg
Phone Number:	+49 1805-77 17 60
Fax Number:	+49 (0)40 / 61 49 78
Email:	Email the organizers



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Reviews

Course 4.7

Organization 4.6

Spectators 4.8

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Number of comments: 38 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 > ]

Wayne Wright from Palmdale, California USA (5/27/2019) "Laufen Sie die Blaue Linie!" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 INTRODUCTION: I am a race-walker with a median marathon completion time of 5:22:25. The Marathon Hamburg was my fifty-fourth 26.2-miler accomplished. COURSE: It was a great day for a marathon: a bit wet, in the mid-forties. The red carpet start was located just outside of Hamburg Messe, where the expo was held. We headed toward St. Pauli and its infamous Reeperbahn, and continued westward toward residential Altona before turning about at kilometer 6 where we found ourselves alongside the River Elbe with occasional glimpses of Hamburg's shipping port. On an otherwise relatively flat course, we descended into old town at kilometers 12 and at kilometer 14, we turned inland into a tunnel then suddenly finding ourselves in the shopping district adjacent to the inner Alster lake at kilometer 15, which we went completely around for a kilometer before proceeding along the eastern shore of the outer Alster lake for the next three kilometers, witnessing another race: this one comprising of sailing craft in a regatta. Just past halfway into the marathon, we approach Statdpark, where we enjoyed the woods for two kilometers before returning to our urban environment. At kilometer 31, we started to head back to the red carpet where we started from. Weather at the finish was overcast in the low fifties. ORGANIZATION: Superb. One would have to look hard to find fault with this marathon. Efficient expo: when you picked up your bib, you were obliged to check your timing chip to insure that it worked. The course featured excellent water stop support and traffic management. And of course, the blue line laying out the most direct course is something that was greatly appreciated. SPECTATORS: Where they lacked in number (compared to Chicago, New York City, Berlin, etc.), they more than made up in enthusiasm and noise. At least for the back of the packers, they succeeded in personalizing their support for the runners. CONCLUSION: One of the most attractive courses for an urban marathon, one of the best organized marathons, and with the blue line on the pavement laying out the course in front of you, one of the easiest to run. Well worth travelling to. Sehr gut, Hamburg!
S. B. from Vilnius, Lithuania (6/20/2017) "Very good marathon, despite weather" (about: 2017) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I will start from the weather - but for me it was good :) In 2017, we started with snow mixed with heavy rain for first 40 minutes, finished with sun. Course excellent, a lot of friendly crowd across ALL route (never saw anything similar, even in short races or where you have to run in laps). Finisher buffet perfect: massive and with very good atmosphere. Medal was adequate, just T-Shirt very cheap sponsors logos show-up. I recommend not to pre-buy it, but better by quality Mizuno nice T-Shirt with Hamburg Marathon logo.
J. K. from London, England (4/23/2017) "Hail and hearty" (about: 2017) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 A proper German marathon in all senses. Organisation efficient and everyone smiling, friendly, and welcoming. A brief ray of sunshine at the start was quickly followed by intermittent periods of rain, wind, and hail (painful but fortunately short-lived). Refreshments were frequent and plentiful - water at the earlier stations, accompanied by electrolyte drinks, bananas, high 5 gels, and cola at later ones. It was cold (for me) and I'm glad I wore a vest and arm warmers. A cap would have been helpful for the hail. But despite all this I managed to enjoy the course - taking me past the elbphilarmonie building and the elegant brick warehouses on the harbour front, to the quiet forested region on the edge of the city. There are dips and inclines, but it didn't feel too bad. The crowds were small in places, but who could blame them in this weather. Those that came cheered loudly. The finish line provided various snacks, fruits, and stock, though a space blanket or plastic rain top would have been appreciated as I was little cold. All the volunteers and helpers worked amazingly hard and were very friendly. Recommended (but be prepared for north German April weather...).
