Long on course for a record

Herzog with a great time in Valencia despite the flu

Peter Herzog

(Bild: SIP_JOHANNES LANGER)

Despite an illness, Austria's marathon record holder Peter Herzog put in a strong performance at the Valencia Marathon. The man from Salzburg finished in an excellent 48th place out of 36,243 participants in 2:12:18 hours. Up until the half marathon (1:04:51), the 37-year-old was even on course to improve his record set four years ago in London (2:10:06). In the end, he achieved almost the same time in Valencia as this year in Berlin, where he returned to success on September 29 in 2:12:08 after a long injury break. Herzog now holds five of the seven fastest marathon times ever run by an Austrian (see statistics at the bottom).

Until Friday, Peter Herzog's start in Valencia was still uncertain. "I picked up a flu-like infection at the beginning of the week," said the man from Salzburg after the race. "Under these circumstances, Peter's performance cannot be overestimated," said coach Hannes Langer, who had given his protégé a lot of credit before the race. Healthy, he would certainly have been able to run between 2:09 and 2:10. But it is pointless to mourn that now.

"No more energy"
 "I felt very good up to kilometer 30, better than this year in Berlin, but in the last 10 kilometers I felt my cold and had no more energy," said Peter Herzog, who lost two minutes in the second half. Nevertheless, the 2:12:18 is an extremely strong performance when you consider that Peter Herzog was not only slightly ill, but also had an extreme triple burden of family (two children), studies and sport in recent months. Herzog: "I'm no longer a professional!" So the question remains as to the conditions under which he can and wants to run a spring marathon ("Preferably in Vienna"). This is of course difficult to say immediately after Valencia.

Is the ÖLV giving away a place at the World Championships?
In any case, it is already quite conceivable that Peter Herzog will be able to achieve a place in the top 100 at the end of the qualification period for the World Championships in Tokyo, as required by the world federation. From the point of view of World Athletics, this would secure his place at the title fights in Japan, but the Austrian Athletics Federation has incomprehensibly demanded an even higher qualifying time (2:10 hours) for the marathon in order to participate in the World Championships. It is so difficult to qualify for the World Championships these days anyway! But in one discipline, the marathon, the ÖLV itself is setting the bar even higher for the athletes. This decision should be reconsidered. Herzog: "Of course I want to run at the World Championships!"

And the other Austrians? Andreas Vojta already had problems after the fifth kilometer and fought his way to the finish in 2:18:27, which was of course disappointing for him, in 109th place. Markus Hattinger gave up after 27 kilometers and Mario Bauernfeind did not start due to illness.

Super debut by Sawe
The Kenyan Sebastian Sawe came out on top with a world best time of 2:02:05, a sensational marathon debut. The 28-year-old had won the World Half Marathon Championships and the World Cross Country Championships last year. He was followed by the Ethiopian Deresa Gelata (2:02:38) and his compatriot Daniel Mateiko (2:04:24).

Austria: Best performances in the marathon

2:10:06 Peter Herzog London 04.10.2020

2:10:44 Lemawork Ketema Vienna 07.04.2019

2:10:47 Günther Weidlinger Frankfurt 25.10.2009

2:10:57 Peter Herzog Berlin 09/20/2019

2:12:08 Peter Herzog Berlin 29.09.2024

2:12:16 Peter Herzog Berlin 09/25/2022

2:12:18 Peter Herzog Valencia 01.12.2024

2:12:22 Gerhard Hartmann Vienna 13.04.1986

2:12:23 Günther Weidlinger Frankfurt 30.10.2011

2:12:39 Günther Weidlinger Vienna 19.04.2009