Kenya's Levy Matebo Omari will start as the man to beat while an impressive women&rsquo;s field will chase a 16-year-old course record at the Vienna City Marathon on Sunday (10), the 33rd edition of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
Omari, the fastest man in the field at 2:05:16, will be under pressure not only by a training partner but also by a quartet of debutants who are coming to the Austrian capital hoping to spring a surprise. But Omari, who clocked his career best when finishing second at the 2011 Frankfurt Marathon, said he&rsquo;s ready to face that challenge.
"From 2012 onwards I suffered from some stomach problems during training and when competing," he said. "I am well prepared now and I hope there will be no problems on Sunday. If the weather will be good then I want to run 2:06 which would be a good start for this year."
On paper, Omari&rsquo;s training partner Robert Chemosin is closest, courtesy of his 2:08:05 debut from Warsaw one year ago.
"It was raining there, so in better conditions I hope to run faster," said the 27-year-old Chemosin, who also has a pair of sub-60 minute half marathons to his credit.
Fellow Kenyan Suleiman Simotwo also hopes to improve both on his 2015 fifth place finish in Vienna and on his personal record of 2:08:48 set in Frankfurt, which was also last year.
"Last time in Vienna I had some stomach problems in the final part of the race. I know that the Vienna City Marathon is a very nice race and I hope to further improve here. It might help that one of my training partners, Raymond Choge, is in the race as well."
Choge is one of four debutants who are expected to challenge for top honours and while he&rsquo;s largely unheralded, compatriots David Kogei (personal best of 59:46) and Francis Lagat (1:01:28) bring solid half marathon credentials to the start line.
Ethiopia's Merkebu Birke, another debutante in Vienna, has a half marathon best of 1:00:41.
"Sunday will be a big day for me," said Kogei, who ran as a pacemaker in Vienna last year. "I know quite a bit of the course, which could be helpful.&ldquo; Kogei was also the chief pacemaker for last year&rsquo;s Berlin Marathon, assisting eventual winner Eliud Kipchoge for 29 kilometres. "This was a good step towards my marathon debut."
<h3>Eticha&nbsp;and Shone targeting women's course record</h3>
While the race organisers aren&rsquo;t expecting an assault on the 2:05:41 men&rsquo;s course record, the 2:23:47 mark set by Italy&rsquo;s Maura Viceconte in 2000 might be within reach in the women&rsquo;s contest.&nbsp;
Among those leading the charge will be Ethiopia's Fantu Jimma Eticha, who clocked a personal best of 2:26:14 in Dubai last year and came close in January after finishing third in Xiamen in 2:26:53.
"For me it is more important to achieve a personal best than to win," she said. "I am well prepared and I know that Vienna usually offers very good conditions for racing. So my aim is to run 2:23."
Four other women will likely follow a similar pace, including fellow Ethiopian Guteni Shone, the fastest in the field at 2:23:32 set in Houston last year where she finished second.&nbsp;
Kenyan Doris Changeiywo is also upbeat on the eve of her second marathon. The 31-year-old won her debut in difficult conditions in Singapore last December, clocking 2:44:26, but is expecting a much quicker run this weekend.
"I found it quite tough to adapt to the marathon after running cross country and track before," said Changeiywo, who has a 1:08:49 half marathon personal best. "In Singapore I just wanted to finish, nothing else. It was very humid there. Now in Vienna it is about running much faster. I will go with the Ethiopians on Sunday."
Others to watch include Meseret Kitata (PB 2:27:17) of Ethiopia who is targeting a sub-2:25 run and &nbsp;her compatriot Ruti Aga who will be making her debut. The 22-year-old improved her half marathon best to 1:08:09 in Houston in January and more recently won the Lisbon Half Marathon in 1:09:19.
"I know that the climate here is good for marathon running," commented Aga. "And of course Haile Gebrselassie ran in Vienna - so that is why I decided to run my debut here."
Jorg Wenig (organisers) for the IAAF

Vienna spotlight on men’s favourite Omari and a women’s course record assault.