K. K. from Europe (6/3/2015) "Excellent... even on a rainy day" (about: 2015) First Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A couple of years ago I followed my partner running this marathon; used the public transport system to get to 'strategic' places along the route... and managed to see him nine or ten times (rather than sitting static at the finish line for 3-4 hours!)! The atmosphere then was incredible! Last year I started preparing and ran it myself this year - being a flat course, it is a good place to start! On the day, the heavens opened! With the amount of rain, it should really have been considered to be a biathlon as we swam much of the course! But, whilst the crowds were considerably smaller than two years ago, the people were amazing! We runners were partially oblivious to the rain; spectators stood for hours, getting drenched, just to watch and cheer us on! The organization was great too. Everything went very smoothly which was appreciated both by myself (being my first marathon) and my partner (having run numerous marathons previously). We did not take the pasta-party option but with the amount of fruit and snacks and drinks available afterwards, this was not missed at all! The one point I would raise is the photographers along the way. Given they are professionals, I would have expected considerably better quality! I am an amateur who just points her G12 in the right direction and clicks(!)... but the photos I have taken of my partner on previous marathons were heaps better than those purchased from the professional service at Hamburg! If is was not for my wanting a momento of our first marathon together, I would not have considered by even one!
Kevin Sullivan from Kerry, Ireland (4/29/2015) "Hamburg Marathon - a real jewel!" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I cannot praise this marathon highly enough! The course was wonderfully flat with a good surface - a camber did exist in parts so I just took to the middle of the street. We always seemed to be running in neighborhoods, and we never found ourselves in an industrial zone or an isolated part of the city. The streets did narrow at times and it was difficult to keep a steady pace where it became crowded. I wonder if it was necessary to include the relay on the day(even if the change over points were superbly organized). Having water stations every 2.5 kms was a life saver. Gels were also available at every water station from 20 kms on. Terrific. And the crowds topped off the whole day. They were 5 deep in some city centre spots! But throughout the course they were out in their numbers and were vocal in their support. A Beer Hall the size of a football pitch awaited those who wished to have a drink once they crossed the finishing line! Excellent medals as well. The marathon bag contained nothing of note and at ¬70 to enter, a souvenir shirt would not have gone astray. That said, this is certainly right up there with the best marathons you could ever put your toe to the line to. Make the trip - you won't regret it!
Caroline VL from Belgium (5/8/2014) "Highly recommended!" (about: 2014) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Flawless organization, excellent course and above all: the most amazing crowd! The Hamburgers seem to really love their marathon. There were a lot of families who gathered in their front yard to support the runners. I have never been cheered on this much in any other running event. Also, this marathon is great for family members who want to follow their runner by metro (my family has seen me 7 times). Would love to run this marathon again in the future, and so should you! :)
M. T. from Munich (4/29/2013) "Hamburg 2013" (about: 2013) First Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I absolutely loved running this marathon. Great organization, efficient race packet pickup, easy bag drop off, start and finish at same location, smooth operation on race morning, frequent aid stations, fan support, and convenience to public transportation were all Excellent. Fan support was better than any race I've ever run. I loved the water and/or water/ISO drink station every 2.5K starting the 5K marker (all other races I've run in Europe are only every 5K). Having my name and country of origin announced as I was approaching the finish line was incredible (I'm far from being a fast runner). The one (minor) improvement I would suggest is the toilets along the route. There was a port-a-potty situated at every KM marker. Adding 1 extra potty at every KM would be awesome. This is rather nit-picky considering many other marathons do not even provide toilets every KM and most of the time only 2-3 people during this race were waiting to use the toilet. I would definitely love to run this one again. My compliments to the race organizers for putting on a great event and the people of Hamburg who came out in droves to support us runners. Cheers.
L. M. from Oman (4/24/2013) "This is a Marathon!!" (about: 2013) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I can only say that almost everything was perfect: the greatest cheering crowd I've ever seen, plenty of water/gels/fruits, perfect separation between fast/medium/slow runners, start and finish at the same point (to be able to change your clothes early in the morning in a closed enviroment is quite a good thing), a great atmoshpere indeed. There were only 2 points that concerned me before the start: the English website was not updated as frequently as the German one and it took a while to reach the block at the start. If I do not run Boston next year, I will be there again.
