RUNNING GERMANY: BERLIN – Cheroben and Kipkemoi going for a course record on the streets of Berlin – 35th BERLIN HALF MARATHON on March 29, 2015

The 35th edition of the BERLIN HALF MARATHON will see a clash of world-class Kenyan runners Abraham Cheroben and Kenneth Kipkemoi. Both hope to become the new course record holder of Germany's biggest and most prestigious half marathon race.

However the mark they target is a very good one: It was fellow-Kenyan Patrick Makau, who clocked 58:56 minutes back in 2007. While Cheroben and Kipkemoi will opt for a pace that is fast enough for a sub 59 minutes' finish another record will be targeted on Sunday: Germany's Arne Gabius hopes to break the 22 year-old German best. It was back in 1993, when Carsten Eich took the Vattenfall BERLIN HALF MARATHON with 60:34 – a result which at that time also was a European record.

A year ago Abraham Cheroben caused quite a surprise when he followed big favourite Leonard Komon of Kenya all the way in the BERLIN HALF MARATHON. Beaten by just a step at the end Cheroben was given the same time as Komon, who won with 59:14. Both clocked the third fastest time ever run in the history of the event.

When Abraham Cheroben will return to the German capital he will be much more in the focus before the start than in 2014. The 22 year-old showed a couple of more great performances last year. Little more than a month after the half marathon he returned to Berlin and took the 25 k race in a world-class time of 1:11:47.

Only three runners have ever run faster than him at this distance. Cheroben then further improved his half marathon PB when he won in Valencia in October with 58:48. He moved up to fifth place in the list of the fastest half marathon runners ever. It will be interesting to see if he can run such a time on the fast Berlin course as well.

Cheroben's strongest opponent will probably be a runner he knows well: Fellow-Kenyan Kenneth Kipkemoi was second behind Cheroben in the Berlin 25 k and the Valencia race last year. The times he ran at these races – 1:12:32 and 59:01 – are outstanding as well. Additionally he was tenth in the highly competitive World Half Marathon Championships in 2014.

There is a third runner in the elite field who features a sub one hour personal best: Ethiopian Hunegnaw Mesfin was second in the Rome Ostia race in 2014 with 59:39. Kenyans Richard Mengich, who has a PB of 60:11 and took third in Berlin last year, Sylas Kimutai Cheboge (PB: 60:14) and David Kogei (60:50) belong to the favourites for Sunday's race as well.

The women´s race: Isabella Andersson vs Kenya

The women's race looks less spectacular than the men's event. Three Kenyans who feature personal bests between 70 and 71 minutes are challenging a former Kenyan runner who now is running for Sweden. Isabella Andersson switched nationalities after she married Lars Andersson of Sweden in 2006. She won the Stockholm Marathon five times between 2008 and 2013, clocked an impressive 2:23:41 Swedish record at the 2011 Dubai Marathon and is coming to Berlin with a 1:10:02 half marathon PB under her belt.

She will be facing three Kenyan women in the Berlin race: Vicoty Chepkemok ran 70:09 in the Rome Ostia half marathon last year while Elizeba Cherono took the Dutch Venlo event with 70:15. Rebecca Chesire features a PB of 70:45. She showed good form in January's Dubai Marathon, where she achieved a personal record of 2:25:22.

Source:  BERLIN HALF MARATHON

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