Once again Kenyan runners proved their dominance in taking the first eight places—including a course record—in the 25th edition of the Vienna City Marathon. In a fitting tribute to the jubilee edition of the event, Abel Kirui clocked 2:07:38 when he crossed the finish line on the Heldenplatz, achieving the first sub-2:08 time in the event’s history. He made a substantial improvement on the time of Morocco’s Lahoucine Mrikik, who won in Vienna with 2:08:20 in 2006. Two more runners finished inside 2:09—Duncan Kibet was second in his debut with 2:08:33, while Paul Biwott ran 2:08:53.
In warm weather with temperatures well over 70 degrees by the finish, Luminita Talpos made it two in a row to take the women’s title. The 35-year-old defending champion from Romania clocked 2:26:43, the third fastest in the history of the Vienna City Marathon. Tomo Morimoto (Japan) was second with 2:29:01, while Beatrice Omwanza (Kenya) took third in 2:37:36.
A record number of 30,072 athletes from more than 100 nations entered the various running events in this year’s edition, making the Vienna City Marathon Austria’s biggest running event ever. Around 300,000 spectators—also a record—lined the course for the race.
There was no repeat of last year when, for some reason, the favorites decided not to go with the pacemakers. The latter did a perfect job, taking the lead group through 10K in 30:11, halfway in 63:44 and 30K in 1:30:26. At that point four Kenyans were still in the hunt for victory: Kirui, Kibet, Biwott and William Rotich.
Kirui in particular tried to increase the pace after 30K. Kibet, the training partner of marathon greats Martin Lel and Robert Cheruiyot, was the only one able to match that tempo for a few more kilometers. Splits for each kilometer were now coming in at 2:55 or 2:56. When Kirui opened the decisive gap at 35K (1:45:04) in Prater Park, he seemed to be on his way for a time under 2:06:30. But, exposed at times to the strong sunshine in the last five kilometers, he slowed. “Running alone it was getting hard. I got tired and it got very warm as well,” said Kirui. “Still I have achieved my main goal, which was the course record. Next year I will try to train even better and then will come back to improve further.”
Winning the Vienna City Marathon is Kirui’s biggest career victory so far. In Berlin he placed second behind Haile Gebrselassie with a personal best of 2:06:51 in 2007. “In the autumn I want to return to the Berlin Marathon,” Kirui said. Second-placed Duncan Kibet ran a fine marathon debut in Vienna. “I think I have now upgraded and can call myself a marathon runner,” he said after his 2:08:33 performance. “I will be able to further improve and plan to run an autumn marathon.”
Soon after the start the women’s race looked to proceeding as expected: Morimoto took the lead, closely followed by Talpos and Omwanza. The Japanese had been regarded as the favorite, having won the Vienna City Marathon two years ago with a personal best of 2:24:33; the 24-year-old hoped to improve on that in the Austrian capital.
But it was not to be Morimoto’s day, having narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification earlier in the year. “Today it felt hard right from the beginning and I got problems at around 17K,” she said. Defending champion Talpos then took the lead. At half way (1:12:38) the Romanian had a lead of four seconds, which she then steadily increased. She passed 30K in 1:43:00, but then also slowed in the rising temperatures, which were warmer than forecast.
“For me, retaining my title was no surprise. I came here to win the race and qualify for the Olympic team,” the Romanian said. After improving her five-year-old personal best by 49 seconds she expects to gain selection for Beijing.
Timofeyeva Breaks Course Record in Hamburg, Olympic Hopes End for Maisch
David Mandago was the winner in Sunday’s Hamburg Marathon, while Irina Timofeyeva broke the course record. The Kenyan ran 2:07:23 and the Russian clocked 2:24:14 to improve the former mark by 21 seconds. Katrin Dörre-Heinig (Germany) and Robe Tola (Ethiopia) had clocked 2:24:35 in the years 1999 and 2006. More than 23,000 runners registered for Germany’s second biggest marathon behind Berlin.
Despite the course record in the women’s race, it was the men’s event that produced the best results of the day. In fine weather, a big group of almost 20 reached halfway in 63:17. Among them was the four-time Hamburg champion Julio Rey. Having won in 2001, 2003, 2005 and two years ago, when he established the course record of 2:06:52 (also his national record), the Spaniard was seen as the favorite again. But at 25K he lost contact with the lead group. Rey eventually finished only 16th with 2:13:20. He later explained to German TV station NDR that he had felt fine, but then developed a leg problem during the race.
Mandago decisively broke away after the 35K mark. “I did not expect to win here and did not think it would become such a fast race,” the Kenyan said when interviewed by NDR. Once again Wilfred Kigen missed out on a Hamburg victory. As in 2007, the Kenyan, who is the triple winner of the Frankfurt Marathon, was second. While Rodgers Rop (Kenya) had beaten him in a sprint finish a year ago, this time he was 25 seconds behind the winner with 2:07:48. Ethiopia’s Tariku Jufar was third with 2:08:10.
Germany’s Falk Cierpinski, did well although he missed the qualifying time for the Beijing Olympics. The son of the double Olympic marathon champion Waldemar Cierpinski had previously had a personal best of 2:19:06. He improved to 2:15:48 in 22nd place. Cierpinski ran the first half in 66:03, aiming for the 2:13 the German federation demands for selection. Although he missed this time he has now established himself as Germany’s top marathoner. And there is room for further improvement.
Timofeyeva not only broke the course record, but also her personal best. Back in 2001 the Russian had run 2:25:29. In Hamburg, the 38-year-old passed halfway in the leading group in 1:11:47. At the end she was more than four minutes ahead of second placed Pamela Chepchumba (Kenya/2:28:36) and Asha Gigi (Ethiopia/2:29:28), who had both been with her after the first half. “It was a hard race, especially in the final 10K. But the spectators helped me,” Irina Timofeyeva told NDR after recovering from stomach cramps after finishing.
Disaster struck Ulrike Maisch in her bid for Olympic selection. The surprise winner of the European Championships in 2006 gave up after only 16K, announcing with disappointment that her legs had never felt so heavy.
Kenya Announces Olympic Marathon Squad
The much-awaited decision as to who will run for Kenya in the Olympic Marathon has been made. The federation selected Robert Cheruiyot, winner of the Boston Marathon, the London champion Martin Lel and Samuel Wanjiru. The latter, world record holder for the half marathon, was second in London. The women’s squad for Beijing is world champion Catherine Ndereba, Salina Kosgei, who was fourth in London and Martha Komu, winner of the Paris Marathon.
