Fresh from finishing third at the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon, Magdalene Masai will be chasing the Vienna City Marathon on April 23 in Vienna, Austria.
Sharpening her skills in Iten in Elgeyo Marakwet county, the youngest of the Masai running siblings, said she hopes she will run well and earn a slot for Team Kenya at the 2023 World Athletics Championships later in the year in Budapest, Hungary.
“Training is going on well in Iten and I hope to post my personal best in Vienna on my debut in a race that has been dominated by Kenyans,” said Masai.
Currently enjoying a personal best of 2:22.16 set in 2019 with victory at the Toronto Marathon, Masai said if she runs well, she is likely to land a place in the Kenya team to Budapest.
“I last represented the country in the 2015 Africa Championships, where I finished 4th in the 3,000m steeplechase. This is an opportunity for me to win the confidence of the Kenyan athletics authority,” said Masai.
Kenyans have won Vienna 17 times in the men's cadre and nine in the women's since the inception of the race in 1984.
The title is currently held by Vibian Chepirui, who won both the 2021 and 2022 titles while Cosmas Matolo is the men's champion.
“ Kenyans have in the past performed well in the race and it's because of this that we are always invited for the race. I want to run well on my debut in the race to enter history books,” she said.
The Mount Elgon-born athlete in Bungoma county returned into action last year after maternity leave, where she finished 4th in Toronto Marathon.
She then finished third in the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon where Kenyan Dorcas Tuitoek and Kenyan-born Israeli Lonah Salpeter took the top two positions.
“On my return, I did not manage to run well but at the moment, I have trained well for the championships,” she said.
Masai will be up against fellow Kenyan Visiline Jepkesho as well as Ethiopian Senbere Teferi and home girl Julia Mayer.
