Without Haile Gebrselassie chasing the world record, the field for this year's Berlin Marathon will have a distinctly different look than it has the last four years. Nevertheless, Sunday's race over the scenic loop course still figures to produce scorching times.
The field for this year's Berlin Marathon will have a distinctly different look than it has in recent years past, but the Sept. 26 race still figures to produce super fast times over its flat 26.2-mile loop-course layout.
Each of the last four years, the race has been headlined by Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie, who broke the world record for the distance in 2007 and then lowered it again the following year to its current mark of 2 hours, three minutes, 59 seconds.
But with the 37-year-old Gebrselassie opting this year to challenge himself on the undulating course of the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 7, the door has been opened for a handful of young, ambitious runners to chase personal-bests, and even the world record. The field for the men's race will include seven runners with PRs under 2:07 and two who have broken the 2:05 mark.
Headlining that field will be Patrick Makau, the 25-year-old Kenyan who won April's Rotterdam Marathon in a personal-best 2:04:48, the fastest marathon time in the world this year. Berlin will be just the fourth marathon of Makau's career. Last year, he placed fourth in Rotterdam in 2:06:14 and did not finish the New York City Marathon. Makau has some familiarity with parts of the Berlin course, having run 58:56 in the half-marathon there in 2007.
Makau's biggest challenge figures to come from fellow Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai. The 28-year-old had a breakout race in Rotterdam, finishing second to Makau in a personal-best 2:04:55. He has run six marathons since 2008 and has been under 2:11 in four of them.
Also figuring in the lead mix will be Kenya's Eliud Kiptanui. The remarkable 21-year-old is the eldest of six children raised in Kaplelach. He left secondary school at age 16 to begin serious training. In 2009, he made his European debut on the track, finishing fifth in the 3000m at the Bislett Games in Oslo. A few months later, he made ran his first marathon, winning the Safaricom Marathon in Kenya in 2:12:17. In April, he was set to compete in the Vienna Marathon but had his travel disrupted by the Icelandic volcano eruption. He opted instead for Prague three weeks later, and won in a course-record 2:05:39.
Bazu Worku, a 20-year-old from Ethiopia, should be in the mix. Last year, he set a world junior record with his runner-up finish in the Paris Marathon in 2:06:15. In May, he finished third in the Ottawa Marathon in 2:09:54.
The flat course figures to suit Kenya's Gilbert Yegon well. The 22-year-old won the 2009 Amsterdam Marathon in 2:06:18 but on the hilly Boston Marathon course in April, he managed just a 22nd-place finish in 2:21:12.
After a fourth-place finish in the 2009 Paris Marathon in 2:06:30, Yemane Tsegay Adhane, 25, of Ethiopia will be running his third marathon of this calendar year. He opened with a victory in the Lake Biwa Marathon in Japan in 2:09:34, and finished runner-up to Kiptanui in the Prague Marathon in May, running 2:07:11.
Like the men's race, this year's women's race will be devoid of its most notable recent participant, Germany's Irina Mikitenko, the 2008 Berlin Marathon champion who has opted for the second straight year to run the Chicago Marathon.
But the hometown fans will still have plenty to cheer for as one of the leading contenders figures to be German Sabrina Mockenhaupt. The 29-year-old ran her marathon personal-best of 2:26:22 in a victory in the Frankfurt Marathon in 2008. She has had a busy year on the track already, having won the German indoor title in the 3000m in February (9:13.67), and 5000m titles at the European Team Championships (15:17.38) in June and the German Nationals (15:36.17) in July. At the European Championships in Barcelona, she finished sixth in the 10,000m in 32:06.02.
Mockenhaupt won't have an easy go of it though, as she must contend with a trio of strong Ethiopians. Bezunesh Bekele, 27, finished fourth in the London Marathon in 2:23:17 in April and owns a PR of 2:23:09. Aberu Kebede, 21, ran a personal-best 2:24:26 in a runner-up finish at the Dubai Marathon in January, and won the Rotterdam Marathon in April in 2:25:29. Genet Getaneh, 24, finished eighth in Dubai, running 2:30:23, but has a PR of 2:26:27.
Also figuring into the mix should be Japan's Tomo Morimoto, who finished eighth in last year's London Marathon in 2:26:29 and ran her personal-best of 2:24:33 in winning the Vienna Marathon in 2006.
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