Usedom Marathon - Swinoujscie (Poland) - Wolgast (Germany)

Running on Europe's longest beach promenade

This year, Germany's second-largest island is once again expecting numerous marathon runners from home and abroad to take part in a special marathon event. The Usedom Marathon, one of the few cross-border marathons, runs along the longest and one of the most beautiful beach promenades in Europe. A varied course is to be mastered. Starting in Swinoujscie in Poland, the route goes along the lively promenade along the imperial spas, through quiet, tranquil forests along the Baltic coast to the old ducal town of Wolgast. A wonderful nature experience run in one of Germany's most popular holiday regions.

The Usedom Marathon is held annually in early September on the Baltic Sea island that is known by Germans as Usedom and by Poles as Uznam.

The island has been divided since 1945. Approximately 84 per cent of Usedom belong to Germany and 16 per cent to Poland.

Three races are available:

21.1km Halbmarathon (half marathon)
42.2km Marathon
42.2km Staffelmarathon (relay race for teams of five runners)
The half marathon begins and ends on the athletics track of Wolgast, a small harbour town of about 12,000 people, situated on the German mainland. The route takes the runners across a bridge to Usedom, through fields and villages in the southern part of the island, and then back to Wolgast. The course is mainly flat.

The marathon is a cross-border point-to-point race that starts in the seaport of Świnoujście (German: Swinemünde) in the Polish part of the island and finishes in Wolgast in Germany. Runners can get to the start by using the free event bus service from Wolgast. The route is very scenic as it runs mostly along the coast and through the three Kaiserbäder (Imperial Spas) of Ahlbeck, Heringsdorf and Bansin—beach resorts favoured by the German Emperors. The race is run on mixed terrain (roads, paved promenades, bikeways and forest trails). The route is a bit undulating in parts.