The focus of the athletics world may be on the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25, but the autumn marathon season is also upon us.
The fastest of the World Marathon Majors, now in its 51st edition, is set for Berlin on Sunday, 21 September.
Despite having only two marathons to his name, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe will be the headline act in the men’s race that also includes fellow East Africans Milkesa Mengesha, the defending champion, and Gabriel Geay, the current Tanzanian marathon record holder.
Two former runners-up, Mestawut Fikir of Ethiopia and Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru, are included in the women’s list. Wanjiru is returning to the course of her marathon debut.
Here is everything you need to know about who to watch, the schedule and where to watch the 2025 Berlin Marathon.
View this post on Instagram
Athletes to watch at the 2025 Berlin Marathon
How fast can Sawe race in Berlin?
The Berlin Marathon, one of the seven World Marathon Majors, is also one of the fastest marathons in the world, a fact that may have been a big draw for 30-year-old Kenyan Sabastian Sawe.
With a personal best of 2:02:05, his winning time from his debut race in Valencia, the former 5000m track runner ended 2024 as the fastest marathoner, a tag he will be keen to maintain when he lines up on a course where the previous eight men’s world records were set.
That was until the late Kelvin Kiptum lowered the mark in Chicago in 2023.
By then, Sawe was still chasing half-marathon honours, closing the season as the inaugural World Athletics Road Running champion over 21km.
Two marathons later, the fifth-fastest on the all-time list lines up in Berlin as the favourite and is even being touted as a future world record holder – how soon is anyone’s guess.
In Berlin, Sawe will most likely be at the front alongside the familiar figure of Milkesa Mengesha, who had no response to his sudden injection of pace at this year’s London Marathon, where the Ethiopian could only manage 10th. Mengesha was the surprise winner of the 2024 Berlin Marathon.
View this post on Instagram
The green-yellow-red tricolour of the Ethiopian flag ruled the podium in Berlin last year, a fact that’s not lost on some of the favourites in this year’s race.
There is Mestawut Fikir, who finished second in Berlin last year, and Degitu Azimeraw, a runner-up at the 2021 London Marathon. But the fastest runner in the women’s field is Japan-based Rosemary Wanjiru, with a 2:16:14 from last year’s Tokyo Marathon. She will be aiming to become the first Kenyan to top the Berlin Marathon podium in seven years. The last Kenyan female runner to win the race was Gladys Cherono in 2018.
2025 Berlin Marathon schedule
The Berlin Marathon, which draws nearly 80,000 participants, will begin at 9:15 a.m. (CEST) on Sunday, 21 September, with runners beginning in four different waves. The starting line is on Straße des 17. Juni, between the Brandenburg Gate and the “Kleiner Stern”.
2025 Berlin Marathon Start times:
- 8.50 a.m.: Handbiker (Tops)
- 8.56 a.m.: Wheelchair athlete (Elite)
- 8.59 a.m.: Handbike and wheelchair athletes
- 09.15-10:40 a.m.: Runners (in four waves)
How to watch the 2025 Berlin Marathon
In Germany, this year’s Berlin Marathon will be broadcast live on TV RTL and globally on Olympics.com in a number of territories including Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Greece, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, UAE, and Uzbekistan.
