Women to watch in Berlin

Norway’s Karoline Grovdal is very promising European runner who will make her second attempt at the classic distance after dropping out in her debut race in Hamburg earlier this year. A number of athletes for the men’s elite field were released earlier. More than 50,000 runners are expected to participate in the 51st BMW BERLIN-MARATHON.

Rosemary Wanjiru returns to the race where her marathon career got off to an impressive start in 2022. Three years ago she finished second in Berlin in 2:18:00. Six months later Wanjiru won the Tokyo Marathon and in 2024 she was second there with her current best time of 2:16:14. The Kenyan intended to run the 50th BMW BERLIN-MARATHON a year ago but had to withdraw due to an injury.

Degitu Azimeraw is another runner in Berlin’s elite field who has already run well under 2:20:00 and she as well has already beaten this mark several times. The 24-year-old Ethiopian ran her best race to date in London 2021. There she achieved a surprise runner-up position with 2:17:58.

Like Rosemary Wanjiru Ethiopia’s Mestawut Fikir is also returning to Berlin. After the 25-year-old won her marathon debut in Paris a year ago, she improved to 2:18:48 in Berlin taking second place.

Karoline Grovdal took the half marathon at the European Athletics Championships in Rome last summer. While this was her biggest career victory so far, the 35 year-old also won the European cross country title for three years in a row, from 2021 to 2023. Karoline Grovdal ran her marathon debut in Hamburg this April, hoping to make an instant impact by attacking the famous Norwegian national record of Ingrid Kristiansen. Back in 1985 Kristiansen ran a spectacular world record time of 2:21:06 in London. That global mark stood for over a decade and is still the Norwegian record. Grovdal was unlucky in Hamburg since she had to drop out due to a shoe problem. She will now hope to bounce back in Berlin.