Bernard Barmasai chases first marathon victory in Vienna on 29th April
As a 3,000 m steeple chaser Bernard Barmasai was the number one in the world, when he broke the world record in Cologne back in 1997 with 7:55.72 minutes. Today he still is the third fastest steeple chaser of all times with this result. But nowadays the Kenyan is chasing success in a different event: the marathon. It is the 24th Vienna City Marathon on 29th April where he wants to step up to another level in the classic race. Featuring a personal best of 2:08:52 so far which he ran in Paris a year ago Vienna’s course record could be well under threat. That stands at 2:08:20 and was established by Lahoucine Mrikik (Marocco) last year. Additionally Bernard Barmasai will be aiming for his first marathon victory in Vienna.
Organisers of Austria’s biggest and most prestigious road race are expecting a field of more than 24,000 runners on 29th April. That includes other running events besides the marathon which are staged parallel to the marathon. “We are happy with the entry figures and I am especially delighted to welcome such a prominent athlete as Bernard Barmasai”, said Race-Director Wolfgang Konrad, who himself was an international steeple chaser. He did not held a world record but a noticable national record of 8:17.22 minutes which he ran in Berlin in 1982. With that time he was number three in the world season’s list of that year.
After a marathon debut of 2:14:49 three years ago in Rotterdam Bernard Barmasai improved to 2:10:52 in 2005 and then to 2:08:52. In October last year he just missed out on winning Amsterdam where he was beaten by fellow Kenyan Solomon Bushendich by two seconds. Additionally he missed his personal best by the same margin, clocking 2:08:54. There was some wind in Amsterdam last year so if conditions are fine in Vienna next week there should be room for improvement.
Similar to Amsterdam there will be stiff opposition at the Vienna City Marathon as well for Bernard Barmasai. It is Luke Kibet who has exactly the same personal best as Barmasai. The 24 year-old Kenyan clocked his 2:08:52 in Eindhoven two years ago, where he finished third. Frederick Cherono so far is 14 seconds quicker than his two fellow countrymen. He won the Torino Marathon in 2004 with 2:08:38. Additionally he is the winner of the Rome Marathon from 2003 (2:08:47). There was more recent success for William Todoo, who took this year’s Dubai Marathon in January in 2:09:53 and now aims for further improvement in the Austrian capital. Another Kenyan, Abel Kirui, could be someone to watch. He recently won the Paderbon Half Marathon in 61:32 after a slow first part of the race.
In comparison the women’s field will not be as promising as the men’s. This is also because organisers had to take a setback since the defending champion Tomo Morimoto had to cancel her start in Vienna. The Japanese suffers of an ankle injury which unfortunately did not heal in time to resume training. At least for the Austrian spectators this might be good news since local hero Susanne Pumper could now be in with a chance. The 36 year-old ran her marathon debut in Vienna last year. Coming in fourth with 2:32:21 she broke the Austrian record. In 2005 Pumper had won the silver medal in the 3,000 m final of the European Indoor Championships. But the favourite will probably be Romania’s Luminita Talpos, who enters the race with a personal best of 2:27:32.
source Vienna Marathon
