Austria’s Susanne Pumper broke the national Half Marathon record, when she won the event in Vienna on Sunday (22 May). The Half Marathon was staged parallel to the Vienna City Marathon. Susanne Pumper clocked 1:13:20 and beat the former two year old record held by Eva Maria Gradwohl by five seconds.
34 year-old Pumper, who had won a bronze medal at 3000 metres at the European Indoor Championships in March this year, could have been faster. But she was held up when running into slower marathon runners just before the finish. The timing of the two events was slightly miscalculated. But authorities in Vienna don’t allow the organisers to block the roads from traffic any longer.
Susanne Pumper said that she will now concentrate on road running and plans to run her Marathon debut in the Vienna City Marathon next year on 7 May.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
