The Berlin Marathon Tracker now points to a wide-open men’s race on Sunday after injured world record holder Sabastian Sawe withdrew. Without him, the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON still looks fast, deep and highly competitive, with at least half a dozen athletes capable of winning and 26 runners already under 2:08:00.
That depth matters because Berlin has long been one of the quickest courses in the world. Eliud Kipchoge’s 2022 run of 2:01:09 remains the standard on the route, and race director Mark Milde believes the field is capable of pushing close to that level again.
Mark Milde expects a fast start
Milde said he expects “a thrilling race” and hopes for a course record. He also said the early pace for the first group will be “towards 2:01,” which tells you how aggressively the race could be run from the gun.
That is the central point of this Berlin Marathon Tracker update: Sawe’s absence changes the top-end dynamic, but it does not diminish the quality. The field remains one of the deepest elite marathon line-ups in the world, and the pace target suggests the front runners will not wait around.
Who can still win in Berlin?
The list of contenders is strong enough to keep the race open. Gabriel Geay, Guye Adola and Selemon Barega are all in the mix, while Kenenisa Bekele, Yomif Kejelcha, Getaneh Molla and Shura Kitata add more quality to the front end. For a race like Berlin, that is exactly what keeps the intrigue alive.
Geay is back after missing last year’s race because of high temperatures. He said he is glad to have “a second chance to run in Berlin” and added that he is in good shape and hopes to run a very good time. Adola, who finished second behind Eliud Kipchoge in Berlin in 2017 in 2:03:46 and won Berlin in 2021, said he is “very well prepared and in the best shape of my life.”
Why the course record is still in play
Sunday’s race also carries a familiar Berlin storyline: the pursuit of a fast time as much as the win itself. Adola’s win in Rotterdam this spring, when he ran 2:03:54, underlines the level he brings into this race. Barega, meanwhile, will run his third marathon and said he has trained well and wants to improve further in Berlin.
The elite field goes far beyond the headline names. Eleven Japanese runners and three German runners are part of the wider setup, and the total field still reflects the event’s scale and status, with 56,000 entries from 162 nations linked to the marathon weekend.
Berlin has a history of producing landmark performances, including the first time the course was beaten in 1995 and Kipchoge’s record run two years ago. Without Sawe, the race is no less interesting. If anything, it becomes a pure test of depth, pacing and composure, with a course record still a realistic target if the front group commits early enough.