G. H. from Paris, France (9/4/2012) "The best small European marathon" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Everyone should run the Hamburg Marathon once in their life. The race has everything - a great course weaving past the most interesting landmarks in the city, decent crowd support, good organization, and an excellent T-shirt. On top of it all, the race starts and ends at the town's famed Reeperbahn (the heart of the red light district)! On the morning of 29 April 2012, 10,724 marathon runners and 1,073 relay teams (relay total was 4,292) crossed the starting line and approximately 10,400 marathon runners and 1,067 relay teams successfully finished the race. The race did not feel very crowded because runners were divided into groups and released every few minutes. For such a large number of runners, I was quite surprised at the speed of the start. The thousands of running shoes shuffling past the starting line is still quite fresh in my memory. After the first PG-rated kilometer lined with sex shops in the Reeperbahn, the rest of the race was a nice sightseeing experience through the port city. Runners were offered a glimpse of life in Hamburg by passing through the port area, the old cannery buildings, the heart of the downtown center, a lake and a nice residential neighborhood before arriving at the finish line near the St. Pauli soccer stadium. Water was offered to runners every 5km (along with water bins for sponge dunking) and some refreshment areas even included bananas, High5 gels, Coke, and electrolyte drinks. Finishers were offered medals, fruit, electrolyte drinks, water and even non-alcoholic beer! The bag drop-off area was well organized although it did take some time to recover my checked-in items. At least the time waiting in line was interesting as many German runners had no inhibitions when it came to changing out of their running clothes from the handful of naked finishers I saw (both male and female!). My only complaint with the race was the expo. Runners were herded through a convention center at the Hamburg Exhibition Halls where they picked up their registration packets and the items ordered previously online. I was forced to pay one Euro just because I'd forgotten to print out my registration card! Then runners passed through a large exhibition area with several performance apparel booths (e.g. Asics) and promotion booths for other marathons (e.g. Munich marathon). I was disappointed with the limited items on sale at the Hamburg Marathon shop - it was not possible to buy additional items that were not pre-purchased online during registration. To make matters worse, the line to pick up the personalized Asics wrist-bands (displaying pace times) was so long that I completely skipped it. However, the rest of the marathon experience was excellent.
Lucio Di Taranto from Forlì Italy (5/1/2012) "very,very a great show!" (about: 2012) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Compliments to organization, volunteers and spectators.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 > ]

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Wayne Wright from Palmdale, California USA (5/27/2019) "Laufen Sie die Blaue Linie!" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 INTRODUCTION: I am a race-walker with a median marathon completion time of 5:22:25. The Marathon Hamburg was my fifty-fourth 26.2-miler accomplished. COURSE: It was a great day for a marathon: a bit wet, in the mid-forties. The red carpet start was located just outside of Hamburg Messe, where the expo was held. We headed toward St. Pauli and its infamous Reeperbahn, and continued westward toward residential Altona before turning about at kilometer 6 where we found ourselves alongside the River Elbe with occasional glimpses of Hamburg's shipping port. On an otherwise relatively flat course, we descended into old town at kilometers 12 and at kilometer 14, we turned inland into a tunnel then suddenly finding ourselves in the shopping district adjacent to the inner Alster lake at kilometer 15, which we went completely around for a kilometer before proceeding along the eastern shore of the outer Alster lake for the next three kilometers, witnessing another race: this one comprising of sailing craft in a regatta. Just past halfway into the marathon, we approach Statdpark, where we enjoyed the woods for two kilometers before returning to our urban environment. At kilometer 31, we started to head back to the red carpet where we started from. Weather at the finish was overcast in the low fifties. ORGANIZATION: Superb. One would have to look hard to find fault with this marathon. Efficient expo: when you picked up your bib, you were obliged to check your timing chip to insure that it worked. The course featured excellent water stop support and traffic management. And of course, the blue line laying out the most direct course is something that was greatly appreciated. SPECTATORS: Where they lacked in number (compared to Chicago, New York City, Berlin, etc.), they more than made up in enthusiasm and noise. At least for the back of the packers, they succeeded in personalizing their support for the runners. CONCLUSION: One of the most attractive courses for an urban marathon, one of the best organized marathons, and with the blue line on the pavement laying out the course in front of you, one of the easiest to run. Well worth travelling to. Sehr gut, Hamburg!
