Fate Tola defends her Vienna Marathon title

Vienna, Austria – Fate Tola (Ethiopia) defended her women title in a time of 2:26:39, while Henry Shugut of Kenya won the men’s category by clocking an Austrian all-comers record of 2:06.58 here today at the 29th Vienna City Marathon.

In the women’s race, Fate Tola (Ethiopia) was in the lead from the start. The 24 year-old clocked 2:26:39. The defending champion, who had run her personal best in Vienna last year with 2:26:21, ran an even pace throughout.

“To come back as the defending champion and win again means a lot to me,” said Tola, who had trained with Irina Mikitenko in Albuquerque (USA) recently. “When I saw that Irina ran well in a German 10km race last week that was a good sign for me.” Next year Fate Tola could become the first woman to win the Vienna City Marathon three times in a row.