Strong course records by James Kipkurui and Esther Chemtai in Mainz

May 4, 2025

Strong course records were established at the Gutenberg Mainz Half Marathon. Debutant James Kipkurui was the surprise winner in 60:50. Fellow Kenyan Esther Chemtai took the women’s race in 68:52. These results confirmed the race’s position as the second fastest half marathon in Germany behind Berlin.

Men’s race

After some very fast initial kilometres, when the lead group was on course for a sub-one-hour finish time, the pace calmed. A group of six then reached the 10km point in 28:35, which pointed towards a 60:20 time. Surprisingly, it was the 23-year-old debutant James Kipkurui, who broke away from the group before the 15km mark. In good weather conditions, the Kenyan extended his lead. The newcomer, who was unknown internationally, improved the course record by eleven seconds to 60:50 and achieved the first result under 61:00 in Mainz. “This victory comes as a surprise to me. My next goal now is to improve my time to around 59 minutes,” said James Kipkurui, who comes from the wider Eldoret area (Eldama Ravine). The 1992 Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion, Matthew Birir, is part of his coaching team in Kenya.

Germany’s marathon record holder, Samuel Fitwi (2:04:56), moved up from third to second during the final two kms and crossed the line as runner-up with 61:22, missing his personal best by just five seconds. “I am happy with second place, although I was unable to run sub-61 today. The course is really good and the atmosphere was fantastic,” said Samuel Fitwi. Kenya’s Joshua Kithuku was third with 61:24.

Women’s race

In the women’s race, three athletes reached the 10km mark in 32:36, which was a 68:45 pace. Esther Chemtai, fellow Kenyan Rency Kogo, who ran her half-marathon debut. Belgium’s Hanne Verbruggen helped form the lead trio while Domenika Mayer of Germany began to lose contact in this section of the race. Soon afterwards, the two Kenyans dropped Hanne Verbruggen as well. Running behind Rency Kogo for some time, Esther Chemtai then moved ahead with two kilometres to go. Winning in 68:52, she was almost a minute faster than the previous course record of 69:46. Behind the 31-year-old Rency Kogo took second with 69:04, and Hanne Verbruggen followed in third in 69:43. This was a big personal best for the Belgian, who broke 70 minutes for the first time.

“It was only my second half marathon and my first time under 70 minutes. Now I would like to improve to around 67:00. I will run a marathon in the future, but first I want to get faster in the half marathon,” said Esther Chemtai, who trains in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi. Back in 2010, she was the bronze medallist at the World Junior Cross Country Championships.

Fourth-placed Domenika Mayer was the fourth woman to clock a sub-70:00 time in Mainz on Sunday. With 69:56, the German ran her second fastest time ever and missed her PB by just ten seconds. “But this was not my day. Right from the beginning, I was never able to find any rhythm. At some stage, I did not even expect to finish,” said Domenika Mayer.