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Press Release - Vienna City Marathon - 4/12/12

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

         Defending Champion John Kiprotich Targets Personal Best and a 
                    First Sub 2:07 Time on Austrian Soil

John Kiprotich targets the first sub 2:07 time on Austrian soil in Sunday's 
Vienna City Marathon. The defending champion intends to improve his 
personal best of 2:07:08. He will be one of five Kenyans in the race, who 
have run the distance faster than 2:08. A personal record will be the goal 
for the defending women's champion as well: Fate Tola (Ethiopia) took the 
Vienna City Marathon with 2:26:21 in 2011 and is now eager to improve this 
time. Organisers of Austria's biggest sporting event have registered a 
record number of 36,000 entries. This includes other running events staged 
parallel to the marathon on Sunday. 

The 29th Vienna City Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race. The event 
will be shown live on the internet on Sunday from 8.40 am at: 
www.vienna-marathon.com

"In 2011 I did not expect to win the race. This success was a big 
motivation for me to train hard to further improve. It is my goal to come 
closer to the best runners of the world," said John Kiprotich, who won last 
year's race with 2:08:29. The 23 year-old, who had improved his PB by more 
than seven minutes in Vienna last year, ran a good half marathon in the 
built-up to Vienna. In February he clocked 60:02 minutes in the Rome-Ostia 
race. "This was a good sign for Vienna, where we will have a race of 
champions on Sunday. I am happy to be back and I expect a fast race," said 
John Kiprotich, who is one of four former Kenyan winners coming back to 
Austria. Henry Sugut took the Vienna City Marathon in 2010 with 2:08:40, 
Gilbert Kirwa was number one in 2009 with 2:08:21 and Luke Kibet won in 
2007 (2:10:07). Kibet then went on to win the World Championships' marathon 
in the same year. 

The runner with the fastest time in the field is Gilbert Kirwa. But the 26 
year-old, who had improved to 2:06:14 in Frankfurt in 2009, does not see 
himself as the favourite. "There are very strong runners in the field on 
Sunday," Gilbert Kirwa said. The Kenyan has not raced since April 2011, 
when he ran the Rotterdam Marathon and finished eleventh with 2:14:29. 
"Originally I wanted to run the Frankfurt Marathon in October, but then I 
got injured. I then hoped to compete in Tokyo in February, but I was not 
ready for it in time. So instead I opted for Vienna, where I have very good 
memories. When I won the 2009 race this was a great motivation for me," 
Gilbert Kirwa said.

Another former Vienna winner who attended today's press conference was 
Henry Sugut. "I expect a very competitive race and look forward to Sunday. 
All of us want to win," said the Kenyan, who hopes to improve his personal 
best of 2:08:21 which he ran in Paris in spring 2011. He then acted as a 
pacemaker in Berlin, where Patrick Makau (Kenya) broke the world marathon 
record (2:03:38). "When I paced for Patrick Makau I saw how hard it is to 
run such a pace and how hard you will have to train for it. I paced him for 
25 k," said Henry Sugut. He then ran a full marathon in Frankfurt (2:08:56) 
and after a break started preparing for Vienna. "I want to run sub 2:08 on 
Sunday. May be I can achieve a result around 2:07:00."

While Henry Sugut has run with Patrick Makau in Berlin Fate Tola also has 
experience in running with one of the best – but on a more regular basis. 
She is the training partner of the German record holder Irina Mikitenko 
(2:19:19). Coached by Irina's husband Alexander they all were together in 
Albuquerque (USA) for high altitude training recently. "I have trained well 
with Irina," said Fate Tola, who is married in Germany and speaks some 
German. The 24 year-old has two goals on Sunday: "I want to defend my title 
and achieve a personal best."

One of her rivals will be a two-time Vienna winner: Luminta Talpos 
(Romania) took the race in 2007 and 2008. Four years ago she qualified for 
the Olympic Games in Vienna. "This is the goal again. I hope to qualify for 
London on Sunday," said the 39 year-old, who clocked her personal best of 
2:26:43 in Vienna in 2008. 

Selected elite runners of the Vienna City Marathon:

MEN:
Gilbert Kirwa          KEN       2:06:14
Gilbert Yegon          KEN       2:08:18
John Kiprotich         KEN       2:07:08
John Komen             KEN       2:07:13
Patrick Ivuti          KEN       2:07:46
Wilson Kigen           KEN       2:08:16
Henry Sugut            KEN       2:08:21
Iaroslav Musinschi     MDA       2:08:32
Geoffrey Ndungu        KEN       2:08:33
Luke Kibet             KEN       2:08:52
Shume Gerbaba          ETH       2:09:03
Mariko Kipchumba       KEN       2:09:04
Lusapho April          KEN       2:09:25
Dmitriy Safronov       RUS       2:09:35
Willy Kibor            KEN       2:10:21
Emmanuel Samal         KEN       2:10:27

WOMEN:
Fate Tola              ETH       2:26:21
Luminita Talpos        ROM       2:26:43
Olga Glok              RUS       2:28:27
Aberash Nesga          ETH       2:29:47
Helalia Johannes       NAM       2:30:35
Pauline Kahenya Njeri  KEN       Debut

                                ###

 

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