Press Release - Vienna City Marathon - 9/9/21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
                      Vienna City Marathon On Sunday:                       
           Strong Japanese quartet in Vienna's comeback marathon

With a strong quartet of Japanese elite runners headed by Kento Kikutani 
the Vienna City Marathon will go ahead for the first time since April 2019 
on Sunday. Austria's major road race event sees its 38th edition and 
organizers have registered around 26,000 entries. This includes races at 
shorter distances. Around 6,000 marathon runners will compete in Vienna on 
Sunday. The Vienna City Marathon will be the first major marathon worldwide 
with a strong international elite field and a mass race since the start of 
the Corona pandemic. It is a World Athletics Label Road Race. The marathon 
will be streamed live from 8.30 am on Sunday at: www.vienna-marathon.com

It is the first time in the history of the Vienna City Marathon that a 
Japanese male elite team will be on the start line. And partly this 
development has to do with Eliud Kipchoge. When the Kenyan Olympic Champion 
broke the two hour barrier in the Austrian capital two years ago the world 
took notice of a unique running spectacle co-organized by the Vienna City 
Marathon. Back in Japan Kento Kikutani, Yuta Koyama, Koki Yoshioka and Daji 
Kawai all watched Kipchoge's race through Vienna's Prater Park, which is 
also part of the marathon course. 

"I was watching the live stream. This was a huge effort by Kipchoge. I 
think that good weather conditions in Vienna had a big influence on the 
result," said Kento Kikutani, who has a personal best of 2:07:26 from Lake 
Biwa this year. He is the fastest of the Japanese quartet and wants to 
improve his personal best on Sunday: „I will follow to pacers and then I 
want to go for the win after the 30k point", said the 27 year-old, who then 
hold up his watch during the press conference: "At least I already have the 
same watch Kipchoge used in Vienna!"

Yuta Koyama has a personal best of 2:08:46 and is the second fastest of the 
four Japanese. He is also ready for a fast race and possibly a personal 
best. „My plan is to go with the leading group," said Koyama, who also 
clocked his PB in Lake Biwa this year. „Vienna is a good opportunity for me 
to race despite the corona pandemic."

Koki Yoshioka and Daji Kawai feature personal records of 2:10:13 ans 
2:10:50 respectively. Both target their personal bests on Sunday. "I really 
appreciate that I am able to run here during the pandemic. My goal is to go 
under 2:10," said Yoshioka while Kawai stated: "Vienna is a traditional 
race and I am happy to run here. As there are pacers, I think the race will 
have a good pace. I want to stay calm and will then decide how to react."

"This will be the most important Vienna City Marathon since the first 
edition back in 1984," said Race Director Wolfgang Konrad. "On Sunday we 
will send a strong message as the first major international marathon 
worldwide since the start of the pandemic." He compares the situation to 
when he was an elite runner back in the 80ies. "After a fine Olympic season 
I was injured in a car crash in 1980. When I could finally start running 
again I had to stop after two kilometers. Four months later I ran a PB," 
recalled the former steeplechaser, who achieved a fine PB of 8:17.22 in 
1982. "Back then it was just about me, now it is about everyone. We were 
desperate to bring the race back on as early as possible. It was a disaster 
for us when we had to cancel on short notice in 2020. But we continued to 
work hard to make the race possible again."

"We want to stage a great race that stands for joy and motivation. With 
this event we also want to say thank you to all those who have supported us 
during this very difficult time," said Kathrin Widu, one of the Managing 
Directors of the Vienna City Marathon. She explained that runners from 126 
nations entered the race. "Most of the foreigners are obviously from EU 
countries." While over 90 % of all runners are vaccinated organizers have 
implemented strict hygiene rules. Everyone needs to provide a negative 
Corona test to receive the bib number.

Fellow Managing Director Gerhard Wehr said: "We have never been out of 
touch regarding organizing races. Under most difficult situations we did 
stage a number of smaller races whenever possible," said Gerhard Wehr. "We 
are now experiencing a very strong togetherness from all those involved. 
Everyone wants the Vienna City Marathon to come back."

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