News Archive

News Archive

2014 BMW BERLIN-MARATHON: World record ratified by IAAF

The international athletics body  IAAF has ratified the world record set by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya at this year’s BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on September 28. Kimetto won in 2:02:57 hrs, breaking the previous record of 2:03:23 set by Wilson Kipsang at the 2013 Berlin race by almost half a minute. It is the 10th time a world record was set in Berlin. Since 2003 all six world records in the marathon were set at the BERLIN-MARATHON.
Second place finisher Emmanuel Mutai (Kenya) also went under the former record mark by clocking 2:03:13 hrs. En route to the Berlin finish line Mutai ran a world record for 30 kilometres which was also ratified by the IAAF. He passed the mark leading the field in 1:27:36 hrs.

10 world records at the BERLIN MARATHON

1977      Christa Vahlensieck        GER       2:34:48*
1998      Ronaldo da Costa           BRA       2:06:05
1999      Tegla Loroupe                KEN       2:20:43
2001      Naoko Takahashi            JPN       2:19:46**
2003      Paul Tergat                    KEN       2:04:55
2007      Haile Gebrselassie          ETH       2:04:26
2008      Haile Gebrselassie          ETH       2:03:59
2011      Patrick Makau                KEN       2:03:38
2013      Wilson Kipsang               KEN       2:03:23
2014      Dennis Kimeto                KEN       2:02:57***

*Winning the German Marathon Championship, held as a separate event on the same course with the same infrastructure as a women only race after the BERLIN MARATHON was finished.
**First time a woman ran under 2:20 hrs. This mark was broken a week later by Catherine Ndereba of Kenya in Chicago clocking 2:18:47 hrs.
***Coincidence: all three times when a time barrier in the men´s marathon was broken at the BERLIN-MARATHON, it happened on the 28th of September (2:05 in 2003, 2:04 in 2008, 2:03 in 2014)

30 km world records* set at the BERLIN MARATHON

2009      Haile Gebrselassie          ETH        2:27:49
2011      Patrick Makau                KEN        2:27:38
2014      Emmanuel Mutai            KEN        2:27:37

In cases like this the IAAF does recognize the split time at 30 km as an official world record when the course was measured properly and if official time keepers have been present. In this cases two time keepers of the German Athletics Federation took the split time.