Marathonika man Anže Zavrl has mastered the ‘played marathon’: the 37-year-old Slovenian holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon run while playing an accordion, set on 19 October 2025 at the Ljubljana City Marathon, with a time of 4 hours, 26 minutes and 23 seconds: ‘Officially Amazing’.
How does someone come up with such a unusual idea? How does one prepare for it physically and mentally? What difficulties must be overcome and what motivational techniques are used during the run? What music programme does the Marathonika Man use? What happens on the sidelines of such an event? And what role do the tourist attractions, spectators and fans in Ljubljana play?
These are just some of the questions asked by Taisiia Khabovska, Ožbe Zemljič and Filip Obrul from the School Centre/ŠC Velenje as part of their research for ‘Jugend schreibt’ (Youth Writes) with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung/FAZ. With the support of the City of Celje; Project management/Photos ©: Gerald and Monica Hühner, INSTITUT DISCIMUS LAB
