The Haspa Marathon Hamburg will feature a strong international men’s field for the 40th edition on April 26. Two-time champion Bernard Koech returns to the race. Stephen Kissa ran a national record here, and the Ugandan will be among the strong favourites. Germany’s former national record holder, Samuel Fitwi, could produce a strong performance and cause a surprise.
In 2025, it surprised a few people that he recorded the best results of all German marathon races. “We are looking forward to another thrilling race. Hopefully, we will get very fast times again and can continue our recent success story,” said chief organizer Frank Thaleiser.
Koech is unbeaten on the streets of Hamburg. He raced the Haspa Marathon twice, and on both occasions the Kenyan crossed the line first. In 2023, Koech tied his personal record here with 2:04:09. While this remains his PB, in the following year he won with 2:04:24. In spring last year, Koech ran the Seoul Marathon, where he was third in 2:05:50. “Hamburg is like a second home for me. I am really looking forward to coming back once more,” said the 38-year-old.
Making it three victories out of three starts will come with quite a challenge for Koech. Kissa will likely have something to say about that. The Ugandan ran a spectacular marathon debut in Hamburg, when he finished runner-up just a second behind Kenyan winner Cybrian Kotut in 2022. Kissa clocked 2:04:48 in his debut, which was a national record at that time and remains his PB. Abdisa Tola is another very strong African athlete who has the potential to go for the victory. The 25-year-old Ethiopian, who is the younger brother of the 2024 Olympic Marathon Champion Tamirat Tola, won his debut marathon in Dubai with 2:05:42 in 2023. Last year, he came close to this PB when he placed third in Osaka with 2:05:52.
Germany’s Samuel Fitwi might well challenge for a place on the podium if he can build similar form as in 2024. Two years ago, he qualified for the Olympic Games, where he then finished in a fine 15th position. Later in 2024, Fitwi caused an upset by breaking the German record with 2:04:56 in Valencia, improving the mark of Amanal Petros by two seconds. While this remains his PB, he has lost the record to Petros in the meantime. “I am really looking forward to running the jubilee race in Hamburg,” said Samuel Fitwi, who trains in Addis Ababa.
Two more German runners are on the elite start list: Sebastian Hendel returns to Hamburg, where he placed tenth and ran his first sub 2:10:00 time two years ago (2:08:51). Since then he has improved his PB to 2:07:33. Aaron Bienenfeld, who clocked a promising 61:15 personal best at the Houston Half Marathon in January, will run his marathon debut in Hamburg on 26th April.
A total of 20,000 marathon runners have entered the jubilee edition of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg.
More information about the Haspa Marathon Hamburg is available at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de
