2015 London Marathon winner Eliud Kipchoge is looking for his fourth straight marathon victory in Berlin

Will Dennis Kimetto's world record from 2014 be broken?

Eliud Kipchoge, the 2014 Chicago and 2015 London Marathon winner, may be going for Dennis Kimetto’s 2:02:57 world record set in Berlin last fall. This is the course for such an attempt, as the last six marathon world records have been set there. Kipchoge is arguably the best marathoner in the world right now, having won four of the five marathons he has entered. His only loss was a runner-up finish to Wilson Kipsang in Berlin in 2013 (Kipsang set a then-world record of 2:03:23).

Though his PB is from that 2013 race, 2:04:05, Kipchoge will be in good company to smash that mark come Sunday. Training partner Emmanuel Mutai was runner-up to Kimetto in 2014, racing 2:03:13, also under the former world record. A win and new record for Mutai would give him the recognition he was deprived of in 2014, as all eyes focused on the illustrious sub 2:03 mark by Kimetto. However his last marathon performance, a disappointing 11th in London, is concerning, and hopefully he’ll be right alongside Kipchoge charging toward a new record again.



Boston and New York course record-holder Geoffrey Mutai looks to be the third best of the top group but his recent DNF in London and sixth-place New York finish last fall may mean his winning days are behind him. He knows a thing or two about winning in Berlin, though, as he was victorious in 2012.

Who Will be the Top American?

With the 2016 Olympic Trials in February, several Americans are choosing to forgo a fall marathon. Three relatively under-the-radar U.S. men are traveling to Berlin with the hopes of nailing down a shiny new PB before the winter Trials.

Shadrack Biwott; PB 2:12:55, 14th in Frankfurt 2014
Gabe Proctor; PB 2:13:45, 13th in Chicago 2014
Matt Llano; PB 2:16:13, 6th in Los Angeles 2014

While there may be a few “favorites” for the 2016 Olympic men’s marathon team (namely veterans Dathan Ritzenhein and Meb Keflezighi) these three individuals are all coming to Berlin for a reason, to run fast. It’s really not crazy to think any of these three men could break the 2:10 barrier on Sunday. Heck, Shalane Flanagan shaved nearly four minutes off of her marathon PB (From 2:25 to 2:21) in this very Berlin race in 2014.

The Women’s Field: Where Champions Collide

The women’s field at the Berlin Marathon features the reigning world half marathon champion, the 2010 and 2012 Berlin winner, and the the 2012 world half champion. These three should take a stab at the 2:19:12 course record set in 2005 by Japan’s Olympic Champion Mizuki Noguchi.

First is Kenya’s Gladys Cherono, who last year ran her very first marathon in 2:20:03 en route to a runner-up finish in Dubai. The 2014 World Half Marathon Champion and 2013 World 10K silver medalist was so close to the coveted sub 2:20 mark in her debut, imagine what kind of mark she has in mind on the fast Berlin course.

Ethiopians Aberu Kebede and Meseret Hailu will be the after Cherono’s charge. Kebede has two Berlin victories to her name (2010, 2012) and holds a 2:20:30 PB from Berlin ’12. Hailu was the world half champion in 2012 but has not come close to her 2:21:09 PB (set in 2012). She recently won the Hamburg Marathon in 2:25.

In 2014, three women were under 2:22 in Berlin, with the winner being Tirfe Tsegaye in 2:20:18. If the women give it a go, we could see a sub 2:20 race Sunday morning.