Ecumenical Marathon Prayer for the 51st BMW BERLIN MARATHON in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church – September 20, 2025, at 4:00 p.m.

The Ecumenical Marathon Prayer (formerly “Ecumenical Evening Prayer”) in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church has been a traditional event for 40 years, taking place one day before the Berlin Marathon, and has special spiritual significance for participants from all over the world.

Thanks God, we run!

We invite you again!

For the 51st time, the Berlin Marathon and for the 40th time, the Ecumenical Marathon Prayer right on the route: The blue line and the blue light come together in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

Once again, people from 150 nations will take to the starting line and make the marathon a symbol of peace. We support that!

Thanks – we run.

This thought moves us. Running is more than just sport—it is an experience for the whole person. Step by step, we feel the ground beneath our feet, the rhythm of our breathing, and how we live within ourselves.

Those who run often discover a new form of clarity: thoughts fall into place, inner tensions dissolve, and sometimes a quiet dialogue with oneself—or with God—even arises.

Running means freedom. And those who are able to run in peace—without fear, without limits, without having to flee—have reason to be grateful. This is not a given everywhere in the world. We hear and see this every day. We do not take our freedom for granted, but want to consciously appreciate it—in prayer, in pause, in communal worship.

A marathon is more than a race. It is a path on which trust grows: in one’s own strength, in the preparation, in the goal that is not yet visible – but seems achievable. This trust is reminiscent of faith. In faith, too, we are on a journey – sometimes light-footed, sometimes exhausted, sometimes full of energy, sometimes searching. And yet accompanied: by God, who walks with us.

We cordially invite you to the worship service on the eve of the race.

We celebrate community, sing, pray for peace and freedom, feel gratitude – and take the blessing with us to the starting line.

Thanks – we run.

Be present!

The worship service will be led jointly by:

Dr. Sarah-Magdalena Kingreen, Pastor, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, Berlin

Horst Milde, founder of the Berlin Marathon, honorary race director

Ute Szameitat, volunteer at the Berlin Marathon, runner and walker

Dr. Helmut Jansen, Catholic theologian – supervisor – triathlete, www.lauf-rat.de

Heinz Frei*, Swiss racing wheelchair athlete, one of the most successful Swiss athletes of all time

Dr. Lars Charbonnier, Protestant pastor and runner

* Heinz Frei has won the Berlin Marathon 20 times and participated a total of 35 times.

All Berliners are of course also invited to the marathon prayer. In the first decades of the race, the church was located 200 meters behind the finish line on Kurfürstendamm. After the event moved to a start and finish near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin-Mitte, the route still passes the church.

The collection taken from the well-marathon runners of the Ecumenical Marathon Prayer goes to the Fürst Donnersmarck Foundation in Berlin for the care of sick children and those in need of care.

Horst Milde