The Wiener Silvesterlauf is a New Year's Eve city run in Vienna, Austria, featuring a short loop around the old center rather than a long point-to-point course. It begins at 11:00 AM near the main building of the University of Vienna, allowing participants to finish before the city's evening festivities commence. The primary race covers approximately 5.35km, and the event includes walkers and nordic walkers alongside runners.
The course traces the Ringstraße, the grand boulevard encircling Vienna's historic heart. Within a single loop, it passes the Hofburg, Parliament, Rathaus, State Opera, Burgtheater, and Kunsthistorisches Museum, concentrating many of the city's landmark structures into a compact race. Recent events have seen over 5,000 finishers, with a mix of young and older participants, elite athletes, recreational runners, and international visitors sharing the streets.