S. B. from Vilnius, Lithuania (6/20/2017) "Very good marathon, despite weather" (about: 2017) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I will start from the weather - but for me it was good :) In 2017, we started with snow mixed with heavy rain for first 40 minutes, finished with sun. Course excellent, a lot of friendly crowd across ALL route (never saw anything similar, even in short races or where you have to run in laps). Finisher buffet perfect: massive and with very good atmosphere. Medal was adequate, just T-Shirt very cheap sponsors logos show-up. I recommend not to pre-buy it, but better by quality Mizuno nice T-Shirt with Hamburg Marathon logo.
J. K. from London, England (4/23/2017) "Hail and hearty" (about: 2017) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 A proper German marathon in all senses. Organisation efficient and everyone smiling, friendly, and welcoming. A brief ray of sunshine at the start was quickly followed by intermittent periods of rain, wind, and hail (painful but fortunately short-lived). Refreshments were frequent and plentiful - water at the earlier stations, accompanied by electrolyte drinks, bananas, high 5 gels, and cola at later ones. It was cold (for me) and I'm glad I wore a vest and arm warmers. A cap would have been helpful for the hail. But despite all this I managed to enjoy the course - taking me past the elbphilarmonie building and the elegant brick warehouses on the harbour front, to the quiet forested region on the edge of the city. There are dips and inclines, but it didn't feel too bad. The crowds were small in places, but who could blame them in this weather. Those that came cheered loudly. The finish line provided various snacks, fruits, and stock, though a space blanket or plastic rain top would have been appreciated as I was little cold. All the volunteers and helpers worked amazingly hard and were very friendly. Recommended (but be prepared for north German April weather...).
K. K. from Europe (6/3/2015) "Excellent... even on a rainy day" (about: 2015) First Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 A couple of years ago I followed my partner running this marathon; used the public transport system to get to 'strategic' places along the route... and managed to see him nine or ten times (rather than sitting static at the finish line for 3-4 hours!)! The atmosphere then was incredible! Last year I started preparing and ran it myself this year - being a flat course, it is a good place to start! On the day, the heavens opened! With the amount of rain, it should really have been considered to be a biathlon as we swam much of the course! But, whilst the crowds were considerably smaller than two years ago, the people were amazing! We runners were partially oblivious to the rain; spectators stood for hours, getting drenched, just to watch and cheer us on! The organization was great too. Everything went very smoothly which was appreciated both by myself (being my first marathon) and my partner (having run numerous marathons previously). We did not take the pasta-party option but with the amount of fruit and snacks and drinks available afterwards, this was not missed at all! The one point I would raise is the photographers along the way. Given they are professionals, I would have expected considerably better quality! I am an amateur who just points her G12 in the right direction and clicks(!)... but the photos I have taken of my partner on previous marathons were heaps better than those purchased from the professional service at Hamburg! If is was not for my wanting a momento of our first marathon together, I would not have considered by even one!
Kevin Sullivan from Kerry, Ireland (4/29/2015) "Hamburg Marathon - a real jewel!" (about: 2015) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I cannot praise this marathon highly enough! The course was wonderfully flat with a good surface - a camber did exist in parts so I just took to the middle of the street. We always seemed to be running in neighborhoods, and we never found ourselves in an industrial zone or an isolated part of the city. The streets did narrow at times and it was difficult to keep a steady pace where it became crowded. I wonder if it was necessary to include the relay on the day(even if the change over points were superbly organized). Having water stations every 2.5 kms was a life saver. Gels were also available at every water station from 20 kms on. Terrific. And the crowds topped off the whole day. They were 5 deep in some city centre spots! But throughout the course they were out in their numbers and were vocal in their support. A Beer Hall the size of a football pitch awaited those who wished to have a drink once they crossed the finishing line! Excellent medals as well. The marathon bag contained nothing of note and at ¬70 to enter, a souvenir shirt would not have gone astray. That said, this is certainly right up there with the best marathons you could ever put your toe to the line to. Make the trip - you won't regret it!
