Charles Ndiema, Ser-Od Bat-Ochir of Mongolia, and Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi had to withdraw from the race.
Fine elite fields have been assembled for the Vienna City Marathon, set to be staged for the 40th time on April 23.
Norway’s Sondre Moen and the 2018 Rotterdam Marathon champion Visiline Jepkesho head the start lists of the 2023 edition.
The men’s field includes 11 athletes who have PB times of sub 2:10. While Moen features with a personal best time of 2.05:48, the former European record holder will concentrate on running a solid sub 2:10 race to come back from a less successful period.
Abdi Fufa of Ethiopia and Bethwel Yegon, who have both been added to the field in recent days as well as Samwel Mailu and Titus Kimutai are more likely regarded as favorites.
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Kenyans remaining in the field now include defending champion Amos Kipruto, Kelvin Kiptum, and Geoffrey Kamworor.
Fufa has a PB of 2:05:57 from 2021 and knows the Vienna City Marathon well. He placed 10th in the marathon a year ago with 2:10:32. Yegon is the fastest Kenyan on the start list and is said to be in fine form.
He ran 2:06:14 in 2021 where he placed second at the Berlin Marathon. Meanwhile, Mailu looks well placed for a personal best. He ran 2:07:19 in Frankfurt for the runner-up position last year in October.
It was an unexpected marathon debut by Mailu since he was originally entered as a pacemaker. Compatriot Kimutai ran his marathon debut last year as well where he clocked 2:08:31 and was seventh at the Linz Marathon.
The women’s elite field of the Vienna City Marathon looks strong with 10 athletes having personal bests of sub 2:30 and four of them have already run faster than 2:23:30.
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Jepkesho, who is also a former Paris Marathon champion lines up with a PB of 2:21:37. Magdalyne Masai (PB: 2:22:16), Rebecca Tanui (2:23:09) and Agnes Keino (2:23:26) will join Jepkesho and with the times they have posted, they should be among the contenders in Vienna.
Fellow-Kenyan Caroline Jepchirchir hopes to improve her PB of 2:26:11 and could be among the top finishers.
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Poland’s Angelika Mach and Branna MacDougall of Canada are the fastest non-African runners on the list with PBs of 2:27:48 and 2:28:36 respectively. The duo will also be looking to shine. Julia Mayer of Austria is also expected to perform well.
However, Charles Ndiema and Ser-Od Bat-Ochir of Mongolia, as well as Ethiopia’s women-only 5k world record holder Senbere Teferi, had to withdraw from the race recently.