Press Release - Vienna City Marathon - 3/26/19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


                       Vienna City Marathon On 7 April:
 
                Abraham and Kiprop face strong fields in Vienna
 
Switzerland's Tadesse Abraham and Kenya's defending champion Nancy Kiprop 
will face a tough challenge when they will try to achieve significant 
victories at the 36th edition of the Vienna City Marathon on 7th April. 
Abraham, who hopes to become the first European winner since 2001, is one 
of ten men on the start list with personal bests of sub 2:10. Meanwhile 
Kiprop could become the first woman to win Austria's biggest sporting event 
for the third time. On her way to a possible hat-trick the Kenyan will have 
to beat a field that includes five other athletes who have run sub 2:28 
before. Including other running events staged parallel to the marathon 
organisers of the Vienna City Marathon expect more than 40,000 entries for 
their IAAF Gold Label Road Race event.
 
With a personal best of 2:06:40 Tadesse Abraham is not the fastest runner 
on the start list any more. This is because of the addition of Gilbert 
Kirwa to the field. The Kenyan, who ran 2:06:14 when he took the Frankfurt 
Marathon in 2009, has done very well at the Vienna City Marathon in the 
past. Ten years ago he took the unique debutants' only race in the Austrian 
capital with 2:08:21. In 2009 organisers allowed only debutants to compete 
in the elite races. Three years later Kirwa returned to Vienna, finishing 
fourth in 2:08:09.
 
Kirwa could not match these sort of performances in the past two years, so 
the strongest challenge for Eritrean-born Tadesse Abraham might come from 
four other Kenyans: Kenneth Keter ran a 2:07:34 debut in Frankfurt last 
October, Victor Kipchirchir won in Valencia in 2016 with 2:07:39, Robert 
Chemosin has a PB of 2:08:05 and is the Vienna City Marathon winner from 
2016 while Raymond Choge took the Kosice Marathon last autumn with 2:08:11. 
While Uganda's Solomon Mutai (2:09:27) was the bronze medallist in the 
World Championships' marathon in 2015, Brimin Misoi could be in for a 
surprise: The Kenyan took the Athens Marathon in November, clocking a 
personal best of 2:10:56 on this hilly and very demanding course. On the 
flat course in Vienna Misoi should be able to run considerably faster.
 
Two women might well be locked into a battle for victory on 7th April: 
Nancy Kiprop and Rahma Tusa, whose personal bests are exactly one minute 
apart. Defending champion Kiprop, who goes for a hat-trick on 7th April, 
improved to 2:22:46 in Frankfurt last year. Tusa is the winner of last 
year's Rome Marathon. She took that race in a PB of 2:23:46.
 
Besides winning Kiprop has an eye on the course record as well. Italy's 
late Maura Viceconte, who tragically died earlier this year, established 
this mark back in 2000 when she ran 2:23:47. Nancy Kiprop came close to the 
record in 2017 and 2018 with winning times of 2:24:20 and 2:24:18 
respectively. On both occasions the weather conditions were not favorable 
for fast times with strong winds in 2017 and then high temperatures last 
year. "Defending my title and setting a course record is what I wish for 
and hope to achieve," said Nancy Kiprop. 
 
Angela Tanui is an athlete who could challenge Kiprop and Tusa in Vienna. 
The Kenyan set her personal best of 2:26:31 in the Austrian capital two 
years ago when she finished fifth. Tanui showed fine form recently when she 
won the Napoli Half Marathon with 69:53.
 
Selected elite runners with personal bests
 
Men:
Gilbert Kirwa       KEN 2:06:14
Tadesse Abraham     SUI 2:06:40
Kenneth Keter       KEN 2:07:34
Victor Kipchirchir  KEN 2:07:39
Robert Chemosin     KEN 2:08:05
Raymond Choge       KEN 2:08:11
Abraham Kiplimo     UGA 2:09:23
Henry Chirchir      KEN 2:09:24
Solomon Mutai       UGA 2:09:27
Birhanu Addisie     ETH 2:09:27
Vincent Kipchumba   KEN 2:10:32
Vincent Yator       KEN 2:10:38
Brimin Misoi        KEN 2:10:56
Blazey Brzezinski   POL 2:11:27
Fernando Cabada     USA 2:11:36
 
Women:
Nancy Kiprop        KEN 2:22:46
Rahma Tusa          ETH 2:23:46
Angela Tanui        KEN 2:26:31
Maja Neuenschwander SUI 2:26:49
Maurine Chepkemoi   KEN 2:27:12
Milliam Ebongon     KEN 2:27:16
Caterina Ribeiro    POR 2:30:10

For more information please visit: www.vienna-marathon.com

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