Gilbert Kirwa wins the Vienna Marathon. © www.photorun.net
The experiment of having an elite field comprised entirely of marathon debutants in Vienna certainly contained an element of risk. But it paid off in surprising fashion producing the best results in the event’s history. Six runners went under 2:11 hours including four who broke 2:10. The winner, Gilbert Kirwa, ran an incredible time (2:08:21 hours) in warm conditions with the temperature rising to around 20 degrees Celsius towards the closing stages. His performance was the third-fastest in the history of the Vienna Marathon.
In the women’s race, nearly 350,000 spectators celebrated a home win. Andrea Mayr, who lives in Vienna, emerged victorious despite suffering from foot problems. She is the first Austrian champion in the women’s race since 1987 and only the second ever in the history of the Vienna Marathon. But her achievements didn’t end there. Running her marathon debut, the 29-year-old Mayr broke the national record in 2:30:43.
Overall, 29,000 athletes from 100 countries entered the Vienna Marathon. This number has only been beaten once and that was last year when the race celebrated its 25th anniversary.
“I’m delighted with both my victory and time. The spectators were a big help,” said the 23-year-old Gilbert Kirwa who was in the big leading group from the start. This group went through halfway in 64:17 minutes, somewhat slower than planned but soon after, the pace quickened. That led to one athlete after another dropping off the leading group, including the best known runner in the field, Reuben Kosgei, Kenya’s Olympic Steeplechase champion in 2000.
The lead pack passed 30 kilometers in1:30:40. At that point, a duel developed between Gilbert Kirwa and Degefa Abebe Negewo of Ethiopia. Joseph Maregu of Kenya was only a few meters behind them. Around 36K, Gilbert Kirwa made what would prove to be his decisive move, steadily increasing his lead. He crossed the line in 2:08:21, the third-fastest performance ever in Vienna. Only last year’s champion, Abel Kirui (Kenya/2:07:38), and the Moroccan, Lahoucine Mrikik (2:08:20 in 2006), have run faster.
Dereje Debele Tulu (Ethiopia/2:09:08) placed second. Joseph Maregu (Kenya/2:09:25) and Degefa Abebe Negewo (Ethiopia/2:09:52) placed third and fourth respectively.
“After this debut I’d like to run 2:04 for the marathon in the future,” said Gilbert Kirwa after the race. Kirwa was only running his second race ever outside of Kenya. Back home in Kenya, he not only trains with Joseph Maregu but also the world-class marathoner, Jason Mbote who has run 2:07:37.
Both live in Embu, around two hours by car from Nairobi. “Gilbert has been training for the past year-and-a-half with Jason and it was Jason who asked me to bring him in as pacemaker for the Seoul Marathon,” said Gerard van de Veen, the manager of both runners. About a year ago, Kirwa ran to 33K in Seoul at 2:07 pace and Mbote was second in a personal best. “Originally, Gilbert didn’t want to run a marathon this spring, but then he changed his mind and asked me to find the right race for him,” explained van de Veen.
The former steeplechaser, Günther Weidlinger, also ran a very respectable debut in Vienna. The Austrian didn’t quite achieve his goal, because he missed breaking the national record by 17 seconds. He clocked 2:12:39 to finish ninth. “For much of the race I was on course for the record but suffered torments in the past two kilometers. I could barely run. Ninth place is okay, but I’m disappointed that I missed the record,” said Weidlinger, but added: “I’m looking forward to my future marathon races to come.”
Andrea Mayr celebrates a fantastic marathon debut in Vienna. © www.photorun.net
Everything went right for the mountain running specialist Andrea Mayr on her debut. The 29-year-old ran 2:30:43 to finish well ahead of the Ethiopians Derbe-Godana Gebissa (2:31:31), Hayato-Zeineba Hasso (2:34:01), and Tiruwork Mekonnen (2:34:07) on Vienna’s Hofburg. Andrea Mayr’s winning time was eight seconds faster than Eva-Maria Gradwohl’s when the latter set her Austrian record in Linz in 2008. On Sunday Mayr became only the second home winner of the women’s race in the history of the Vienna Marathon. The previous winner was Carina Lilge-Leutner in 1987. It was a surprise that Andrea Mayr took the lead early. Originally, Tiruwork Mekonnen had wanted to run at 2:25 pace, but soon after the start, she fell in behind Mayr. The two-time winner of the World Mountain Running Trophy, who also holds national record for the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the half marathon, soon built up a clear lead. At halfway (1:14:47), the lead was over a minute ahead of the Ethiopian trio and by 30K it was more than 90 seconds.
In the closing stages, Mayr, who had suffered a stress fracture more than five weeks ago and had also been struggling with Achilles tendon problems, did slow down but still had enough in the tank for a record time: “When I looked at the clock with three kilometers left, I thought any chance of the record has gone, what a shame. Then I looked at my watch again at 42 kilometers and I still had 50 seconds in hand and I thought, you’ve got to do it.”
One of Tergat’s Pupils Wins in Belgrade
Although Paul Tergat didn’t run the Belgrade Marathon, he did correctly predict the winner. Kenya’s all-time running great had picked Victor Kigen to win. And he did in 2:13:28 on Saturday. “Paul had me well prepared so it’s no surprise I won here,” said Kigen who has been training with Paul Tergat’s group for the last five months. Tergat, the former world record holder for the marathon, will run his next race on May 10 when he competes in the Berlin 25K.
In warm conditions and with the temperature gauge showing around 20 degrees Celsius, the pace was relaxed at the start. The 25-year-old Kigen pushed the pace over the last ten kilometers and broke clear of his rivals. In the latter stages, he built up a lead of almost a minute. “I felt good when I increased the pace and didn’t think the others would come back at me,” said Kigen.
Two more Kenyans finished second and third: Sylvester Cheboi with 2:14:25 and Julius Korir who ran 2:14:28.
The outcome of the women’s race was much closer with Anne Kosgei (Kenya) running 2:34:51 to beat Lithuania’s Rasa Drazdauskaite by just eight seconds. Maria Ruiz of Spain was a distant third in 2:49:32.
Double Triumph for Kenya in Turin
Kenyans celebrated a winning double in the Turin Marathon. In cool, rainy conditions Benson Barus won in 2:09:07. After going through halfway in 64:40, the Kenyan pushed the pace from 25K, passing his rivals, Paul Samoei (Kenya) and Ruggero Pertile, at 30K. The Italian, Pertile, went on to finish second in 2:09:53 while Samoei was third in 2:11:37.
“I wanted to run 2:08 but the weather was against it,” recalled Benson Barus afterwards.
Agnes Kiprop took an early lead in the women’s race and built steadily on it as the race unfolded. The Kenyan went on to win in an impressive 2:26:22 over Tirfi Bevene (Ethiopia/2:29:04) and Bruna Genovese (Italy/2:30:51).
The Nagano Marathon in Japan also kicked off this past weekend. It’s a celebrated race full of tradition. The Kenyan, Isaac Macharia, won the men’s title in 2:11:21 ahead of the Ethiopian, Girma Tolla (2:12:11), and Simon Wangai (Kenya/2:12:34). The fastest woman was the Russian, Irina Timofeyeva in 2:30:08. She finished ahead of Irene Limika (Kenya/2:30:50) and Akemi Ozaki (Japan/2:31:18).
