Kibet, Talpos take comfortable wins at Vienna City Marathon – Three kilometres from the finish I knew that I would win the race”, said Kibet

The 24-year-old Kenyan celebrated the biggest triumph of his career in the Austrian capital. In his marathon debut James Mwangi clocked 2:10:27 for second place while another Kenyan, Abel Kirui, was third with 2:10:41.

Luminita Talpos of Romania was the women’s winner with 2:32:21 as temperatures soared above 20° Celsius at the finish. She was ahead of Ethiopian Martha Markos who improved her personal best by almost five minutes to 2:35:45. Austrian Susanne Pumper made the home crowd celebrate by taking third place with 2:37:55.

„Three kilometres from the finish I knew that I would win the race”, said Kibet, after leaving behind Abel Kirui in the 37th kilometre.

Warm conditions make an impact

The men’s leading group passed half way in 1:05:37, which was slower than originally planned.
“It was getting too warm. And additionally we watched each other,” Kibet later explained. He had been one of the big pre-race favourites.

In contrast to Kibet another could not live up to the expectations. Bernard Barmasai was starting to loose ground after 24 kilometres. The former Steeplechase World record holder, who is still the third fastest of all times with his 7:55.72 minutes from 1997, was hoping for his first marathon victory in Vienna. But he dropped out after 35 kilometres.

Near gun-to-tape win for Talpos

Talpos took the women’s lead right from the start and was never really challenged on her way to her first marathon victory. The 34 year-old passed half way in 1:14:23 and was already more than a minute ahead of Markos.

“I am happy to have finally won a big mMarathon, though I did not quite reach the time I wanted to run. Judging the organisation of the race, this is the best one I have ever run in,”, said Talpos. She will now prepare for the World Championships Marathon in Osaka.

Organisers of the Vienna City Marathon registered a record number of 26,279 runners from 80 nations. That includes shorter races which where included in the marathon event. About 250,000 spectators lined the streets of Vienna to cheer on the runners.

“We are happy with our event, though we did not quite reach the winning times we hoped to get. But there was a superb atmosphere on the course”, said race director Wolfgang Konrad.

Jorg Wenig