RUNNING GERMANY- BERLIN – 41. BERLIN-MARATHON 2014: Records targeted once again in Berlin

This year's BERLIN-MARATHON will be the first of the major autumn marathons. As a member of the World Marathon Majors series the race through the German capital
guarantees highest quality in every aspect.

Regarding the elite field the BERLIN-MARATHON has long been among the very best road races worldwide.  This will be no different this time.

When the world's best marathon runners come to Berlin they usually have superfast times in mind and may be even the world record. So far there were nine global records in the BERLIN-MARATHON. For more than ten years Berlin is the venue where a men's marathon world record was broken four times in a row.

Kenyans Paul Tergat, Patrick Makau and Wilson Kipsang as well as Ethiopia's Superstar Halle Gebrselassie are among those who stormed to glory here.

This time there is another Kenyan on the Start list who has the potential to run a world
record: 30 year-old Dennis Rlmetto is the fastest on the Start list with a personal best
of 2:03:45. With this time he won the Chicago Marathon a year ago, missing Wilson
Kipsang' record by just 22 seconds. Fellow-Kenyan Kipsang clocked 2:03:23 two weeks
earller in Berlin.

Kimetto burst into international road running two and a half years ago, winning his first three races. First he took the Ras AI Khaimah half marathon in the United Arab Emirates, then he won the BERLIN HALF MARATHON.

But even more spectacular was his third race: When he came back to Berlin for the 25 km rac in May 2012 he shattered the 25 k world record with a time of 1:11:18. Later that year Klmetto ran a brilliant marathon debut in

This is where the action starts: runners tale off from the starting hne at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON. Berlin, placlng second just a step behind Geoffrey Mutai (Kenya). His time of 2:04:16 is an unofficlal world debut record.

After major marathon wins in Tokyo and Chicago in 2013 this year did not go as planned so far a muscle problem forced Kimetto to drop out of the Boston Marathon in April. But Kimetto remained confident that he would be in top shape when coming to Berlin to attack the world record.

However Kimetto will face tough opposition in Berlin. Four more runners are in the field with personal bests of sub 2:06:00 Kenyans Emmanuel Mutai, Levy Matebo and Ehud Kiptanui as well as Ethiopia's Tsegaye Kebede. Mutai was only seven seconds behind Kimetto in last year's Chicago Marathon, when he set a personal best of2:03:52.

The 29 year-old is the London Marathon Champion from 2011. Mutai is very optimistlc
regarding the Berlin race. In a recent interview he said if weather conditions are fine the world record would be possible.

Levy Matebo clocked a world-class time of 2:05:16 in Frankfurt in 2011. He was second in that race and then took another second place in the prestigious Boston Marathon in 2012. Whlle Eliud Kiptanui, who produced a sensational 2:05:39 course record in Prague in 2010, has not been anywhere near his best recently it is different with Tsegaye  Kebede.

The Elhiopian is an extremely consistent worldclass runner, who has already clocked ten sub 2:07 times. It was no coincidence that he took the World Marathon Majors series 2012-2013. Kebede clocked his personal best of 2:04:38 when he won Chicago in 2012. The two-time London Marathon champion – 2010 and 2013 – also took the Olympic Bronze medal in 2008.

Women's winning times have been a bit behind compared to the men in recent years. It is six years ago that there was a sub 2:20 time in Berlin: Germany's Irina Mikitenko won the race in 2008 with 2:19:19, missing the course record of Japan's Mizuki Noguchi by just seven seconds.

A runner who hopes to reach such times on Sunday is Shalane Flanagan, who will target the US record on Berlln's fast course. This mark by Deena Kastor stands at 2:19:36 while Flanagan has a PB of 2:22:02.

Two runners in the Berlin field have come closer to the 2:20 barrier than Flanagan. Feyse Tadese won last year's Paris Marathon in 2:21:06 while fellow-Ethiopian Tirfi Tsegaye ran her PB in Berlin two years ago. She was second with 2:21:19. Tsegaye has already wem three major marathons: Paris 2012, Dubai 2013 and Tokyo 2014.

Source: BERLIN-MARATHON