BMW Berlin Marathon anticipates fast times and intense battles, maybe a world record

Eliud Kipchoge is just like the rest of us runners. All he wants from his next race is to beat his personal best. The only difference is that his next event is the BMW Berlin Marathon on September 16 and a Kipchoge PR could mean a new world record!, Eliud Kipchoge is the marquee signing for the 45th edition of BMW Berlin Marathon as the current Olympic champion and undisputed number one for consistency and quality in recent years. His PR, set in London 2016 (2:03:05), prefaced his Olympic marathon gold in Rio the same year. Meanwhile, Denis Kimetto's world record (2:02:57) remains tantalisingly just out of reach for the three-time London champion and double Berlin winner. Kipchoge surely has pace to burn as his brilliant 2:00:25 in 'laboratory' conditions at Monza motor racing circuit in May last year demonstrates. This was never going to be ratified as a record but serves to indicate there is much more to come from the 33-year-old Kenyan, who said: “My preparation is entirely concentrated on the BMW Berlin Marathon on September 16. I am confident I can beat my personal best on this fast course if conditions are good.” The women's field in Berlin is the best for many years and is headlined by the third fastest in history, Tirunesh Dibaba, from Ethiopia (2:17:56) who set her PB in London last year chasing Paula Radcliffe's legendary 2:15:25 from 2003. Dibaba will face the defending champion Gladys Cherono (Kenya) and former double Berlin winner Edna Kiplagat (Kenya), who is the oldest of the leading trio at 38 years old.

posted Thursday September 13th