50,000 runners celebrate Berlin Marathon at 50

Editor's note: All photos by Christian Brecheis except where noted.

In a year (a new era?) with no Eliud Kipchoge or Kenenisa Bekele, and with the late Kelvin Kiptum’s absence hanging over it, the men’s marathon produced a very fast first 21km – if they had managed to hold the pace, the frontrunners would have been in touching distance of Kipchoge’s 2022 course record of 2:01:09.

They couldn’t sustain that, but at the finish line a tightly bunched top 10 came in hot. The first four runners were all under 2:04, within 20 seconds of each other, and all produced PRs to get there. Ethiopian winner Milkesa Mengesha only pulled away from Kenyan Cybrian Kotut in the last 400 metres, winning in 2:03:17 to Kotut’s 2:03:22. The first 10 runners reached the finish line under 2:06.

The women’s race was a different story, with Tigist Ketema – who notched the world’s fastest ever marathon debut to win in Dubai in January – dominating throughout. After creating a 30 second gap on her Ethiopian compatriot Azmeru Gebru by the 5km mark, Ketema was untroubled by the field for the rest of the course. She won in 2:16.42, followed home (over two minutes later) for an all-Ethiopian podium by Mestawot Fikir in 2:18:48 and Bosena Mulatie in 2:19:00.

For the rest of the runners, it was a spectacular day. More than 50,000 participants turned out to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the marathon that has produced more world records than any other.

Enjoy this recap of the action!