About the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
The 40th BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2013 will take place on Sunday 29th September 2013. The registration starts on Oct 25, 2012. We expect to be sold out by end of December 2012.
A group of runners from one of Germany’s most prestigious athletics clubs, SC Charlottenburg, organised the first BERLIN-MARATHON in 1974. It was not until 1981 that the race moved from the Grunewald (a big forest) into the city center of West Berlin. Supported by the three western allied forces (Britain, France and U.S.) it quickly developed into Germany’s biggest and best quality marathon. It was after the Berlin Wall collapsed in November 1989 when a new era started. On September 30, 1990, three days before reunification, the course of the Berlin Marathon led through Brandenburg Gate and both parts of Berlin. In 2001 Naoko Takahashi became the first woman to break the 2:20 barrier in Berlin. The flat and fast loop course then was changed significantly for the 2003 race. Paul Tergat, who ran the world record of 2:04:55, became the first man to cross the new finish line, passing through Brandenburg Gate – the symbol for reunification.
In 2007 the Ethiopian world class runner Haile Gebrselassie broke the world record on the streets of Berlin: He improved at the 34th real,- BERLIN-MARATHON the world's best time to 2:04:26. Just one year later he returned to Berlin and set yet another World record of 2:03:59, going sub 2:04 for the first time ever. In 2011 the, Kenyan Patrick Makau took the World record from Haile by finishing in 2:03:38. The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON has developed into one of the world’s best road races.
Capacity:
40,000
Inaugural Running:
1974
Largest Field: 5,871
35,913 finishers (2008)
Recent Participation:
Year
Finishers
Male
Female
2003
30,709
25,105
5,604
2004
28,023
22,802
5,221
2005
30,382
24,511
2006
30,190
24,103
6,087
2007
32,638
26,136
6,502
2008
35,913
28,354
7,429
2009
35,035
27,965
7,070
2010
34,002
26,603
7,399
2011
33,312
25,817
7,495
2012
34,485
26,542
7,943
Estimated Number Of Spectators:
1.5 Million
Prize Purse:
$340,000 ($64,000 for the male and female champions)
World Records (Men):
2:03:38 – Patrick Makau, 2011
2:03:59 – Haile Gebrselassie, 2008
2:04:26 – Haile Gebrselassie, 2007
2:04:55 – Paul Tergat, 2003
2:06:05 – Ronaldo da Costa, 1998
World Records (Women):
2:19:46 – Naoko Takahashi, 2001
2:20:43 – Tegla Loroupe, 1999
2:34:48 – Christa Vahlensieck, 1977