Samwel Mailu was glued to the TV screen in Kenya when in October 2019 his idol Eliud Kipchoge broke the two-hour marathon barrier in Vienna’s Prater Park. The sensational achievement made worldwide headlines. It was exactly on the same stretch of road in the Prater, where Samwel Mailu broke away from his remaining rivals on Sunday during the 40th Vienna City Marathon. “But I did not think about Eliud at this moment as I was not aware that it was exactly on this road where he was running in 2019,“ said Samwel Mailu. With around 10 kilometers left in the race, the 30-year-old went on to break the nine-year-old course record of the Vienna City Marathon with a time of 2:05:08 in warm conditions.
Sifan Hassan, the Dutch athlete who became an Olympic champion in both the 5,000m and 10,000m events, made a remarkable debut in the London Marathon, emerging as a surprise winner despite injury and near-accidents. Hassan gave a masterclass in breaking every rule in the marathon book, stopping twice to stretch an injured hip and almost pulling out. In the men's race, Kelvin Kiptum, a 23-year-old Kenyan, put up a remarkable performance, surging powerfully ahead with eight miles to go and leaving behind some of the fastest men in history.
Kenya’s Samwel Mailu smashed the nine year-old course record of the Vienna City Marathon. When he stormed over the finish line at the Vienna Burgtheater in 2:05:08 Austria’s President Alexander Van der Bellen held the finishing tape. Despite warm conditions during the second half of the race the 30 year-old was 33 seconds quicker than the former course record holder Getu Feleke of Ethiopia who had clocked 2:05:41 back in 2014. Fellow Kenyans Bethwell Yegon and Titus Kimutai followed with 2:06:57 and 2:07:46 in second and third.
Bernard Koech of Kenya won the Haspa Marathon Hamburg with a course record of 2:04:09. The 35-year-old tied his personal best and is now the fourth fastest runner in the world this year. Fellow-Kenyans Joshua Belet and Martin Kosgei took second and third with 2:04:33 and 2:06:18 respectively. Germany’s European Champion Richard Ringer finished in a strong sixth position with a personal best of 2:08:08 which is just inside the Olympic qualifying time.
Bendigo based marathon runner Andy Buchanan has clocked 2:10.20 at the Hamburg Marathon over the weekend.
Very fast times and thrilling races are expected at the Haspa Marathon Hamburg on Sunday. Just a year after Yalemzerf Yehualaw set a sensational course record of 2:17:23, which at that time was an unofficial world debut record as well, a fellow-Ethiopian will be at the start line, hoping to smash the mark: 20 year-old Tiruye Mesfin announced at the press conference in Hamburg that she targets a world-class time of sub 2:17. Brazil’s Daniel do Nascimento is among the men’s favorites. The South American record holder wants to bounce back after disaster struck in New York in November. After taking the European marathon gold in Munich in sensational style last summer Hamburg will be the first race at the classic distance for Germany’s Richard Ringer. Around 12,000 runners have registered for the marathon event while the total number including shorter races is over 30,000.
Helen Obiri, a 33-year-old Kenyan and two-time World 5000m champion as well as a one-time world cross-country champion, triumphed in the 2023 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:21:38. Obiri pulled ahead of a group of five top women at the 40-kilometer mark, including American Emma Bates, to claim victory.
Evans Chebet of Kenya has defended his title at the Boston Marathon, surging ahead at Heartbreak Hill to win the prestigious race in a time of 2:05:54. In the women's race, two-time Olympic silver medalist in the 5,000m, Hellen Obiri, won in a sprint to finish in an unofficial time of 2:21:38, completing the Kenyan sweep.
Australian Paralympian Madison de Rozario has secured second place in the women's wheelchair division of the prestigious Boston Marathon, earning her third podium finish in this event. The coveted first place was claimed by American athlete Susannah Scaroni, who triumphed for the first time in this race, finishing five seconds ahead of de Rozario.
Belgium's Bashir Abdi, a world and Olympic bronze medalist, claimed his second Rotterdam Marathon victory by winning the World Athletics Gold Label road race on Sunday (16) in a time of 2:03:47. Tesfu and Chumba continued to run together up until 35km, reaching 1:55:50, but Chumba then started to open up a bit of a gap on her rival in the final few kilometers.