Caroline VL from Belgium (5/8/2014) "Highly recommended!" (about: 2014) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Flawless organization, excellent course and above all: the most amazing crowd! The Hamburgers seem to really love their marathon. There were a lot of families who gathered in their front yard to support the runners. I have never been cheered on this much in any other running event. Also, this marathon is great for family members who want to follow their runner by metro (my family has seen me 7 times). Would love to run this marathon again in the future, and so should you! :)
M. T. from Munich (4/29/2013) "Hamburg 2013" (about: 2013) First Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I absolutely loved running this marathon. Great organization, efficient race packet pickup, easy bag drop off, start and finish at same location, smooth operation on race morning, frequent aid stations, fan support, and convenience to public transportation were all Excellent. Fan support was better than any race I've ever run. I loved the water and/or water/ISO drink station every 2.5K starting the 5K marker (all other races I've run in Europe are only every 5K). Having my name and country of origin announced as I was approaching the finish line was incredible (I'm far from being a fast runner). The one (minor) improvement I would suggest is the toilets along the route. There was a port-a-potty situated at every KM marker. Adding 1 extra potty at every KM would be awesome. This is rather nit-picky considering many other marathons do not even provide toilets every KM and most of the time only 2-3 people during this race were waiting to use the toilet. I would definitely love to run this one again. My compliments to the race organizers for putting on a great event and the people of Hamburg who came out in droves to support us runners. Cheers.
L. M. from Oman (4/24/2013) "This is a Marathon!!" (about: 2013) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I can only say that almost everything was perfect: the greatest cheering crowd I've ever seen, plenty of water/gels/fruits, perfect separation between fast/medium/slow runners, start and finish at the same point (to be able to change your clothes early in the morning in a closed enviroment is quite a good thing), a great atmoshpere indeed. There were only 2 points that concerned me before the start: the English website was not updated as frequently as the German one and it took a while to reach the block at the start. If I do not run Boston next year, I will be there again.
G. H. from Paris, France (9/4/2012) "The best small European marathon" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Everyone should run the Hamburg Marathon once in their life. The race has everything - a great course weaving past the most interesting landmarks in the city, decent crowd support, good organization, and an excellent T-shirt. On top of it all, the race starts and ends at the town's famed Reeperbahn (the heart of the red light district)! On the morning of 29 April 2012, 10,724 marathon runners and 1,073 relay teams (relay total was 4,292) crossed the starting line and approximately 10,400 marathon runners and 1,067 relay teams successfully finished the race. The race did not feel very crowded because runners were divided into groups and released every few minutes. For such a large number of runners, I was quite surprised at the speed of the start. The thousands of running shoes shuffling past the starting line is still quite fresh in my memory. After the first PG-rated kilometer lined with sex shops in the Reeperbahn, the rest of the race was a nice sightseeing experience through the port city. Runners were offered a glimpse of life in Hamburg by passing through the port area, the old cannery buildings, the heart of the downtown center, a lake and a nice residential neighborhood before arriving at the finish line near the St. Pauli soccer stadium. Water was offered to runners every 5km (along with water bins for sponge dunking) and some refreshment areas even included bananas, High5 gels, Coke, and electrolyte drinks. Finishers were offered medals, fruit, electrolyte drinks, water and even non-alcoholic beer! The bag drop-off area was well organized although it did take some time to recover my checked-in items. At least the time waiting in line was interesting as many German runners had no inhibitions when it came to changing out of their running clothes from the handful of naked finishers I saw (both male and female!). My only complaint with the race was the expo. Runners were herded through a convention center at the Hamburg Exhibition Halls where they picked up their registration packets and the items ordered previously online. I was forced to pay one Euro just because I'd forgotten to print out my registration card! Then runners passed through a large exhibition area with several performance apparel booths (e.g. Asics) and promotion booths for other marathons (e.g. Munich marathon). I was disappointed with the limited items on sale at the Hamburg Marathon shop - it was not possible to buy additional items that were not pre-purchased online during registration. To make matters worse, the line to pick up the personalized Asics wrist-bands (displaying pace times) was so long that I completely skipped it. However, the rest of the marathon experience was excellent.
Lucio Di Taranto from Forlì Italy (5/1/2012) "very,very a great show!" (about: 2012) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Marathon Hamburg COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Compliments to organization, volunteers and spectators.

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Marathon Details - Marathon Hamburg