Ethiopian Mengesha wins thrilling final at the Berlin Marathon

The Ethiopian Milkesa Mengesha looked around again with a fearful look. Cybrian Kotut from Kenya followed him in a sprint. A crime story took place at the Berlin Marathon. In previous years the race was usually decided in the last few kilometers. Not so on Sunday. It was exciting until the end. In the end, Mengesha prevailed ahead of Kotut and Haymanot Alew (Ethiopia). The winning time was 2:03:17 hours.

In the women’s race, Tigist Ketema, also from Ethiopia, prevailed after an impressive start-to-finish victory in 2:16:41 hours, narrowly missing her personal best.

The conditions were perfect at the start. Eight degrees, light west wind, sunshine. “We are ready to go. “The atmosphere is rousing,” said race director Mark Milde immediately before the race. His father Horst Milde started the first Berlin Marathon 50 years ago, then called the “Berliner Volksmarathon”.

The run is a success story. He’s getting bigger and bigger. More people took part in his anniversary run than ever before; over 50,000 had registered. Many of them were there to somehow get by. Some to attract attention (such as a runner with a pineapple on his head, two friends with water wings on their arms or – even more impressive – a man with the Brandenburg Gate as a neck and headdress).

A few wanted to win the race. In recent years, the winner has all too often been Eliud Kipchoge. However, the Kenyan was not there this year after his unsuccessful participation in the Olympics.

The opportunity for runners from the new marathon generation. Runners like Tadese Takele from Ethiopia or Stephen Kiprop from Kenya. The world record runner from last year was also missing among the women. Tigist Assefa was not yet ready for the race after the Olympics; she attended the course as a spectator.

Her compatriot and training partner Tigist Ketema was the big favorite on Sunday. Ketema originally comes from the middle distance. But in her first ever marathon in Dubai at the beginning of this year, she won the course record time of 2:16:07 hours – no debutante has ever run faster. You definitely want to run your personal best, you said before the start.

But initially the marathon began with a small breakdown. Berlin’s governing mayor Kai Wegner pressed the obligatory red start button long after the runners had started.

But the absolutely early start suited the race well. The runners set a breathtaking pace. In the first passage time after five kilometers, the men had a time of 14:25 minutes – which put them on course for a course record. After ten kilometers the time was 28:42 minutes – she even increased the pace.

Tigist Tegema runs a lonely race early on

At this point, the women’s favorite, Tigist Ketema, was already surrounded only by men. No woman could follow her anymore. Her passage time for ten kilometers was 32:14 minutes, so that she had a final time of around 2:15 hours, which would have been the same as the world’s best time for the year.

It was a highly atmospheric run. Around a million spectators came and cheered on the runners. Of course also the German athletes, who make the best possible use of the perfect conditions. The best German was Sebastian Hendel. The 28-year-old made it to the finish in 2:07:32 hours.

But this wasn’t enough to get to the front. The top runners were extremely fast. The passage time for half of the route for the men was 1:00:57 hours – which was still on course for the course record. And Ketema? Her split time was 1:07:53 hours and her goal – a personal record – was within reach. In the end she narrowly missed her own best time.

While Ketema ran a lonely race for the women, the men were heading for a thrilling finale. After just over 25 kilometers, the pacemakers said goodbye surprisingly early. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie attacked first, but his attack was quickly intercepted by the following seven runners. From then on, the tactical games began – which was not good for the end times, but was even more beneficial for the tension.

Little by little, runners had to be demolished. Kandie, for example, was no longer in the lead after 30 kilometers. Two kilometers later, however, he caught up again.

Near Potsdamer Platz, at kilometer 36, there were still six runners together. It was now a restless race, and at times it even got rough in the fight for the best places at the aid stations. The calculated finish time at kilometer 36 was 2:03:36 hours. The Kenyan Stephen Kiprop usually ran in the lead. But in the end, after 42,195 kilometers, Mengesha stormed through the finish line first.