Kenya's Kimetto looking to revive career at Vienna marathon

Nairobi   :   Kenyan World record holder Dennis Kimetto says his injury problems are finally behind him and he is ready for his comeback in the Vienna Marathon on Sunday. 

Kimetto will however not be fighting to improve on his personal best time of 2:02:05 hours, reports Xinhua news agency.

"If the weather is good I want to run a good time. I think 2:07:00 to 2:08:00 would be good," he said on Friday.

Kimetto has not finished a marathon since the 2016 London Marathon where he was ninth and blames his lack of recent form on poor physiotherapy. 

"After my first London Marathon in 2015 I was injured again and again for more than two years and I always wondered what was the mistake and if I would ever come back to this level of competition," he said.

The 34-year-old first injured his quadricep, then his groin and finally the tricep muscle. He has also had to encounter ankle and knee problems. "It was only in January this year that we found out why I got all these injuries.

"The reason was wrong treatment by the physiotherapist," added Kimetto. 

This prompted Kimetto to switch physiotherapists in Eldoret, joining up with New York Marathon silver medallist and former marathon world record holder Wilson Kipsang.

"Since January I have no more pain and no injuries. I could train properly without any problems," he said. 

The Kenyan only finished two marathons in the past three years -- he was third in London in 2015 with a time of 2:05:50 and then clocked a time of 2:11:44 for a ninth place finish in the same race a year later.

Kimetto said the course record of 2:05:41 set by Ethiopia's Getu Feleke back in 2014 may still be out of his reach, but he has not ruled out making an attempt to go for it.