Berlin Marathon announces elite field of sub-2:06 runners

On Thursday, the Berlin Marathon announced its elite international fields for the 2024 race, to be held Sept. 29. As is so often the case, the competition will be fuelled by a deep rivalry between Kenya and Ethiopia. The men’s top 10 has an even spread of Ethiopian to Kenyan runners, while eight of the women’s top 10 international entrants are Ethiopian (2023 Tokyo Marathon winner Rosemary Wanjiru is the sole female Kenyan, and Mizuki Matsuda is the only Japanese athlete in the elite field).

Wanjiru was second at Tokyo in 2024; other standout entrants include Ethiopia’s Tigist Ketema who, at the 2024 Dubai Marathon, made her debut in the discipline by running the course record in the ninth-fastest time in history–2:16:07. 2015 1,500m world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Genzebe Dibaba will also race; she was sixth at Chicago in 2023. Former half-marathon world record holder Ababel Yeshaneh finished second at Boston in 2022 and fourth in 2023 (despite falling on the course).

The deepest battle on the men’s side is bound to be between the fastest entrants, Tadese Takele of Ethiopia (who set his PB of 2:03:24 at Berlin last year, finishing third) and Kenya’s Ronald Korir (who ran 2:04 at Berlin last year for fourth); Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie, the former world record holder and the fastest Kenyan half-marathoner in history, will also contend for the win.

But despite the field’s impressive credentials, the course records of 2:01:09 and 2:11:53 (set by Eliud Kipchoge in 2022 and marathon world record holder and Paris Olympic silver medallist Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia in 2023) are very quick and unlikely to be challenged this year.

Top 10 women’s international entrants

Top 10 men’s international entrants