1,500 at Schönbrunn Zoo run

Over 1,000 runners in fancy dress took part in the second edition of the Schönbrunn Zoo run in Vienna on Tuesday.

The six-kilometre route led by a man dressed as a polar bear took the 1,500 competitors around the animal enclosures.

Zoo director Dagmar Schratter said: “Everyone was enthusiastic about the run between elephants, zebras and flamingos cages.

“Running here once a year in the fading evening light is a great motivation for many.”

The runners raised 35,000 Euros, of which half will go to the charity “Heilung für Lungenhochdruck” and the other half into building a new “polar bear world” at Schönbrunn zoo.

Ursula Kreuzer of the Lower-Austria and Vienna Raiffeisen bank and Josef Liebhart (Goodyear) were responsible for presenting the cheque at the after-run party.

The fastest runner, Thomas Bauer, completed the six kilometre run in just 20 minutes and 48 seconds and was rewarded with a cuddly cheetah toy – the fastest animal in the zoo.