BERLIN: Ethiopian duo Milkesa Mengesha and Tigist Ketema won the men’s and women’s races respectively in the 50th running of the Berlin Marathon on Sunday. Mengesha finished just five seconds ahead of Kenyan Cibrian Kotut in a time of 2hr 03min 17sec with both recording personal bests.

The times were outside the late Kelvin Kiptum’s world record time of 2:00.35 and five-time Berlin winner Eliud Kipchoge’s course record of 2:01.09, set in 2022. “It was wonderful,” said 24-year-old Mengesha. “I am totally happy. “It was good that I wasn’t among the favourites, because I had no pressure at all.

“I was totally relaxed and achieved exactly what I wanted in the end. “I’m not the most experienced runner and I’ve had bad experiences, but it was perfectly organized and the spectators were wonderful too. “It was hard and but I enjoyed it—I prepared for it extremely well.” Ketema, 26 and who only competed in her first marathon in January, won in a time of 2:16.42. “I worked very hard with my trainer and I would like to thank my coaches from the bottom of my heart,” she said.

Ketema’s time was just under five minutes slower than training partner Tigist Assefa’s world record of 2:11.53 but is the third-best women’ winning time in Berlin Marathon history. Many of the big names—including Kipchoge—gave Berlin a miss having run in July’s Paris Olympics.

Despite the lack of world records, the combined first-place finishing times of the men and women made Sunday’s race the 12th fastest marathon of all time, and the fourth quickest in Berlin history. The leading men’s group broke away early, setting a strong pace over the first 10 kilometers of 28:42, just outside world record time, but slowed gradually in sunny conditions.

Just before the 40-kilometre mark, four men pulled away from the pack: Mengesha, Kotut, Haymanot Alew and Stephen Kiprop. With the Brandenburg Gate in sight, Mengesha and Kotut distanced themselves from the chasers and were neck and neck until the Ethiopian managed to edge ahead in the final meters.

Alongside fellow Ethiopian Azmera Gebru, Ketema opened up an early lead over the rest of the pack, pulling away after five kilometers. Just before the halfway mark, Ketema began to pull away from Gebru, opening up a 12-second lead.

Ketema continued to pull away from her compatriot, eventually crossing the line two minutes and six seconds ahead of second-placed Mestawot Fikir. Ketema signaled she could be a force in marathons with her maiden performance in January in Dubai, her time of 2:16.07 was the best ever recorded by a debutant. — AFP