Berlin, the sports capital and the races anniversaries in 2024: 60 years of the Berlin Cross-County Race – 50 years of the BERLIN MARATHON – 40 years of the Berlin Half Marathon – 40 years of the 10 km race in Tiergarten – 40 years of the AVON Women’s Race. Horst Milde reports

In Berlin’s long history of athletics and races (since the 1890s), running has played the dominant role in recent decades.

The students of the Free University of Berlin (FU Berlin), who launched the Berlin Cross-Country Race at Teufelsberg on 8 November 1964, are the pioneers of this great development of running in Berlin – and thus also in Germany.

The BERLIN MARATHON (founded on 13 October 1974) celebrates its 50th anniversary on 29 September 2024. With over 40,000 participants from all over the world every year, the BERLIN-MARATHON organised by the SCC has become the most spectacular running event and flagship event in Berlin and Germany.

Cover of the programme booklet for the 25th anniversary of the BERLIN-MARATHON 1998 – Photo: Horst Milde

It has been a long and arduous journey from the Berlin cross-country race run by FU Berlin students in 1964 to the 50th BERLIN-MARATHON on 29 September 2024.

Another Berlin race anniversary is the 40-year-old Berlin Half Marathon (founded on 2 September 1984) – intended as „the final rehearsal“ four weeks before the BERLIN MARATHON, which will take place this year on 7 April 2024. In the meantime, the „little brother“ of the BERLIN-MARATHON is slowly catching up with the BERLIN-MARATHON with 36,187 participants from 131 nations (2023).

Other SCC anniversaries include the „10 km in the Tiergarten“, also 40 years old, and the „AVON Women’s Run“, also in the Tiergarten. Both races also served to introduce the population to running and to promote women in particular – who were always underrepresented in running – with their „own“ race.

These 5 jubilarians and „figureheads“ of running in Berlin are only part of the „medal“ that has been needed over the 60 years to further develop running in Berlin. They are just the tip of the „iceberg“ in the Berlin Athletics Association (BLV), which comprises 75 athletics clubs and organises a total of 220 running events every year. All of them contribute to maintaining Berlin’s long tradition as a running centre (since the 1890s!).

Further stages of the running stronghold are the:

• „Berliner Volksmarsch“ over 15 km (1966),
• the „Berlin People’s Run“ over 10 km in the Grunewald forest (1967),
• the „Berliner Volkswandern“ over 25 km with the BZ (1971),
• the „Berlin 25 km race“ (1976),
• the „Berlin New Year’s Eve Run“ (from 1977),
• the „Berlin New Year’s Run“ (from 1990),
• The „City Night on Kurfürstendamm“ (15 August 1992),
• the „Berlin 5 x 5 km Team Relay“ (24 June 2000), to name just the most important „gems“ in the SCC organiser’s range of running events.

In the forefield of the 50th anniversary of the BERLIN-MARATHON, reference may be made to the press service of 7 June 1998 and the historic 25th anniversary of the BERLIN-MARATHON in 1998 (see following pdf):

Berlin-Marathon 25 years press release  7.6.1998 pdf

In the programme booklet „25 years of the BERLIN-MARATHON 1974 – 1998“, the Federal President, Prof. Dr. Roman Herzog, and the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Dr. Primo Nebiolo, speak with words of greeting „of the truly unifying meeting“ of this race.

The „schedule“ of the „25th Alberto BERLIN MARATHON“ had the slogan „Join the Party“ in the subtitle. The „party“ started weeks in advance with an IAAF photo exhibition „Women in Athletics“ with lectures and symposia, a sports history exhibition by the Berlin Sports Museum (AIMS Marathon Museum of Running), the literary marathon, the ecumenical evening prayer in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, a play „MARATHON“, a charity concert and many other activities in the supporting programme.

The BERLIN-MARATHON programme for the 25th anniversary in 1998 – Photo. Horst Milde

The highlight was the ceremony in the „Rotes Rathaus“ in Berlin-Mitte with a speech by the author and long-distance enthusiast Günter Herburger, as well as the laudatory speech by John Disley (AIMS), the Olympic athlete and London Marathon co-founder.

The 50th BERLIN MARATHON and its anniversary on 29 September 2024 will naturally attract all the attention, while all other anniversaries of Berlin running will have to wait until they also „round“!

This is NOT a press release from SCC Berlin, SCC Events or BERLIN-MARATHON!

Horst Milde
Founder of BERLIN-MARATHON,
Berlin Half Marathon and many more.