Press Release - Vienna City Marathon - 3/24/11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

        Peninah Arusei and Ana Dulce Felix to debut in Vienna

Kenya's Peninah Arusei and Portugal's Ana Dulce Felix will run their debuts 
at the Vienna City Marathon on 17th April. While the half marathon 
featuring Haile Gebrselassie will get a lot more attention than usual the 
main event will still be the 42.195 k race. The events will be staged 
parallel on 17th April and organisers expect a total entry of more than 
31,000 runners. Online entry for the 28th edition of Austria's by far 
biggest road race is still available at: www.vienna-marathon.com

Two years ago organisers of the Vienna City Marathon had staged a unique 
debutants only elite race in the Austrian capital. Back then Austria's 
Andrea Mayr was the winner of the women's race. This year Vienna could well 
see a debutant winning again, though experienced marathon runners will be 
competing as well. Two women have decided to come to Vienna for their first 
race at the classic distance: Peninah Arusei (Kenya) and Ana Dulce Felix 
(Portugal) clearly have the potential for a successful marathon career.

Peninah Arusei has quite some experience regarding distances beyond the 
half marathon. The 32 year-old very successfully ran the Berlin 25 k race 
on four occasions. She won Germany's oldest major city road race three 
times (2006, 2008 and 2009) and placed second in 2007. When she took the 
race two years ago she established a fine course record of 1:22:31. While 
her record was broken a year later Peninah Arusei still is in seventh 
position on the 25 k world alltime lists. And her 1:22:31 suggests that she 
should be able to do very well in the marathon.

Additionally Peninah Arusei has a fine record at the half marathon as well. 
It was only last autumn when she claimed a bronze medal at the IAAF World 
Half Marathon Championships in Nanning (China). A year earlier she had run 
a fine personal best of 67:48, when she placed second in Lille. Peninah 
Arusei also has been very consistent in the half marathon in the past, 
clocking sub 70 minutes times in each year since 2007. Among the half 
marathons she won were Berlin (2008), Lisbon (2010) and just recently Paris 
(2011). On 6th March she had clocked a course record of 68:30 minutes in 
the French capital, showing that she is ready for the Vienna City Marathon.

Ana Dulce Felix proved that she is in fine form as well for her first full 
marathon race (she had started in the New York Marathon in November 2010, 
but gave up early). It was at the Lisbon half marathon last Sunday, where 
she almost exactly clocked the same half marathon time as Peninah Arusei in 
Paris. The 28 year-old from Portugal finished second with 68:33 minutes. 
This is a personal best and on top of that a national record. 

In the past couple of years Ana Dulce Felix has shown a number of solid 
performances on the road and the track as well. Two years ago she placed 
13th in the 10,000 m final of the World Championships in Berlin while in 
September 2010 she was second at the Great North Run – the world's biggest 
half marathon in Newcastle. It may well be possible for the two debutants 
to clock times of around 2:25 in Vienna.

Among their rivals will be three women who have sub 2:29 personal bests so 
far: Elza Kireyeva (Russia) was third in Dublin in 2010 with 2:28:02, Fate 
Tola (Ethiopia) took second in Turin 2010 in 2:28:22 and Elisabeth Chemweno 
(Kenya) was fifth in Hamburg with 2:28:55 in 2006. The Vienna City Marathon 
could well see its best women's elite race for many years on 17th April.
 
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