Berlin_Marathon

Berlin Marathon

Berlin Marathon

Annual race in Germany since 1974

The Berlin Marathon (German: Berlin-Marathon, pronounced [bɛʁˈliːn ˈmaʁatɔn]) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974,[lower-alpha 1] the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres (26.219 mi), including elite level road running competitions for men and women, a race for the public, an inline skating race, a wheelchair race, and a handcycle race.

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Events are split over two days, with skaters competing on the marathon course on Saturday before the running events. Power walkers, hand-bikers, wheelchair riders, and a children's marathon (4.2195 kilometres (2.6219 mi), 1/10 of the regular distance)[4] are also part of the marathon weekend, which is organised by SCC EVENTS. The elite running and wheelchair races are part of the World Marathon Majors, an annual series of top level races offering a $1 million prize purse. BMW is the current title sponsor for the race.

The city's flat course regularly produces fast performances: a record eight women scored times below 2:20 in the 2023 race, and a record nine men were below 2:05 and 15 finished inside 2:06.[5] The marathon world record has been broken in Berlin on thirteen occasions, particularly the most recent eight instances on the men's progression (as of September 2022). The current record was set at the 2022 edition, where Eliud Kipchoge won the men's race in 2:01:09. Tigist Assefa set a new women's world record in 2023 with 2:11:53. In the wheelchair race, Catherine Debrunner (Switzerland) 2023 broke the world record in 1:34:16 hours.[6]

History

Eliud Kipchoge running world record (2:01:09) at the 2022 Berlin Marathon

The Berlin Marathon was established in 1974 by Horst Milde, a baker and running enthusiast in the city. The race had 244 finishers; 234 men and 10 women, and was won by Günter Hallas and Jutta von Haase in times of 2:44:53 and 3:22:01 respectively. In 1977, Christa Vahlensieck established a new women's world record at the Berlin Marathon, running 2:34:47. Four years later, the race started outside the Reichstag for the first time, by which time it had grown to 2,583 finishers, making it the largest city road race in Germany. The following year, before German unification, some East Germans secretly ran the race, registering under false names to avoid recriminations from the East German secret service. In 1989, a children's race was added to the event, and eight years later an inline skating marathon was contested.[7][8]

In 1998, Ronaldo da Costa set a new men's world record, the only South American to hold a marathon world record. Two years later, one of the race's pacemakers, Simon Biwott won the race, after one of the favourites had pulled out in the second half of the race. In 2001, Naoko Takahashi became the first woman to run a sub-2:20 marathon, completing the Berlin Marathon in 2:19:46. The race had continued to be the venue of world records; between 2003 and 2018, seven men's records were set at the race; the most recent remains as the current world record time; Eliud Kipchoge's 2:01:39.[7][8]

The event was held in mid-September in 2000 and 2018, because of a conflict with the Women's Olympic Marathon, and due to German Unity Day preparations, respectively.[9]

The 2020 edition of the event was prohibited from being held on its originally scheduled dates due to the coronavirus pandemic,[10] and was eventually cancelled once it was clear that it would not be possible to hold it at a later date in 2020.[3] All registrants were given the option of either transferring their entry to 2021 or obtaining a refund.[3]

Course

The marathon course is set throughout several boroughs in Berlin with start and finish near the Brandenburg Gate (bottom right).

The course within the metropolis starts and finishes near the Brandenburg Gate. Due to the division of the city, the marathon events before 1990 were limited to West Berlin only. On 30 September 1990 athletes were able to run through the Brandenburg Gate for the first time and since then, the course has covered both halves of the unified city. It was reported that a great many of the runners had tears in their eyes as they ran through the gate.[11]

Nowadays, after leaving Brandenburg Gate, the course passes Charlottenburg, around Tiergarten, along Moabit and Mitte, and then south to Friedrichshain. After that, it winds west between Kreuzberg and Neukölln, through Schöneberg, over to Friedenau and Zehlendorf, before turning north back toward the city's center. Looping above Schöneberg, the course comes full circle as it finishes through the Gate.[11]

There have been two other major international marathons in Berlin. At the 1936 Olympic Games and at the 2009 IAAF World Championships, both using different routes. A marathon in Berlin on 14 Oct 1973 was won by Ulrich Hutmacher (GER) with a time of 2:19:32, but that race is not considered to be part of the Berlin Marathon series.

