Andrea Mayr breaks the Austrian Half Marathon record in Vienna (© Freelance)
Austrians Günther Weidlinger and Andrea Mayr, who are both preparing for their marathon debuts at the Vienna City Marathon on 19th April, had fine test races at a half marathon event in the capital of Austria this Sunday.
29-year-old Andrea Mayr, who so far had various successes in mountain running, broke the national half marathon record with a time of 1:12:14. Günther Weidlinger clocked 1:05:42.
In cool temperatures with 3° Celsius and windy conditions 29-year-old Andrea Mayr led the whole field for most of the race since Günther Weidlinger ran a handicap race. He started 5:30 minutes after the rest of the field of 400 runners.
“I am very happy with my performance. It was difficult because of the wind and I started too fast. But after 14 kilometres I got optimistic about breaking the record, though I had not expected it before because of the conditions,” said Andrea Mayr, who improved the mark of Susanne Pumper from 2007 by 18 seconds.
So far Mayr had a personal best of 1:12:47 from April last year. “The marathon will be a different challenge, but I hope to do well again.”
“It was fun to overtake the whole field,” said Günther Weidlinger. The former steeplechaser who has turned to road running overtook Andrea Mayr with three kilometres to go.
Weidlinger ran the race without interrupting his marathon training and chose a pace which he hopes to maintain for the full distance on 19th April as well.
“I feel fine,” he said after his time of 1:05:42. At the Vienna City Marathon, which is an IAAF Silver Label Race, Günther Weidlinger intends to break the 23-year-old Austrian marathon record of 2:12:22 set by Gerhard Hartmann in Vienna in 1986.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
