Press Release - Vienna City Marathon - 8/11/21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
  Vienna City Marathon on 12 September: Solomon Mutai and Betesfa Getahun 
               opt for Vienna, organizers expect Green Light             

As things stand in Austria the Vienna City Marathon will go ahead on 12th 
September. It is one month to go tomorrow and organizers do not expect any 
drastic rule changes that would limit outdoor events in the coming weeks. 
Since 1st July  the Austrian government has allowed all events to go ahead, 
no matter how many people are involved. The Vienna City Marathon could be 
one of the first major international marathons to take place since the 
start of the pandemic in March 2020. Organizers, who are working closely 
with the city to provide the required hygiene concept, have today released 
a number of elite runners for the men's event. Among those who will feature 
in Austria's number one road running event are Uganda's Solomon Mutai and 
Betesfa Getahun of Ethiopia, who has a personal best of 2:05:28. 

It was in Vienna where Kenya's Olympic Champion Eliud Kipchoge famously 
broke the two hour marathon barrier in October 2019 in a race co-organized 
by the same team that is in charge for the Vienna City Marathon. Almost 
exactly two years after this phenomenal performance by Eliud Kipchoge 
Vienna plans to stage a marathon again.

Adding races at shorter distances a total of 24,900 athletes have so far 
registered for the Vienna City Marathon, which will be spread over two days 
with some of the shorter events taking place on the Saturday. Online entry 
for this World Athletics Marathon Label Road Race is still possible until 
next Sunday at: www.vienna-marathon.com

"With their incredible performances and elegantly smooth running styles 
elite runners belong to the Vienna City Marathon. We are really happy that 
even in these extraordinary circumstances this year we will be able to 
present world-class sport on the streets of Vienna," said Race Director 
Wolfgang Konrad. 

Betesfa Getahun heads the current start list with a personal best of 
2:05:28. The 22 year-old Ethiopian ran this time when finishing fourth in 
his marathon debut in Amsterdam in 2019. Since Vienna will only be his 
second marathon he will be eager to improve his PB. Among his rivals will 
be Kenyans Bethwell Rutto and Edwin Kosgei who clocked personal bests of 
2:07:41 and 2:07:51 respectively in this year's Siena Marathon. Solomon 
Mutai, who took a bronze medal in the 2015 World Championships' marathon, 
will have the advantage of knowing the course when he returns to the 
Austrian capital. The Ugandan placed third in the Vienna City Marathon with 
a personal best of 2:08:25 in 2019. 

A strong Japanese team will feature in the Vienna City Marathon: Kento 
Kikutani improved his personal best to 2:07:26 this February in Otsu where 
he finished ninth. Yuta Koyama (2:08:46), Koki Yoshioka (2:10:13) and Daiji 
Kawai (2:10:50) are the other three Japanese who currently train for the 
race in Vienna. 

Regarding mass participation organizers look ahead with confidence. "We are 
really happy with the interest runners are showing for our event. This is a 
great boost for all our activities. Two and a half years after the most 
recent Vienna City Marathon we are ready to go again. When we organized 
smaller running events recently we already got a great response from the 
running community," said Kathrin Widu, the Managing Director of the Vienna 
City Marathon. A recent anonymous survey among runners entered for the race 
showed that over 92.7 % of them will compete in the Vienna City Marathon 
fully vaccinated.

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