Worku pulls out of London marathon

The 20-year-old Ethiopian, who finished third in the Berlin Marathon last September and was due to make his London Marathon debut on Sunday, had high hopes of becoming the youngest ever London champion.

Worku is generally acknowledged as the unofficial world junior record holder after he finished second in the Paris Marathon two years ago at the age of just 18 in 2 hours 6 minutes and 15 seconds.

"Bazu is very upset that he can't run this year and has had to make a difficult decision," said a race spokeswoman.

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Catherine Ndereba is ready for Boston no. 5

"I still do intense interval training. I like miles and quarters best. 
In races I can set my mind, and I believe I could break 2:20 again."

Vitkor Röthlin: “If I run the European marathon record in London, I will be yodelling”

Switzerland’s 2010 European Athletics Championships marathon gold medallist Viktor Röthlin isn’t so unwise as to promise a European record at the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday, but it’s certainly at the back of his mind.

And he has a special surprise in store for the audience at the end of the race should he go faster than the record of 2:06:36, which is jointly held by Portugal’s Antonio Pinto and France’s Benoit Zwierchiewski.

“If I run the European marathon record here in London, I will be yodelling on the finish line I think people want to see me do it!” revealed Röthlin.

“My parents were old-fashioned; they come from the heart of Switzerland and thought that sports were for the sort of people that did not work hard enough. They sent me to learn yodelling. I can do it but nowadays I don’t do it very often, but I like it.”

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Vienna City Marathon: Kirui goes for Kirui's course record!

Organisers of the Vienna City Marathon tend to look a bit towards Iceland in these days. But since there are now signs of a new volcano eruption there is some relief. "This year all the elite athletes are either already here or on their way and we expect everyone to be fit for the race," said Wolfgang Konrad, the Race Director of Austria's biggest and best quality road race. In 2010 the Vienna City Marathon had suffered from the no fly zone over Europe and one of those who did not make it to the Austrian capital was Eliud Kiptanui. The Kenyan then went on to smash the course record in Prague with 2:05:39.

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