With a reputation as the fastest legal marathon on Earth, the 2024 BMW Berlin Marathon had massive shoes to fill. In a Kipchoge-less, Assefa-less Olympic year, the winners had a chance to make their cases as the best marathoners in the world, an especially compelling proposition considering both Kipchoge and Assefa haven't been back to their winning ways this year. Ultimately, wins by Ethiopia's Tigist Ketema and Milkesa Mengesha went a long way in cementing their status as leaders this fall marathon season.

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Men's Race: Wild 2:01:00 Pace Destroys The Field, Kandie's Bravery Goes Unrewarded

Until this morning, most marathon fans viewed Eliud Kipchoge's 2:01:09 Berlin course record, at the time a world record, as one of those legendary marks that perhaps only himself and the late Kelvin Kiptum could ever surpass. Surely especially not during an Olympic off-year in which only one man in the field, Ethiopia's Tadese Takele, had a PB under 2:04, and even then that time was only good enough for 3rd place at this race last year.

The men's field at the 2024 Berlin Marathon defied all those expectations in the early miles, going out at 14:25 for 5K and 28:42 for 10K. At 11K, an astonishing 12 runners were still in the lead pack with an estimated finish of around 2:01 flat. It was one of the fastest 10K splits ever in marathon history. Could Kipchoge's record go down?

It was a long, slow grind from there, and it's hard to say exactly when that dream slipped away. There were a few mid-2:50s kilometer splits next, and the pack led by Milkesa Mengesha was still on 2:01:30 pace at 15K.

There was still a large contingent at the half split in 60:57. After 25K, the pacers dropped off -- typically, this is when we'd expect the pace to slow substaintially. But former half-marathon world record holder Kibiwott Kandie had something to say about that -- he injected a 2:47 kilometer split all alone, leading some to think the race for at least a 2:02 was still on.

But that mid-race surge may have taken too much out of Kandie, as from then he was on and off the pack until he was ultimately dropped. After Takele was dropped with about 5K to go, it was soon down to just Mengesha, his countryman Haymanot Alew, and the Kenyans Cybrian Kotut and Stephen Kiprop. After some struggles by Kiprop to maintain contact, it was Alew who was the first to ultimately drop, followed by Kiprop as Mengesha and Kotut set themselves up for a duel to the finish.

Who would win? It wasn't certain until about 400m to go, when Mengesha powered to extend his lead and take the title in 2:03:17. 

1. Mengesha, Milkesa (ETH) - 02:03:17

2. Kotut, Cybrian (KEN) - 02:03:22

3. Alew, Haymanot (ETH) - 02:03:31

4. Kiprop, Stephen (KEN) - 02:03:37

5. Kiros, Hailemariyam (ETH) - 02:04:35

6. Ikeda, Yohei (JPN) - 02:05:12

7. Takele, Tadese (ETH) - 02:05:13 

8. Ruesom, Oqbe Kibrom (ERI) - 02:05:37

9. Onchari, Enock (KEN) - 02:05:53 

10. Belachew, Melaku (ETH) - 02:06:30 

Women's Race: Ketema Displays Dominance

Going into the race, there was a lot of buzz around Ethiopia's Tigist Ketema (not to be confused with Tigst Assefa, her training partner who set the world record at Berlin last year). Ketema was the top seed, but what made her stand out was her upside: her first marathon in Dubai earlier this year of 2:16:07 was the fastest debut ever, and many were looking for her to redeem herself after she finished a mediocre 6th in London.

Redeem herself she did. From the start, Ketema was on a mission to win this race and leave her competition in the dust. From the very first 16:06 5K split, she had already gapped the field by 30 seconds, with only her countrywoman Azmera Gebru present to keep her company.

To Gebru's credit, she maintained contact with Ketema until before 30K before the wheels began to fall off for her. Ketema was remarkably consistent, only slowing slightly but growing her gap over the chase pack substantially with every split. Her biggest predicted challenger, fellow middle-distance great Genzebe Dibaba, dropped out of the top 10 before 20K.

It was soon only Ketema against the clock, and perhaps if compared to her PB, the clock won as Ketema finished in 2:16:42. But compared to the field, it was no contest who was the best on the day. Behind her there was a battle between Bosena Mulatie and Mestawot Fikir, and Fikir ultimately ended on top a full two minutes behind. The top four finishers all hailed from Ethiopia as only the top 3 were under 2:20.

1. Ketema, Tigist (ETH) - 02:16:42

2. Fikir, Mestawot (ETH) - 02:18:48

3. Mulatie, Bosena (ETH) - 02:19:00

4. Mulisa, Aberu Ayana (ETH) - 02:20:20

5. Hosoda, Ai (JPN) - 02:20:31

6. Matsuda, Mizuki (JPN) - 02:20:42

7. Hauger-Thackery, Calli (GBR) - 02:21:24

8. Melese, Yebregual (ETH) - 02:21:39 

9. Wereta, Fikrte (ETH) - 02:23:23 

10. Gola, Sisay Meseret (ETH) - 02:23:36