Stress in Linz

The police are sweating more than the marathon runners!

The police are under constant stress during the marathon weekend.

(Bild: Linz Marathon, FLORIAN WIESER , Krone KREATIV,)

The Linz police are not only under constant stress ahead of Sunday's 22nd Oberbank Marathon. The police officers in the provincial capital are also really busy on Friday and Saturday. "We will burn more calories than the participants in the marathon," says Chief Inspector Heinz Oberauer.

You would think that a 42 km run would be a pretty sweaty affair - especially with early summer temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius forecast for Sunday. You have to make sure you drink enough water, electrolytes or whatever else is swallowed at such events.

A killer stress
The Linz executive will be sweating even more. Not because our best friends are swapping their uniforms for running shorts and chasing the marathon record instead of robbers and other riff-raff. It's because the police are simply under a murderous strain this weekend. At least that's the opinion of Chief Inspector Heinz Oberauer from the Linz Traffic Department, which is responsible for all the detour and security measures during the mega-running event. "From Friday to Sunday, we will burn more calories than the participants in the marathon," the police officer is convinced.

The Gugl will also be a hive of activity.

(Bild: Hörmandinger Reinhard)

International match against Germany
Because not only the 22nd marathon awaits him and hundreds of colleagues, but also two other major events. On Friday, the ÖFB women's national team will visit Upper Austria for the first time in eight years. And not against a nobody in the Raiffeisen Arena, but against neighboring Germany, who even have a header monster named Horst Hrubesch on the bench. More than 10,000 fans are expected to turn up, which will mean hard work for the uniformed staff given the parking situation on the Gugl, where the marathon fair is also taking place at the same time.

5000 spectators in the Donaupark
But that's not all: just 23 hours later, the Bundesliga will be played five kilometers from the Gugl, after the children's marathon has already been accompanied. Blau-Weiß Linz welcome the Carinthians from Wolfsberg, which should also attract around 5,000 spectators to the Donaupark. Where, as is well known, there are also zero parking spaces and the friends and helpers will be in great demand in terms of traffic and safety.

However, this is nothing compared to what the police will have to deal with on marathon Sunday: highway closures, dozens of detour, manual intersection regulations, unnerved and aggressive drivers and so on and so forth... It's no wonder that you run out of energy after such a busy weekend. The marathon runners have it better: the fastest finish after just over two hours.