Geoffrey Mutai, 2011 Boston Marathon, by PhotoRun.net

Geoffrey Mutai has run the fastest men’s marathon, all condtions, of all times, with his 2:03:02 on the Boston marathon course. Whether it is a record or not really does not matter. The important idea is that Mutai is fast, and that he should fly on the BMW Berlin marathon course.

In twenty days we will find out just how fast Mr. Mutai will go this year!

Who can challenge Geoffrey Mutai at the
BMW BERLIN MARATHON on September 30th?

Leading the elite field at the 39th edition of the BMW BERLIN MARATHON on September 30th is Geoffrey Mutai (31) from Kenya, the man who ran the fastest marathon ever winning the Boston Marathon last year clocking 2:03:02 hrs. The time however cannot be recognized as a world record since the Boston course does not meet the requirements for records (the maximum incline is one metre per kilometre, start and finish should not be further apart than 50 % of the total race distance). The incline on Boston’s point to point course is 139 metres. The official world record stands at 2:03:38 by Patrick Makau (Kenya). He ran that at the BMW BERLIN MARATHON last year.

His challengers are Jonathan Maiyo (26) from Kenya who ran his PB in February placing 4th at the Dubai Marathon (2:04:56), Deresse Chimsa (35) from Ethiopia (2:05:42), and Nicholas Kamakya (27, Kenya, 2:06:34). There are two possible contenders to watch out for. Both are first timers on the marathon distance and both have won the Vattenfall BERLIN HALF MARATHON. Geoffrey Kipsang (Kenya) won the race last year being just 19 years old and has improved his PR at the distance meanwhile to a world class level of 59:26. Dennis Kimetto (28) won it last April (59:14) and several weeks later clocked a world record for 25 kilometres (1:11:18).

The womenÂ´s field will probably be dominated by runners from Ethiopia and Kenya. Aberu Kebede (23) knows the course well enough after winning this race in 2010 in pouring rain. Meanwhile she has improved her PB to 2:20:33 and could try to get under 2:20 hrs this time. Her toughest contenders areAlemitu Abera (26, Ethiopia, 2:23:14), Philes Ongori (26, Kenya, 2:24:20) and Flomena Chepchirchir (30, Kenya, 2:24:21). German newcomer Anna Hahner (22) has clocked 2:30:14 in her marathon debut in April and wants to go under 2:30 if the conditions are favourable.
The race is televised live nationally (n-tv and Eurosport) and will be shown live in 194 countries worldwide.

Accreditation is possible online until September 14th. All infos regarding media are on the website.

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Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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