Vienna City Marathon, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen gave the starting signal on Wagramer Straße:
Report: Muhammad Amir Siddique Vienna Austria.
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After the cancellation in 2020 due to the coronavirus and the comeback in September 2021, the event took place again as usual on the spring date in April.
At 8.58 a.m. Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen gave the starting signal on Wagramer Straße. “I would like to experience the beginning, this tension and nervous concentration on the spot,” said Van der Bellen. With a short address to the participants, he wanted to “spread energy all over the world”. The Vienna City Marathon has once again brought Kenyan victories. The women even set a new course record at the 39th edition.
Last year’s winner Vibian Chepkirui completed the 42.195 kilometers in 2:20:59 hours on Sunday, remaining 1:13 minutes below the record set by her compatriot Nancy Kiprop in 2019. Cosmas Muteti won the men’s race in a time of 2:06:53 hours. Muteti achieved the second best time ever in Vienna and won ahead of his compatriot Leonard Langat (2:06:59) and the favorite Oqbe Kibrom (2:07:25) from Eritrea.
The 30-year-old was 1:12 minutes short of the course record set by Getu Feleke in 2014. “I’m happy about my best time, but also for the organizer. It’s a great achievement. I wasn’t expecting to run a 2:06. But I’ve always listened to my body and I felt that I could do it,” said Muteti, who undercut his personal best by 1:52 minutes. With pleasant temperatures, the best Austrian was Lemawork Ketema, who crossed the finish line in 13th place after a time of 2:15:41 hours. However, Ketema clearly missed the EM limit of 2:14:30 hours he was aiming for.
“It wasn’t my day,” said a disappointed Ketema. Andreas Vojta finished his first marathon in 19th place (+ 8:49). Timon Theuer fell at kilometer eight and had to retire later with a hip injury. In any case, the surprisingly large leading group was full of energy, the Austrian top runners around Ketema and Theuer arranged themselves directly in a chasing group. The 17-man elite, supported for the first time in Vienna by a live split times screen mounted on a support vehicle, had a promising lap time of 29:57 minutes after ten kilometers. The 1:03:21 hours for the half marathon laid by the pacemakers on the asphalt were still on schedule for the targeted course record. But in the second part of the race over 42.195 km,
gusty winds made the mission difficult. At 30km Kibrom launched an attack, ran alone in the lead for a while and already seemed like the sure winner. But Muteti divided his energy better, took the lead with four kilometers to go and never let his triumph be stolen from him. After 2019, the Austrian Mario Bauernfeind secured victory in the half marathon again with a personal best of 1:05:35. The 31-year-old prevailed over marathon record holder Peter Herzog, who returned after an injury break, with a lead of six seconds. “When you win like that in your hometown, it’s crazy and unbelievable, of course,” said Bauernfeind. Briton Victoria Kenny (1:16:16) was the fastest among the women.
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