Press Release - Berlin Marathon - 9/22/2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

           World class line-up for the 2015 BMW BERLIN-MARATHON. 
                      
41,224 runners including a world-class elite field will tackle the distance 
of 42.195 km in Germany's biggest marathon on Sunday 27th September 

BERLIN, 9/22/2015 - Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge, arguably the most successful 
marathon runner of the past twelve months, will join forces with two 
compatriots who occupy second and third spot in the all-time marathon 
rankings. In his last two triumphs over the classic distance – Chicago 
(2014) and London (2015) – Kipchoge already managed to beat elite fields of 
the highest quality. The former 5,000m world champion will now attempt to 
improve his personal best of 2:04:05 which he set here in Berlin in 2013, 
when he was beaten into second place by Wilson Kipsang, who himself ran a 
world record (2:03:23) that day. Kipchoge will certainly attempt to 
complete his hat-trick of wins even though he is up against extremely 
strong competition again: Emmanuel Mutai (Kenya) is the third fastest 
marathon runner of all time, since finishing relatively close behind winner 
Dennis Kimetto when he set the current world record of 2:02:57 in last 
year's BMW BERLIN-MARATHON. Mutai, who played a large part in maintaining 
the pace that made the record possible, crossed the line in 2:03:13. The 
third member of the formidable trio is his namesake Geoffrey Mutai (no 
relation) whose 2:03:02 in the 2011 Boston Marathon (course not eligible 
for records) was the fastest ever run over the distance at the time. He 
went on to win New York later that year and followed this up by winning the 
BMW BERLIN-MARATHON in 2012.

All three of them have experience on the Berlin course, which is regarded 
as the fastest in the world. They will be there on the start line for 
exactly this reason – to improve their personal bests. How the story ends 
will be determined this weekend and will be partly dependent on weather 
conditions on the day.

Also a top class field in the women's race
In the women's race Aberu Kebede from Ethiopia leads the field. She won 
here in 2010 and 2012, and in the first of the two victories she set her 
personal best of 2:20:30, which remains her fastest time. Her strongest 
opponent is Kenya's Gladys Cherono who is the reigning half marathon world 
champion (2014), the African champion over 5000m and 10000m (2012) and 
winner of the world championship silver medal in the 10000m in Moscow 
(2013). At the start of this year she competed over the marathon distance 
for the first time and managed an outstanding performance of 2:20:03, 
showing great promise. The third main candidate for the title is Ethiopian 
Meseret Hailu, whose personal best is only slightly slower at 2:21:09 – set 
in her 2012 win in Amsterdam, the same year she was crowned half marathon 
world champion.

Press conferences will be held at the official BMW BERLIN-MARATHON hotel, 
the InterContinental: Wednesday (in-line skaters), Thursday (elite women) 
and Friday (elite men).

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