On September 29, Berlin will host its annual marathon for the 50th time and more runners than ever are set to compete. Here’s what to expect from the international sporting event.
When the starting gun is fired this Sunday at 9.15am, a record number of runners will hit the track for a 42,2-kilometre race through Berlin.
Exactly 286 runners took part when the competition was first held in 1974. This year, when the marathon celebrates its 50th birthday, no fewer than 58.212 runners have signed up.
“Naturally I am excited about these very large figures - even though I can't greet every one of them with a high five as we did 50 years ago,” Berlin Marathon initiator Horst Milde told local broadcaster rbb.
In a perfect marriage of interests, the now 85-year-old was working as a baker and confectioner when he first set up the marathon. In the early 70s, Milde was a representative of the athletics club at Sport-Club-Charlottenburg (CSC) in West Berlin.
Since its early days, the Berlin Marathon has had a reputation as a world-record-breaking affair. This is not unrelated to the fact that the capital’s landscape makes it one of the flattest marathons in the world.
The current men’s record at the Berlin Marathon is held by Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge, who ran the 2018 race in 2:01:39 and broke his own record in 2022 after a 2:01:09 run.
Since Kipchoge is not registered for this year’s race, Ethiopian star Tadese Takele has been named as a “favourite with ambition”. Takele’s current personal best is 2:03:24.
Among the women runners, the 2023 race saw Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa smash not just a Berlin Marathon record, but a world record, completing the route in 2:11:53. Assefa also took home a silver medal at this year’s Paris Olympics.
With Assefa away for 2024, another Ethiopian runner is much-awaited at the finish line. Tigist Ketema will be travelling to Berlin with a personal best of 2:16:07, having won the 2024 Dubai Marathon in January.
Runners and onlookers will be pleased to know that forecasts predict highs of a comfortable 15 degrees with intermittent sunshine but no rainy weather. Like every year, the Siegessäule, Reichstag, Strausberger Platz, Gedächtniskirche and Brandenburger Tor for the finish line, remain some of the most popular spots to watch runners.
If you’re looking to catch the runners on the route through Mitte, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Schöneberg, Charlottenburg and Moabit and you’re travelling with public transport, you should expect BVG disruptions.
The local transport association has warned that around 40 bus and tram lines may be temporarily disrupted throughout the day and has advised that travellers use the S-Bahn and U-Bahn instead.
For drivers, disruption has already begun in some parts of Berlin, namely Straße des 17. Juni between Yitzhak-Rabin-Straße and Brandenburger Tor, which will be closed until October 2, 2024.
Further closures around Potsdamer Platz and Berlin Zoo will begin on Saturday, September 28 from 5am. On race day Sunday, the entire route will close from 5am until 5.30pm, after which the route will be reopened as the last runners pass through.
If you’re running - good luck! If you’re watching - enjoy the sunshine!
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