"I'm really looking forward to it. The atmosphere in Vienna is legendary"
Aaron Gruen, Austria's marathon record holder and a high-level cellist, will be running a marathon on home soil for the first time at the Vienna City Marathon 2026. He would also like to take part in the Concert at the Marathon, where the Vienna Symphony Orchestra will form an orchestra together with runners.
The 26-year-old Gruen was the first Austrian to break the 2:10 marathon barrier this year in March near New York with a time of 2:09:53: "I'm really looking forward to my start at the Vienna City Marathon. Maybe even a new Austrian record is possible. The chance to be on stage with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra at the Musikverein makes the VCM 2026 unique. I'm looking forward to being there and hope to be able to play at least a few pieces."
Gruen, whose family had to flee Vienna to the USA in 1939 to escape the Nazi regime, has been an Austrian citizen since 2024.
Running & music: endurance, discipline, creativity
In a video message sent from the USA, where he is about to start studying medicine at Harvard, he says: "Running and music are two things that characterise my life. I've been playing the cello since I was four years old. Music has always been more than a hobby. It was an expression, a balance, a different world for me. Running was added later, almost like a counterbalance. It soon became more intense, a second passion. I realised that running and music have a lot in common. Both require stamina, discipline, but also creativity, whether it's a difficult passage on the cello or a difficult workout while running. That's why I'm really looking forward to taking part in the Vienna City Marathon 2026. I'm looking forward to the audience, I'm looking forward to the course and to the people in Vienna who will be cheering me on."
A lot can happen in the future
The combination of marathon and music in the birthplace of his grandfather gives his start at the VCM a significance that goes beyond sport.
"It's a great honour for me to run for Austria. I want to live on what my grandparents used to experience in Vienna: a time of gratitude, a time full of great moments, music, culture, youth. I want to show that a lot can happen in the future. I am proud to be Austrian. Not despite the past, but in honour of what my family once was and what it can be again in the future. I'm incredibly excited about the race, the people, the city - everything that will make this marathon on 19 April 2026 so special."
‘Running start’ in the pandemic
Aaron Gruen was born in Munich and then moved to the USA with his family. During the pandemic, he studied music in Prague. During this time, he started running regularly and intensively alongside his music. "There was nothing else at the time. I went for a run every day in the morning," he explains. At college, he was never one of the outstanding athletes in sport. However, he soon realised the positive effects of running training on his physical performance.
In 2023, he ran 2:21:43 at the Boston Marathon and improved his time to 2:15:56 at the McKirdy Micro Marathon in New York.
In Hamburg 2024, he achieved his personal best half marathon time of 64:35 minutes on a regular course. At the Chicago Marathon 2024, already eligible to compete for Austria, he took another step forward in 2:14:21 before breaking the Austrian record and the 2:10 mark again at the McKirdy Micro Marathon in 2:09:53 on 30 March 2025. Before that, he was only known to insiders in the Austrian running scene. With the record run, however, he has become a household name to a wider public.
Record run - and further!
The preparation for his marathon record had gone extremely well over several months without any interruptions. A performance in the region of 2:10 hours had become apparent. As a runner with comparatively few years of training, this should not yet be the limit for him.
Aaron Gruen's next big start is the World Championship marathon in Tokyo in August. He has already been nominated by the Austrian Athletics Federation. Fast times are not expected there due to the anticipated heat conditions. After that, his sporting focus will be on the Vienna City Marathon on 19 April 2026.
