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Tomo Morimoto will return to the Vienna City Marathon on 27th April aiming to take a second win after her impressive performance in 2006. The Japanese had just missed out on qualifying for the Olympic marathon and so her sights now turn to Vienna instead of Beijing. At Austria’s number one running event Tomo Morimoto will be up against the defending champion Luminita Talpos (Romania). More than 25,000 runners have already entered this year’s 25th edition of the Vienna City Marathon (VCM). This includes entries for shorter distances as well. Online registration for the jubilee race is still possible at: www.vienna-marathon.com.
When Tomo Morimoto won the Vienna City Marathon two years ago this was a great step forward in her marathon carreer. Clocking 2:24:33 she improved her personal best by more than three minutes in Austria’s capital. Following that she became a very strong contender for one of the three Japanese places in this year’s Olympic marathon. In the end she was a bit unfortunate to miss out since it was a very close affair. The 24 year-old had placed second in the prestigious Osaka Marathon in January where she was only beaten by Britain’s Mara Yamauchi. With 2:25:34 Tomo Morimoto was 17 seconds faster than Yurika Nakamura in the Nagoya Marathon. But Japan’s officials selected Nakamura since she had won her race.
In Vienna Tomo Morimoto intends to prove that she should have been given the ticket to Beijing and not just the reserve role. She has very good memories of her win in 2006 and so immediately chose to run the Vienna City Marathon after the selection for Beijing was made public. “This race was an impressive experience for me and the support of the spectators was great. I really felt great in Vienna and would very much like to come back,” she had said after her triumph in 2006. With her time of 2:24:33 Morimoto had come quite close to the course record of 2:23:47 set by Maura Viceconte (Italy) back in 2000. This could be a target on 27th April.
The road to victory will not be an easy one though in Vienna’s jubilee race. The defending champion Luminita Talpos will also be ready for a fast race since she still has the chance to qualify for the Olympic marathon. “I think I will have to run at least 2:26 to be selected for the Romanian team,” said Luminita Talpos. In very warm weather conditions she had clocked 2:32:21 in 2007. Then in autumn the 35 year-old showed a fine race at the World Half Marathon Championships placing eighth.
Another strong contender for Vienna glory will be Aki Fujikawa. The Japanese has a personal best of 2:27:06 with which she placed third in Nagoya in 2004. More recently she was eighth in the Osaka Marathon this year with 2:28:06.
For more information visit: www.vienna-marathon.com.
Tomo Morimoto winning the Vienna City Marathon 2006. Photo: Victah Sailer / photorun.net
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