2012 Berlin Marathon

39th Berlin Marathon

Men's winner Geoffrey Mutai (right) running in Berlin
Venue Berlin, Germany
Dates 30 September
Champions
Men Geoffrey Mutai (2:04:15)
Women Aberu Kebede (2:20:30)

The 2012 Berlin Marathon was the 39th edition of the annual marathon event and was held on Sunday 30 September on the streets of Berlin, Germany. An IAAF Gold Label Road Race, it was the third World Marathon Majors event to be held that year. Geoffrey Mutai won the men's race in a time of 2:04:15 hours and Aberu Kebede was the women's winner in 2:20:30. A total of 34,377 people (26472 men, 7905 women) finished the marathon race.[1]

Prior to the race, Mutai was the principal focus of men's competition and the head of an attempt to challenge Patrick Makau's world record set at the 2011 Berlin Marathon. To assist in this challenge, the organisers invited a number of his training partners, among them Dennis Kimetto, who was untested over the distance but a world record holder over 25 km.[2] Other competitors included Geoffrey Kipsang, another marathon debutant, and Jonathan Maiyo (a sub-2:05 runner).[3] Mizuki Noguchi's course record from 2006 was the target for the women's race, with the Ethiopia duo and training partners Aberu Kebede and Tirfi Tsegaye the leading runners.[4]

By the halfway point of the men's race, Mutai, Kimetto, Geoffrey Kipsang and Maiyo were still in contention. Mutai pulled away from the pack, along with Kimetto, after 30 km. Kimetto remained close to the leader put never overtook him, leaving Mutai to take the title (and the World Marathon Majors jackpot) by a margin of second with his winning time of 2:04:15 hours.[5] The times of the Kenyan pair were the fastest recorded that year and the fourth and fifth fastest ever at that point.[6] Despite the fast times of the men's race, some reporters felt the finish to be an anti-climax – both Mutai and Kimetto slowed in the final kilometres and neither pushed the other into a sprint finish, even though they finished one second apart. The Guardian's Ross Tucker remarked that the positions seemed "pre-planned" between the training partners.[7] Geoffrey Kipsang comfortably took third place with a time of 2:06:12 for his debut run. The top nine men were all Kenyan, with Japan's Masakazu Fujiwara rounding out the top ten places.[5]

The women's race was also dominated by two East African training partners. Aberu Kebede (winner in 2010) and Tirfi Tsegaye were unchallenged after the halfway point. In contrast to the men's race, Aberu pulled away on her own and recorded a best of 2:20:30 hours to win (over a minute short of the course record). Runner-up Tirfi also improved her best (2:21:19) and Olena Shurkhno took third place some two minutes later with a Ukrainian record time.[5]

Swiss athletes Marcel Hug and Sandra Graf topped the wheelchair race rankings. The in-line skating competitions were won by Ewen Fernandez and Sabine Berg, respectively.

Results

Elite results

Winner Geoffrey Mutai (left) improved on his runner-up finish in Berlin in 2010.
Elite men
Position Athlete Nationality Time
Geoffrey Mutai  Kenya 2:04:15 PB[8]
Dennis Kimetto  Kenya 2:04:16 PB
Geoffrey Kipsang  Kenya 2:06:12 PB
4 Nicholas Kamakya  Kenya 2:08:28
5 Josphat Keiyo  Kenya 2:08:41
6 Josphat Jepkopol  Kenya 2:08:44
7 Jonathan Maiyo  Kenya 2:09:19
8 Eliud Kiptanui  Kenya 2:09:59
9 Felix Keny  Kenya 2:10:22
10 Masakazu Fujiwara  Japan 2:11:31
Elite women
Women's winner Aberu Kebede in a group at Kilometer 37
Position Athlete Nationality Time
Aberu Kebede  Ethiopia 2:20:30 PB
Tirfi Tsegaye  Ethiopia 2:21:19 PB
Olena Shurkhno  Ukraine 2:23:32 NR
4 Flomena Chepchirchir  Kenya 2:24:56
5 Fate Tola  Ethiopia 2:25:14 PB
6 Alevtina Biktimirova  Russia 2:28:45
7 Caroline Chepkwony  Kenya 2:30:34 PB
8 Anna Hahner  Germany 2:30:37
9 Sonia Samuels  Great Britain 2:30:56 PB
10 Degefa Biruktayit  Ethiopia 2:33:27

Wheelchair

Paralympic gold medallist Heinz Frei was runner-up in the men's wheelchair race.
Men
Position Athlete Nationality Time
Marcel Hug   Switzerland 1:29:43
Heinz Frei   Switzerland 1:29:48
Rafael Botello Jimenez  Spain 1:32:54
Women
Position Athlete Nationality Time
Sandra Graf   Switzerland 1:46:19
Francesca Porcellato  Italy 1:56:37
Yvonne Sehmisch  Germany 2:06:26

In-line skating

Men
Position Athlete Nationality Time
Ewen Fernandez  France 1:00:04
Bart Swings  Belgium 1:00:04
Felix Rijhnen  Germany 1:02:48
Women
Position Athlete Nationality Time
Sabine Berg  Germany 1:14:13
Jana Gegner  Germany 1:14:13
Katja Ulbrich  Germany 1:14:13
4 Sofia D'Annibale  Italy 1:14:13

References

  1. ↑ World's Largest Marathons. Association of International Marathons and Distance Races. Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  2. ↑ Butcher, Pat (2012-09-28). Motivated Mutai targeting World record in Berlin - Preview. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  3. ↑ Geoffrey Mutai to lead fast Berlin Marathon field. IAAF (2012-09-12). Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  4. ↑ Butcher, Pat (2012-09-27). Kebede and Tsegaye targeting women's course record in Berlin. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  5. 1 2 3 Butcher, Pat (2012-09-30). Close victory for Mutai but more straightforward for Kebede in Berlin - REPORT. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  6. ↑ Marathon - men - senior - outdoor - 2012. IAAF. Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  7. ↑ Tucker, Ross (2012-10-02). Geoffrey Mutai misses world record in an intriguing Berlin Marathon. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2013-01-31.
  8. ↑ This run of 2:04:15 was Mutai's official personal best, albeit slower than the 2:03:02 time he ran at the 2011 Boston Marathon, which was wind-aided on the point-to-point course.
Official results

External links

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