Abel Kirui among group of strong Kenyans, record field with more than 28,000 entries for Vienna City Marathon

The jubilee edition of the Vienna City Marathon looks ready to produce the greatest running event Austria has ever seen. This refers to the elite field as well as the mass race. A group of strong Kenyan runners has been signed for the 25th edition of the race to be held on 27th April. Among them is Abel Kirui, who features a personal best of 2:06:51. Japan’s Tomo Morimoto, who had won the Vienna City Marathon 2006 in a personal best of 2:24:33, will head the women’s field.

Including races at shorter distances and a relay event more than 28,000 athletes have entered the Vienna City Marathon so far. That means a first record is already broken. Never before had race organisers experienced such a strong demand. Last year’s record figure was at 26,249. Online registration is still possible until this Friday at: www.vienna-marathon.com Subject to availability late entries will be accepted at the marathon fair in Vienna on 25th and 26th April.

Besides his impressive personal best Abel Kirui has another advantage: He knows the course of the Vienna City Marathon since he had placed third here a year ago. In very warm weather conditions the Kenyan had clocked 2:10:41. With that time he was just 34 seconds behind the winner Luke Kibet, who went on to win the gold medal at the Worlch Championships in Osaka a couple of months later. Kirui also did very well later in the year, when he ran his personal best in the Berlin Marathon. Only one famous runner was faster than him: Haile Gebrselassie. With his 2:06:51 Kirui was the sixth fastest runner in 2007.

Such is the quality of the Vienna City Marathon this year that Abel Kirui will not be the fastest in the field. Fellow Kenyan Wilson Onsare has a personal best of 2:06:47. The 31 year-old had achieved this when he was third in Paris in 2003. While Wilson Onsare has run sub 2:10 times a number of times Paul Biwott (2:08:17) and William Rotich (2:09:53) have at least broken that mark once. Rotich had established his personal best when winning the Dubai Marathon in 2007. The 28 year-old had recently shown promising form when he tied his personal best at the half marathon in Berlin (60:12) finishing fourth. Two more Kenyans could do well in Vienna when they start their marathon careers: Duncan Kibet so far has run 60:22 minutes for the half marathon while Philemon Kisang won the famous Stramilano half marathon in 2007 and 2008. His personal best at this distance stands at 60:55.