BERLIN, GERMANY -Berlin Marathon will mark the start of a series of great races at the classic distance this autumn and it should open the season in style on Sunday, September 20.

One of the prestigious World Marathon Majors (WMM) races the marathon in the German capital will see a highly anticipated duel: World record holder Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia/2:03:59) will be up against Duncan Kibet (Kenya), who holds the fastest time this year with 2:04:27. In the women’s race Askale Tafa Magarsa (Ethiopia) is regarded as the favourite after her second place in Berlin in 2008.

The real, Berlin Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.

A record number of 40,923 runners from 122 nations have entered the 36th edition of the race. Around one million people are expected to line the course. Due to the German general elections on Sunday 27 September the marathon had to be moved forward one week. This could result in warmer weather conditions than usual. And the present weather forecasts suggest temperatures of up to 25° Celsius on Sunday.

Men’s Race: Haile Gebrselassie targets World record

So far three runners have achieved times of sub 2:04:30 in the marathon. Two of them will be at the start on Sunday. World record holder Haile Gebrselassie will line up as the defending champion in this race. The Ethiopian improved his own personal best to 2:03:59 last year. His strongest competitors will be Kenya’s Duncan Kibet (2:04:27).

So it could well be a top-class competition for victory in the men’s race. 36-year old Gebrselassie will once again be chasing superlatives at the 36th edition of the marathon in the German capital: for the third consecutive time he wants to set a World record. In 2007 he had crossed the line in 2:04:26, then he was 27 seconds faster in 2008. Already after last year’s race Berlin crowd favourite Gebrselassie had said that he thinks an improvement of at least half a minute is possible for him. Another Berlin victory would also be his fourth in a row at this race. This would be another record as no other runner has ever won Germany’s most spectacular road race more than three times.

But on Sunday it will probably be Gebrselassie’s hardest marathon race in Berlin so far. When Paul Tergat was here in May for the 25k race and was asked in an interview who of his fellow Kenyans might be able to break Gebrselassie’s World record he named four: Olympic Champion Sammy Wanjiru, Martin Lel, James Kwambai and – Duncan Kibet.

The 31-year-old Kibet has come as close as anyone else to Gebrselassie’s world record when he took the Rotterdam Marathon in a Kenyan record of 2:04:27 this April. So Kibet might also be able to run sub 2:04 in Berlin if conditions are good, he is in top form and we must hope a fast non-tactical duel with Gebrselassie develops.

“I feel honoured to be able to run against Haile Gebrselassie,” said Duncan Kibet during Thursday’s press conference in Berlin. My training went very well and I think it is a very good sign that my training partner James Kwambai ran 59:09 minutes last Sunday at the Rotterdam Half Marathon.”

Kibet did not want to comment on a possible world record attack, but said that he intends to break his personal best. For this he must of course run in the region of the World record. “After Rotterdam I though that I might be able to run even faster in Berlin. So this is why I decided to go for this race.”

Looking ahead to a duel with Gebrselassie, the Kenyan record holder said: “I don’t know about Haile’s training. And he does not know about my training. So we will have to wait and see how it develops. But I will try to run his pace.”

There are two more Kenyans and one Ethiopian in the race, who want to take advantage of the Berlin course, which is renowned for producing super fast times. Francis Kiprop came fourth at the Seoul Marathon in 2008 in 2:08:30 and Mariko Kiplagat (both Kenya) had taken fourth at last year’s race in Berlin in 2:09:04. Coming third in Dubai this year was the Ethiopian Eshetu Wondimu, who was able to improve to 2:08:41 there despite bad weather conditions.

The strongest non-African runner could be Atsushi Fujita (Japan) who has a personal best of 2:06:51. This however is already nine years old. A debutant to be watched is Cuthbert Nyasango (Zimbabwe), who had been 10th at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2007 with a personal best of 60:26 minutes.

Women’s race: Magarsa heading for a sub 2:20 time?

Askale Tafa Magarsa will be the favourite in the women’s race on Sunday. A year ago the 24-year-old Ethiopian finished second behind Irina Mikitenko (Germany), clocking a great personal best of 2:21:31. With that she remained the second fastest woman worldwide in 2008. Now Askale Tafa Magarsa returns to Berlin and will be eager to further improve. She may well be able to establish a world season’s best, which currently stands at 2:22:11. Irina Mikitenko clocked this time when winning in London in April. But the 2:20 barrier could be Magarsa’s main goal on Sunday. Last year she had made the mistake to start the race far too fast for which she paid in the final stages.

Askale Tafa Magarsa’s strongest rival probably will be a fellow Ethiopian: Atsede Habtamu clocked 2:25:17 in torrential rain in January’s Dubai Marathon, where the 21 year-old took second place. So it could well be an Ethiopian battle for victory, which will be rewarded with a 50,000 Euro first prize.

And there is a third Ethiopian to be watched on Sunday: 23 year-old Genet Getaneh will also be in with a chance. The 23-year-old Ethiopian finished fifth in 2:26:37 at the Dubai Marathon this year.

The strongest Kenyan should be Leah Malot. She has a very good long distance track record and improved to 2:30:29 at the Paris Marathon this April. Silvia Skvortsova (Russia/PB: 2:27:07), Rosaria Console (Italy/2:27:48) or Britain’s Hayley Haining (2:29:18) could be the fastest non-Africans in the field.

Jörg Wenig | IAAF