Annual race in Germany held since 1997
The Cologne Marathon (Köln-Marathon) is an annual marathon held in Cologne, Germany. Since October 1997 the marathon has been held annually in early October, except for 2004, 2005 and 2014 when it was held in late September.
History.
The inaugural race took place on as the "Ford Cologne Marathon" () with at least 13,000 registered runners, a world record for inaugural marathons at the time.
The 2020 in-person edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the option of obtaining a refund (minus an administration fee).
Course.
Since 2013 the course starts at Ottoplatz in Deutz and leads the runners through the city of Cologne and finishes at Komödienstraße beneath the Cologne Cathedral.
The marathon time limit is 6 hours.
Events and categories.
From the beginning there has also been a contest for inline skaters. They start ahead of the runners and try to finish the course in the time limit for skaters, which is 2:30 hours. This competition as well as all others including inline skates were ultimately held in 2013.
Since 1998 there has also been a contest for handcyclists.
In the last years it has been more and more difficult to utilize the starting field because of diverse interests. To countervail, the management of the marathon created new events and contests, which all take place at the same course on the same day.
Here is a list of all competitions:
Winners.
Key:  ;templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" / ;   Course record (in bold)
Development of starting field.
 ;templatestyles src="Legend/styles.css" / ;  Records
References.
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External links.
 Media related to at Wikimedia Commons