The course has witnessed 14 world records since its humble beginnings in 1974
By Ali Ball
The fastest marathon course in the world celebrates its 50th anniversary this month. Having been witness to an incredible 14 world records, Berlin is undoubtably one of the most prestigious road races you can enter.
This year will see over 50,000 participants from more than 120 countries line up near the Brandenburg Gate, its cool conditions, flat well-maintained roads, and carefully selected elite fields creating the perfect formula for a fast time. Let’s wind the clock back to where it all began and take a look at the race’s record-breaking history.
When was the first Berlin marathon?
The race was founded in 1974 by local baker Horst Milde, who combined his passion for running with a family bread and cake business that had flourished just west of the Brandenburg Gate for 300 years. His first marathon had 244 finishers — only 10 of them were women. It was won in a modest 2:44:53 on the men’s side, and 3:22:01 for the women.
Milde patiently kneaded the race like dough until it rose to become this year’s gourmet mega-dollar global-audience marathon with 50,000 sought-after starters. With Milde still a watchful presence, the race remains under the auspices of his Charlottenburg sports club, with his non-baker son Mark Milde as race director.
When Germany achieved reunification in October 1990 after 45 years of division and military occupation, the Berlin Marathon went through the previous Eastern Zone for the first time and gained a world profile as symbol of the new sense of free and open access that swept Europe.
Historic results
1977
Christa Vahlensieck, from the then West Germany, was the first person to dash to a world record in 2:34:47 at Berlin, at a time when female runners were beginning to discover the new opportunity of the marathon, building the pressure that led to its inclusion for the 1984 Olympics.
For three years the world record had been swapped between Vahlensieck, France’s Chantal Langlacé and USA’s Jacqueline Hansen. When Vahlensieck took back the record on German soil, it was consolation for Van Aaken, who had lost both legs in an automobile accident.
1998-1999
Ronaldo Da Costa of Brazil runs the 1999 London Marathon
Ronaldo da Costa, a Brazilian, had only rarely competed outside his home country. At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, he finished a modest 16th in the 10,000 meters. In his first visit to Berlin in 1997, he placed fifth (2:09:07), but the next year he astonishingly improved by three minutes and broke a world record that had stood for 10 years, clocking 2:06:05. Da Costa is the only South American, male or female, to have held the world marathon record.
Meanwhile, in 1999, Kenya’s Tegla Loroupe broke Vahlensieck’s 22-year old women’s record in 2:20:43. It made her the first African woman to hold the marathon world record.
2000
It might not have been a world record, but the millennium year of the Berlin Marathon produced a surprise winner. Kenyan Simon Biwott had entered the race as a pacemaker but continued for the full distance and won the title in 2:07:42 when he noticed that one of the favourites had pulled out in the second half of the race.
2001
The world began to look for the first women’s sub-2:20 marathon after Joan Benoit Samuelson slashed the world best mark down to 2:22:43 at Boston in 1983. But the barrier eluded the first generation of great Africans, even Fatuma Roba (Ethiopia), first African woman to win the Olympic marathon in 1996, and Tegla Loroupe (Kenya), first to win a big-city marathon, New York in 1994. Berlin wanted the sub-2:20 notch on its belt, and Loroupe came close there with 2:20:43 in 1999. After almost 20 years, sub-2:20 began to look like the 2:29 minute kilometre before Roger Bannister.
Then Berlin lured the Japanese Olympic champion (Sydney 2000), Naoko Takahashi. Trained on super-high mileage, Takahashi scorched the flat Berlin streets to give herself lasting fame with 2:19:46. It was more than a sporting breakthrough. In Japan’s long but patriarchal culture, Takahashi became the first popular national female hero, even featuring as the lead character in a ‘manga’ comic-book series, with a multi-million readership.
2003
Paul Tergat from Kenya celebrates after breaking the world record in 2003
Berlin’s previous flat and fast loop course was changed significantly for the 2003 race. Kenya’s Paul Tergat became the first man to cross the new finish line when he ran a world record of 2:04:55, passing through Brandenburg Gate – the symbol for reunification. It also made Tergat the first man to go sub 2:05.
2007-2008
In 2007 and 2008, Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia broke that record, first lowering it to 2:04:26 and then to 2:03:59 – the first sub-2:04 time ever.
2011-2014
In 2011, Patrick Makau reclaimed the record for Kenya, finishing in 2:03:38, only to be eclipsed two years in a row by his compatriots Wilson Kipsang, who clocked 2:03:23 in 2013, and Dennis Kimetto, who ran a barrier-breaking 2:02:57 in 2014.
2018-2022
Eliud Kipchoge wins the 2022 Berlin Marathon in 2:01:09
In 2018, that mark was erased by Eliud Kipchoge, who ran an astonishing 2:01:39, and then lowered it to 2:01:09 in 2022. Kipchoge’s record has since been broken by the late Kelvin Kiptum at the 2023 Chicago Marathon, who ran a 2:00:35.
2023
Tigist Assefa breaks the women’s marathon world record at the 2023 Berlin Marathon
The women’s world record was shattered on the course in 2023, when Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa ran an astonishing 2:11:53 to win her second consecutive Berlin title. Assefa broke Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei’s standard of 2:14:04 set at the 2019 Chicago Marathon. It made her the first female to break the 2:14, 2:13 and 2:12 barrier.
In the wheelchair race, Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner broke the world record in 1:34:16, with two women just one second behind.
All the trends in Berlin’s history suggest that breaking these marks are not merely possible; they are almost compulsory.
World Records at Berlin
Men
- 1998: Ronaldo da Costa (Brazil; 2:06:05)
- 2003: Paul Tergat (Kenya; 2:04:55)
- 2007: Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia; 2:04:26)
- 2008: Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia; 2:03:59)
- 2011: Patrick Makau Musyoki (Kenya; 2:03:38)
- 2013: Wilson Kipsang (Kenya; 2:03:23)
- 2014: Dennis Kimetto (Kenya; 2:02:57)
- 2018: Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya; 2:01:39)
- 2022: Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya; 2:01:09)
Women
- 1977: Christa Vahlensieck (W. Germany; 2:34:48)
- 1999: Tegla Loroupe (Kenya; 2:20:43)
- 2001: Naoko Takahashi (Japan; 2:19:46)
- 2024: Tigist Assefa (Ethiopia; 2:11:53)
How to enter the Berlin Marathon
Since 2006, the Berlin Marathon has been an Abbott World Marathon Major, the association of the six biggest marathons in the world. Since 2011, there has been a lottery to meet the growing demand. Alternatively, you can secure an entry via one of the marathon’s charity partners or tour operators, such as Marathon Tours and Travel.
