Geoffrey Mutai
Leading the elite field at the 39th edition of the BMW BERLIN MARATHON on September 30th is Geoffrey Mutai (31) from Kenya, the man who ran the fastest marathon ever winning the Boston Marathon last year clocking 2:03:02 hrs.
The time however cannot be recognized as a world record since the Boston course does not meet the requirements for records (the maximum incline is one metre per kilometre, start and finish should not be further apart than 50 % of the total race distance). The incline on Boston’s point to point course is 139 metres. The official world record stands at 2:03:38 by Patrick Makau (Kenya). He ran that at the BMW BERLIN MARATHON last year.
His challengers are Jonathan Maiyo (26) from Kenya who ran his PB in February placing 4th at the Dubai Marathon (2:04:56), Deresse Chimsa (35) from Ethiopia (2:05:42), and Nicholas Kamakya (27, Kenya, 2:06:34). There are two possible contenders to watch out for. Both are first timers on the marathon distance and both have won the Vattenfall BERLIN HALF MARATHON. Geoffrey Kipsang (Kenya) won the race last year being just 19 years old and has improved his PR at the distance meanwhile to a world class level of 59:26. Dennis Kimetto (28) won it last April (59:14) and several weeks later clocked a world record for 25 kilometres (1:11:18).
The women´s field will probably be dominated by runners from Ethiopia and Kenya. Aberu Kebede (23) knows the course well enough after winning this race in 2010 in pouring rain. Meanwhile she has improved her PB to 2:20:33 and could try to get under 2:20 hrs this time. Her toughest contenders are Alemitu Abera (26, Ethiopia, 2:23:14), Philes Ongori (26, Kenya, 2:24:20) and Flomena Chepchirchir (30, Kenya, 2:24:21). German newcomer Anna Hahner (22) has clocked 2:30:14 in her marathon debut in April and wants to go under 2:30 if the conditions are favourable.
The race is televised live nationally (n-tv and Eurosport) and will be shown live in 194 countries worldwide.