Weidlinger reaches half century of Austrian titles

Günther Weidlinger won his 50th Austrian athletics title on Sunday.

The prolific Günther Weidlinger won his 50th Austrian athletics title across all surfaces - road, cross country and on the track - when he won at the national half marathon championships in Wels on Sunday.

Weidlinger, who is preparing for the Düsseldorf Marathon on 8 May, finished in 63:55, although wasn’t the first man across the line as two Kenyans guests came home ahead of him with Geoffrey Ndungu winning in 63:33.

The first three were all faster than the previous course record of 63:57. For the record, Tanja Eberhart took the women’s title in 78:07.

Weidlinger holds the Austrian marathon record with 2:10:47 which he ran in Frankfurt two years ago but, with his pedigree, he believes can go much faster.

He has been open about his aim to go under two hours 10 minutes in Düsseldorf, a time only one European runner achieved last year, and he is also looking to bounce back after a below-par run at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona last summer, when he struggled with the heat and came home in 18th place with 2:23:37.

Weidlinger remains best known as a 3000m steeplechaser, having won the 1997 European junior crown and then tasted victory again at the 1999 European Athletics U23 Championships.

He also made the final of the 2000 Olympic Games and also two World Championships finals over the barriers.

At cross country, he won the junior men's silver medal at the 1997 SPAR European Cross Country Championships but frustratingly has never won a medal as a senior, finishing fourth in 1998 and 2004.

As part of his preparations for his German outing in six weeks time, Weidlinger will also run in the Hervis Prague Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, next Saturday.

He has a half marathon best of 61:42 but will face some tough competition as there are three men going to the Czech capital who have run under the one hour barrier. The field is lead by Ethiopia’s Azmeraw Bekele, who can boast of a best of 59:39.

The women’s race in Prague will have France’s Christelle Daunay on the start line.

Daunay set a French marathon record of 2:24:22 when she finished second in the Paris Marathon last year.

This year, she will not compete in a spring marathon and instead has her sights set on trying to break the French 10000m record of 31:42.83 in the summer, which has belonged to Rosario Murcia since 1992.