Vienna spotlight on men’s favourite Omari and a women’s course record assault

Levy Matebo Omari of Kenya will start as the man to beat while an impressive women’s field will chase a 16-year-old course record at Sunday’s Vienna City Marathon, the 33rd edition of this IAAF Gold Label Road Race.

Kenya&rsquo;s Vincent Kipruto and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Worknesh Edesa claimed victories at the 2016 Xiamen International Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, on Saturday (2).The 28-year-old Kipruto, the 2011 IAAF World Championships marathon silver medallist came out on top at the first IAAF competition of 2016 after a six-man battle over the last 10 kilometres to cross the line in 2:10:18.The initial leading group of 13 men passed 10km mark in 30:35. The leaders went on to hit 15km in 45:56, 20km in 1:01:31, 25km in 1:17:11 and 30km in 1:32:30.In the last 10km, the leading pack was down to Ethiopia&rsquo;s Feyisa Bekele, Shura Kitata, Abdela Godana, Alemu Gemechu and Gebre Mekuant, as well as Kipruto as the lone Kenyan surrounded by a swathe of rivals from his country&rsquo;s Rift Valley neighbour. The 25-year-old Gemechu was first left behind and the leading group waved goodbye to Mekuant after 36 kilometres and then Godana after 38 kilometres. At the 39km mark, the 32-year-old Bekele started to slow down, leaving the top prize to be disputed by Kitata and Kipruto.After Kitata and Kipruto took turns at the front, the pair were still check-to-cheek with 200 metres to go but Kipruto&rsquo;s strong finish gave him the victory after the thrilling finale.The 19-year-old Kitata, a relatively inexperienced runner who set a personal best of 2:08:53 when finishing third at Shanghai Marathon in November less than two months ago, came home second in 2:10:20.Bekele, who has a PB of 2:06:26 when finishing fourth at the 2012 Amsterdam Marathon, took third place in 2:11:09.&ldquo;I am very impressed and happy about my performance. I haven&rsquo;t won for a long time and this time I won, so I am very happy,&rdquo; said Kipruto, whose only marathon finish in 2015 was a lowly 14th at the Paris Marathon in April.It was his Kipruto&rsquo;s fourth career win over the classic distance in 15 finishes, following on from his triumphs in Paris in 2009 and then Otsu and Frankfurt in 2013.He fulfilled his role as the fastest man in the race his personal best of 2:05:13 coming when he finished third in the Rotterdam race in 2010 but Kipruto&rsquo;s winning time in Xiamen was the slowest in the latest nine editions and almost four minutes away from the course record of 2:06:19 set by his countryman Moses Mosop last year.In contrast to the relatively sluggish times in the men&rsquo;s race, the 23-year-old Edesa trimmed more than seven minutes off her best to claim the women&rsquo;s title in 2:24:04, extending Ethiopia&rsquo;s winning streak in the women&rsquo;s race to seven years.Edesa&rsquo;s previous best was 2:31:06 set at the Marrakech Marathon last year. She was part of the leading group from the start of the race, passing 10km in 34:42 and 20km in 1:08:07 before making a solo run from home at around 25 kilometres. After that she never faced any real challenge.&ldquo;I am so happy with the performance,&rdquo; said Edesa, who was looking around slightly nervously in the last few hundreds of metres. &ldquo;At the beginning I pushed the race a lot, after that it became slower, because the course is a bit up and down and it was a little bit windy, that made the second half slower.&rdquo;&ldquo;When we returned back to the bridge, it was very difficult because of the wind. I liked the view, though,&rdquo; she said, referring to the 2.2km Yanwu Bridge that stretches over the sea and the runners have to go across twice during the race.Edesa&rsquo;s compatriot Marta Lema finished 28 seconds behind Edesa in 2:24:32, beating her PB of 2:25:59 set in last September at at another Chinese race, the Hengshui Marathon.Fantu Eticha completed an all-Ethiopian women&rsquo;s podium in the coastal city in Fujian province, coming home a distant third in 2:26:53, 39 seconds outside her best.More than 27,000 runners competed in the Xiamen Marathon this year with another 21,000 taking part in the associated the 5km mass run.Vincent Wu for the IAAF

Kenya’s Vincent Kipruto and Ethiopia’s Worknesh Edesa claimed victories at the 2016 Xiamen International Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, on Saturday (2).

