Chepkirui to defend Vienna marathon title

Defending champion Vibian Chepkirui will return to the Vienna City Marathon on Sunday 24 April where she will be up against a stellar elite field in her attempt to defend the women's title. 

The Kenyan, on her debut in the classic distance at the Austrian capital surprised many as she raced to victory. Chepkirui will be up against six athletes who feature personal bests of sub 2:25:00. 

The Vienna City Marathon is among the major spring road races coming back to their original event date. While the race had to be cancelled at short notice in 2020 due to Covid-19, it was moved to the autumn season last year and took place in September. 

It then became the first major marathon worldwide with a strong international elite field and a mass race since the start of the Covid-19. 

“We are happy that we are now able to return to our traditional spring date. The Vienna City Marathon is a huge motivator for sports and activity in Austria and we recognize great anticipation to our race among the runners,“ said Race Director Wolfgang Konrad. 

Konrad says the quality of the women’s elite field looks very promising and the course record may well be challenged by a group of runners.

Last September Chepkirui came to Vienna as an underdog and had to cope with travel problems; flying to Austria via Doha with a group of fellow-Kenyan runners they missed their connecting flight and had to sleep on the floor at Doha airport. 

In very warm weather conditions Chepkirui then was the only woman to run under 2:25. The Kenyan took the race with 2:24:29. “Without the heat I would have run at least two minutes faster,“ she said. 

In more favourable conditions the champion might be able to make a significant improvement in her second marathon and could attack the Vienna course record of 2:22:12. 

One of the challengers of the 27 year-old is Sheila Jerotich. She also took a major international marathon in 2021, winning the Istanbul Marathon, coming from behind and producing a stunning finish in 2:24:15. 

However, there are three runners who have faster personal bests than Chepkirui and Jerotich. Juliet Chekwel of Uganda and Ethiopia’s Bontu Bekele took first and second in the Sevilla Marathon in 2020 with 2:23:13 and 2:23:39 respectively. Kenya’s Ruth Chebitok has a personal best of 2:23:29 from Toronto 2018. 

Jessica Augusto is the leading European runner on the current start list. The Portuguese, who was sixth in the London Olympic marathon in 2012, features a personal best of 2:24:25 from 2014. She has won the Hamburg Marathon in 2017 but has not matched her best performances recently.