Anna Hahner was the first German woman in the Berlin Marathon. Along with her twin sister, Lisa, Anna Hahner and Lisa are the running darlings of German running. I watched the entire German broadcast of the BMW Berlin marathon. Besides the fact that I do not speak German, the coverage was pretty good. When Eliud Kipchoge went off world record pace and fell behind Guye Adola, the German TV focused on Anna Hahner and her running, which was pretty cool.
This is a nice piece on the European performances from European Athletics, a fine site that supports the federations of the European continent and has some pretty innovative approaches to anti doping and fun content to reach young athletes and fans.
Anna Hahner, fifth place, 2017 BMW Berlin Marathon, photo by PhotoRun.net
Anna Hahner had a brilliant run around the streets of the German capital in the Berlin Marathon on Sunday morning and she looks poised to come back and do it all again at next summer's European Championships in Berlin.
Hahner said beforehand her goal was simply to run under the qualifying standard of 2:32:00 and the 27-year-old was nearly four minutes inside this mark, finishing fifth in 2:28:32 - the third fastest time of her career and the second fastest time by a German athlete in 2017. She was also the first European finisher home in a race won by Kenya's Gladys Cherono in 2:20:23.
Hahner needed to take an unplanned pitstop around the 17km checkpoint but she was always comfortably inside the qualifying standard - and not too far off lifetime best pace in wet and humid conditions - through halfway in 1:14:03. Her pace barely slackened in the second half, crossing the finish-line just beyond Brandenburg Gate in 2:28:32 where she was greeted by her twin sister Lisa.
The world record went untouched in the men's race but Italy's Catherine Bertone, 45, finished just two seconds behind Hahner in the women's race in sixth. Not only was her time of 2:28:34 a lifetime best for the distance, it was also a world over-45 record - breaking the previous mark of 2:29:00 held by Ukraine's Tetyana Pozdnyakova.
In the men's race, Great Britain's Jonny Mellor was the first European finisher home in a lifetime best of 2:12:57, one place ahead of France's Benjamin Malaty in 2:13:10. Germany's Philipp Pflieger was comfortably on course for the European Championships qualifying time of 2:14:00 through halfway in 65:47 before cramps forced him to drop out before the 35km checkpoint.
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