Kipruto and Edesa triumph at Xiamen Marathon

Tesfaye Abera and Fantu Eticha achieved an Ethiopian sweep in Langueux on Saturday (22) evening for the 23rd “Corrida internationale de Langueux” – an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race.190 runners took part in the 10km elite race in front of a huge crowd of 15,000 spectators around the streets of Langueux, a village located in the west of France.The outcome of the men’s race remained undecided until the Hotel de Ville finish area. Nine runners were still in contention with 2km to go with the tallest of those, Tesfaye Abera from Ethiopia, leading with France’s Abdellatif Meftah.Kenya’s Milton Rotich made an attempt to accelerate, but it only seemed to fuel Abera’s motivation to remain in front. The Ethiopian did just that, and produced a thrilling sprint kick in the last section of the race.With a winning time of 28:21, the 21-year-old smashed his previous personal best of 28:55 with the first significant race of his career, a few months after showing up on the international scene with his 14th place at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.Kiplagat finished second in 28:23, just one second ahead of Ethiopia’s Tola Aderatamirat.Defending champion Daunay beaten in close raceIn the women’s race, pre-race favourite Christelle Daunay led for 9.5km before surrendering her lead in the final stages.“I felt good and I wanted to find some rhythm, so I decided to run in front,” said the French athlete who had some doubts about her current form after a couple of races run in abysmal conditions. In Langueux, the chilly temperature and violent bursts of wind didn’t help.The lead pack of women dropped away from the men after a few kilometres, and Daunay was clocked in 16:10 at half way. Ethiopians Fantu Eticha, Zeleke Etalemahu, Selam Abere and Kenya’s Leonidah Mosop remained hidden in the pack and, much to Daunay’s frustration, refused to share the leading duties.At 8km Daunay still had Eticha and Etalemahu on her back. “I knew that they would pass me at one point and sprint away,” she said afterwards. And she was right – it happened with 500m to go.Eticha’s acceleration was too strong and she won in 32:22. It was a PB for the 2:28:03 marathon runner, but well outside the course record of 31:48 set by Daunay last year. The title defender managed to hold on to second place in 32:25 from Mosop, 32:28.“The time is satisfying, given that there were no men around to pace us,” said Daunay. “The wind prevented us from running faster, but the atmosphere was great with all the public joined around the loop.”Pierre-Jean Vazel for the IAAFLEADING RESULTSMen 1 Tesfaye Abera (ETH) 28:21 2 Milton Rotich (KEN) 28:23 3 Tola Aderatamirat (ETH) 28:24 4 Samson Gebreyohannes (ERI) 28:26 5 Alfred Cherop (KEN) 28:30 6 Abraham Niyonkuru (BDI) 28:38 7 Abdellatif Meftah (FRA) 28:44 8 Yetwale Kende (ETH) 28:45 9 Timothy Kiptoo (KEN) 28:46 10 Yonas Habtemicael (ERI) 28:51Women 1 Fantu Eticha (ETH) 32:22 2 Christelle Daunay (FRA) 32:24 3 Leonidah Mosop (KEN) 32:28 4 Zeleke Etalemahu (FRA) 32:30 5 Khadija Sammah (MAR) 33:27 6 Selam Abere (ETH) 33:49 7 Kateryna Karmanenko (UKR) 34:00 8 Fatiha Klilech Fauvel (FRA) 34:09 9 Olena Serdiuk (UKR) 34:40 10 Godelievre Nizigiyiamana (BDI) 35:10&nbsp;

Abera and Eticha secure Ethiopian double in Langueux

Tesfaye Abera and Fantu Eticha achieved an Ethiopian sweep in Langueux on Saturday (22) evening for the 23rd “Corrida internationale de Langueux” – an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race.