Kenyans dominate Vienna City marathon

On her marathon debut on Sunday morning, Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot overcame every challenge on the road as she won the 38th edition of the women’s Vienna City Marathon in an unofficial time of 2:24.29 ahead of Ethiopia’s Meseret Dinke who crossed the finish line in second place more than a second later as she clocked 2:25.31. Dinke’s Ethiopian counterpart Gelete Burka crossed the line in 2:25.38 as she finished third in the race held in Austria.

Olympic 12th place finisher Fabienne Schlumpf finished in fourth just missing her Swiss record by seventeen seconds after clocking 2:26.31 in Vienna.

In the men’s marathon, Kenya’s Leornard Langat who had initially crossed the finished line in second place in a time of 2:09.22 was elevated to the race winner after Ethiopia’s Derara Hurisa who had crossed the finish line in first place was disqualified for using shoes that are not permitted. According to the set rules, the sole of road running shoes has to be no thicker than four centimetres. Hurisa was running with a model that had a sole thickness of five centimetres thus the disqualification.

Ethiopia's Betesfa Getahun and Kenya's Edwin Kosgei who had initially finished in third and fourth after clocking 2:09.42 and 2:10:10 respectively also moved one place up to ensure Kenya took first and third place in the race.