Oqbe Kibrom wants to make second attempt in Vienna a fast one
Oqbe Kibrom returns to the Vienna City Marathon and intends to get it right at his second attempt. With a personal best of 2:05:37 the Eritrean is the fastest runner on the start list and the major favourite on Sunday. While he aims to push both his personal best and the course record into sub 2:05 territory an Austrian runner could do well in the capital: Aron Gruen is the national record holder with 2:09:53 and is expected to attack this mark in Vienna.
Around 13,000 runners will participate in the 43rd Vienna City Marathon, which is a World Athletics Elite Label Road Race. Adding other running events organisers registered a record total of 49,000 entries from 150 countries. A live broadcast with English commentary will be streamed on the European Marathon Classics YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@emclassics) and will also be available on www.vienna-marathon.com in territories outside of Austria.
„I have come back to Vienna to win at my second attempt,“ said Oqbe Kibrom, who was third in Vienna four years ago. In 2022 he looked the likely winner with around five kilometres to go. However in the end he had to settle for third. „I was pushing too hard and then I paid for it: At 38k I was dead“, said Kibrom, who could become the first Eritrean to take the men’s race of the Vienna City Marathon. Despite over-pacing in the final section of the race in 2022 the 28 year-old is not afraid of attempting to run very fast on Sunday. „I know Vienna is a great race, I have great memories. I would like to beat my personal best and plan to run the first half in 62:10 to 62:20 to be able to run sub 2:05,“ said Kibrom, who will attack the course record. Kenya’s Samwel Mailu, the winner from 2023, holds this mark with 2:05:08.
Three athletes could challenge Oqbe Kibrom if it does not go as planned for the Eritrean. Ethiopia’s Tafese Delegen is the second fastest in the field with a PB of 2:06:11 while Kenyans Stanley Kurgat and Albert Kangogo have run 2:07:05 and 2:07:26 respectively. „I was running here in Vienna last year. But it was so cold that I got pain in my lung after 20k and had to drop out,“ said Stanley Kurgat. „On Sunday a first half in 62:40 to 62:50 would suit me. Then I can run a PB.“
Micah Cheserek of Kenya also returns to Vienna. He fared much better than Kurgat in almost freezing conditions a year ago, when he was runner-up. “Last year’s winner is not here, so this time I want to win,“ stated the 29 year-old. However he knows that this is an unlikely scenario and that he probably would have to improve his personal best of 2:09:26 by a couple of minutes to cross the line first. „My goal is to run 2:07 to 2:08,“ said Cheserek, who is a training partner of course record holder Samwel Mailu.
Among eight athletes with PBs of sub 2:10:00 there is the Austrian record holder Aaron Gruen. The 27 year-old, who studies medicine in Boston and has never run a marathon in Austria before, caused a surprise a year ago when he clocked 2:09:53 in Congers, USA. „My training went really well, better than ever before. It will be my eighth marathon,“ said Aaron Gruen, who was reluctant to say what sort of pace he intends to run. It is widely expected that Gruen will attack his national record and pacemakers are said to be instructed to run the first half in 64:30. Andreas Vojta of Austria hopes to make a big improvement on Sunday. His personal best stands at 2:13:43 and he intends to go towards 2:10:00.
The Austrian record Aaron Gruen broke in the US last year was that of Peter Herzog, who ended his career a few months ago. The 38 year-old will however run a farewell race at the Vienna City Marathon on Sunday. Herzog ran a 2:10:06 Austrian record in London in 2020 which remained his PB. He was tenth at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin and a member of the Austrian team that took a sensational team bronze medal in this race.
Elite runners with personal bests
Oqbe Kibrom ERI 2:05:37
Tafese Delegen ETH 2:06:11
Stanley Kurgat KEN 2:07:05
Albert Kangogo KEN 2:07:26
Charles Mneria KEN 2:08:54
Mica Cheserek KEN 2:09:26
Samwel Kiptoo KEN 2:09:45
Aaron Gruen AUT 2:09:53
Paul Tiongik KEN 2:10:25
Abel Sikowo UGA 2:10:33
Mogos Tuemay ETH 2:10:33
Fanny Kiprotich KEN 2:11:21
Andreas Vojta AUT 2:13:43
For more information please visit www.vienna-marathon.com or contact Andreas Maier (Press Officer): andreas@vienna-marathon.com
Please Note: You may use the attached photo, showing Mica Cheserek, Oqbe Kibrom and Stanley Kurgat in Vienna, only in conjunction with this press release with the following credit: VCM / Roman Pfeiffer
260416_VCM_PK_0074.jpg
