When the BMW Berling Marathon celebrated its first major anniversary in 1998, the 25th edition of the race was crowned with a world record which that fell from heaven. The pre-race discussion had barely brought the name of Ronaldo da Costa into the reckoning. The Brazilian stormed his way to a 2:06:05 performance which drew headlines around the globe. Will the 50th anniversary of the event also match those headlines in the women’s race for its 50th anniversary?
Tigst Assefa
When Tigst Assefa ran her world record of 2:11:53 a year ago, it took the marathon into an entirely new dimension. The Ethiopian’s achievement set the marathon bar extremely high. Expecting a world record is just as daring as it was before the 25th anniversary and not realistic. Yet one woman in the elite field could well be capable of an world-class performance and that is Tigist Ketema, a training partner of Tigst Assefa. The latter won an Olympic silver medal in August and hence will not be lining up to attempt her third consecutive win in Berlin.
Tigist Ketema
Tigist Ketema is certainly capable of a world-class performance. In January she made her marathon debut in Dubai and produced a sensational performance, winning in 2:16:07 and setting an unofficial world record for a women’s marathon debut. It also made her the ninth fastest woman of all time at the distance. “I have prepared to run a personal best and plan to run the first half on Sunday in around 68 minutes. I hope it won’t be too cold since I run better in warmer conditions,” she explained. Tigist Ketema is still a newcomer to the event. “Before Dubai, I was certainly apprehensive about the distance but afterwards I asked myself, why was that,” she added. She goes into the women’s race as the favourite.
“Tigist is expected to set off at a faster pace than the others. But the elite field is closely matched and could produce a surprise,” said Mark Milde, the Race Director. He has brought together an elite women’s field with eleven athletes who have broken 2:22. That number has only been reached once before in Berlin and that was in 2023. Much points to another win to add to the Ethiopian success sequence. Their women have won the title for the last four races and the six fastest competitors this year come from this land of renowned runners.
Genzebe Dibaba
Genzebe Dibaba, the former world record holder at 1500m and younger sister of the Ethiopian running legend Tirunesh, is looking for a fast time in Berlin. On her debut at the distance in Amsterdam in 2022 she achieved 2:18:05. Genzebe, the 2014 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year, hasn’t been able to improve on that.
“I’ve seen on TV how Haile Gebrselassie broke two world records in Berlin. Since then I’ve always wanted to run here and now I have the chance,” said Genzebe Dibaba. “Success for me would mean breaking my personal best.”
Melat Kejeta
Melat Kejeta, by some way the strongest German marathoner in recent years, will be leading the home hopes on Sunday. “I have very good memories of the race and am delighted to be running here again,” said the 32-year-old, who made her debut in Berlin in 2019 to spring a surprise with 2:23:57 for sixth place. She impressed further with a strong performance for sixth in the 2021 Olympic Marathon in Sapporo in Japan. Bad luck caused a setback in the Paris Games this August where she had to drop out because of stomach problems. This gave her the chance to run Berlin’s anniversary race. “I’m not in the kind of form to attack the German record (2:19:19 by Irina Mikitenko in Berlin in 2008) but I hope to set a personal best. I had a slight knee problem recently and shall have to see how it goes on Sunday,” said Keleta, who improved her best to 2:21:47 in Dubai in January.
The field is deep with East Africans and an Ethiopian sweep of the podium is likely. The first non-East African on the list is Japan’s Mizuki Matsuda who sports a 2:20:52. She is ranked seventh.
Elite women’s field
Tigist Ketema ETH 2:16:07
Genzebe Dibaba ETH 2:18:05
Yebrugal Melese ETH 2:19:36
Mestawot Fikir ETH 2:20:45
Azmera Gebru ETH 2:20:48
Sisay Gola ETH 2:20:50
Mizuki Matsuda JPN 2:20:52
Fikrte Wereta ETH 2:21:32
Ai Hosoda JPN 2:21:42
Melat Kejeta GER 2:21:47
Aberu Ayana ETH 2:21:54
Calli Hauger-Thackery GBR 2:22:17
Bekelech Gudeta ETH 2:22:54
Lisa Weightman AUS 2:23:15
Betelihem Afenigus ETH 2:23:20
Veronica Maina KEN 2:24:46
Bosena Mulatie ETH 2:26:59
Alisa Vainio FIN 2:27:26
Sonia Samuels GBR 2:28:04
Nora Szabo HUN 2:28:25
Philippa Bowden USA 2:29:14
Pauline Esikon KEN Debut