Sponsors

There have been several title sponsors in the race's history. From 1974 until 1989 it was just the Berlin Marathon. In 1990, it was the Yanase Berlin Marathon. In 1991 and 1992 it was the Canon Berlin Marathon. It reverted to simply the Berlin Marathon from 1993 until 1997. It then became the Alberto Berlin Marathon in 1998 and 1999. A new title sponsor changed the name to the real,- Berlin Marathon from 2000 to 2010. Since 2011 it has been called the BMW Berlin Marathon.

Finishers

In terms of finishing athletes, Berlin is one of four world-wide marathons with more than 40,000 finishers, along with the New York City Marathon, Chicago Marathon, and Paris Marathon.

2009 Berlin Marathon
World record winner Haile Gebrselassie on his way to his fourth straight victory in the 2009 Berlin Marathon
The Berlin Marathon is known as a flat and fast course.
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Elite race

World record winner Tigst Assefa (left) about 25 km (16 mi) into the 2023 Berlin Marathon, alongside pacemaker Girmay Birhanu Gebru

World records

Patrick Makau Musyoki and Irina Mikitenko in 2011
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Winners

Key:

   Current course record
   German championship race
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Inline skating race

The skater marathon is considered to be largest inline marathon in the world

An inline skating section was added to the marathon event in 1997. A total of 5081 people took part in this section in the 2019 race. It is considered the largest inline skater marathon in the world and is the final venue of the World Inline Cup. The men's and women's race records are held by Bart Swings (56:49 in 2015) and Maira Yaqueline Arias (1:06:35 in 2017).

Key:    Course record (in bold)

More information Year, Men's winner ...

Handcycle race

A handcycle race was first held at the race in 2004. In 2008, 166 handcyclists participated in the Berlin Marathon. The men's and women's race records are held by Jetze Plat (1:00:01 in 2019) and Christiane Reppe (1:08:54 in 2016).

Key:    Course record (in bold)

More information Year, Men's winner ...

Wheelchair race

Wheelchair athlete in 2009

A wheelchair section was first officially held at the Berlin Marathon in 1981. Only men competed that year. The wheelchair race typically starts earlier in the day before the runners and power walkers.

Heinz Frei is the most successful athlete, with twenty wins in the men's race. The next most successful athlete is Manuela Schär, who has won the women's race six times. Both these athletes also hold the records for time, with Frei setting the men's race record of 1:21:39 in 1997 and Schär setting the women's race record of 1:36:53 in 2018.[15]

Key:    Course record (in bold)

More information Year, Men's winner ...

See also

Notes

  1. The event was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.[3]
  2. h:m:s

References

  1. [1]
    BERLIN-MARATHON: Zahlen und Rekorde: Die Teilnehmerzahlen 2022
  2. [2]
    "47. BMW Berlin-Marathon 2021". berlin.r.mikatiming.net. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  3. [3]
    "BMW BERLIN-MARATHON: Event update". 2020-07-01. Archived from the original on 2020-07-01. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  4. [4]
    Berlin, Berliner Morgenpost- (2010-09-25). "9500 Kinder und Jugendliche beim Mini-Marathon". www.morgenpost.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  5. [5]
    Assefa smashes world marathon record in Berlin with 2:11:53, Kipchoge achieves record fifth win WORLD ATHLETICS
  6. [6]
    Catherine Debrunner pulverises world record at Berlin Marathon World Para Athletics
  7. [7]
    Robinson, Roger (25 September 2019). "The Record-Breaking History of the Berlin Marathon". Runner's World. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  8. [8]
    "Countdown is starting: Looking back into the history of the BMW BERLIN MARATHON". BMW BERLIN MARATHON. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  9. [9]
    "Tag der Deutschen Einheit verdrängt Berlin-Marathon". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  10. [10]
    "Event Update". www.scc-events.com. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  11. [11]
    Marius Bakken. "Berlin Marathon". Retrieved 2009-04-17.
  12. [12]
    "47. BMW Berlin-Marathon 2021". berlin.r.mikatiming.net. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  13. [13]
    "Berlin Marathon live: Sperrungen, Strecke, Corona, Ergebnisse - alle News und Infos - Berliner Morgenpost". www.morgenpost.de. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  14. [14]
    "Adola and Gebreslase win at Berlin Marathon as Bekele falters in third". www.insidethegames.biz. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  15. [15]
    2018 Berlin Marathon. Berlin Marathon. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
  16. [16]
    "BMW BERLIN-MARATHON (@berlinmarathonE) | Twitter". twitter.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  17. [17]
    "BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2022". Archived from the original on 25 September 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
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