The attention of the sport will split in between the track and roads on Sunday as the Berlin Marathon continues to usher in the fall marathon season as the World Athletics Championships come to a close on the same day.
But the marathon comes first and Sabastian Sawe will lead the men’s field even with Sunday’s race in Berlin being just his third marathon. Defending champion Milkesa Mengesha returns to claim another title on a course that is flat, fast and could be the site of the quickest marathon in 2025.
Mengesha won last year’s race in a personal best 2:03:17 after breaking away late from Cybrian Kotut who was second in 2:03:22.
But there plenty of others in the men’s field who have the structure in place to challenge Sawe and Mengesha as Gabriel Geay, Haymanot Alew, Guye Adola and Leul Gebresilase are part of a group that have sub-2:05 persona bests.
In the women’s race, Tigist Ketema will not be on hand to defend her 2024 title, so Rosemary Wanjiru stands as the favorite.
She will have a busy race and have to defend against last year’s runner up Mestawut Fikir Degitu Azimeraw, Dera Dida, Tigist Girma and Honami Maeda.
Wanjiru has the speed to pull ahead and take command of the race just after the midway point and not look back, but expect a tight lead pack to take the action down to the wire before surging toward the finish.
Start Times
8.50 a.m.: Handbiker (Tops)
8.56 a.m.: Wheelchair (Elite)
8.59 a.m.: Handbike and wheelchair athletes
9.15-10:40 a.m.: Runners (in four waves)
How To Watch
The 2025 Berlin Marathon will be broadcast locally in Germany live on N-TV on Sunday, September 21 at 3 a.m. Eastern (Sunday 9 a.m. in Germany). In the United States, Flosports will stream the race, while the Olympic Channel will broadcast the race for a number of European territories. View the full list of broadcasters here.
Women’s elite field
Rosemary Wanjiru (Kenya) – 2:16:14
Degitu Azimeraw (Ethiopia) – 2:17:58
Dera Dida (Ethiopia) – 2:18:32)
Mestawut Fikir (Ethiopia) – 2:18:48
Tigist Girma (Ethiopia) – 2:18:52
Honami Maeda (Japan) – 2:18:59
Sharon Chelimo (Kenya) – 2:19:33
Aberu Ayana (Ethiopia) – 2:20:20)
Azmera Gebru (Ethiopia) – 2:20:48
Kidsan Alema (Ethiopia) – 2:22:28
Viola Cheptoo (Kenya) – 2:22:44
Betty Chepkwony (Kenya) – 2:23:02
Domenika Mayer (Germany) – 2:23:47
Deborah Schöneborn (Germany) – 2:24:54
Aberash Demisse (Ethiopia) – 2:25:43
Fabienne Königstein (Germany) – 2:25:48
Aleksandra Lisowska (Poland) – 2:25:52
Samantha Harrison (Great Britain) – 2:25:59
Irvette Van Zyl (South Africa) – 2:26:11
Hanne Verbruggen (Belgium) – 2:26:32
Melina Wolf (Germany) – 2:27:34
Jill Holterman (Netherlands) – 2:28:18
Samrawit Mengsteab (Sweden) – 2:28:44
Hanna Lindholm (Sweden) – 2:28:59
Men’s elite field
Milkesa Mengesha (Ethiopia) – 2:03:17
Sabastian Sawe (Kenya) – 2:02:05
Gabriel Gerald Geay (Tanzania) – 2:03:00
Haymanot Alew (Ethiopia) – 2:03:31
Guye Adola (Ethiopia) – 2:03:46
Leul Gebresilase (Ethiopia) – 2:04:02
Daniel Mateiko (Kenya) – 2:04:24
Haftu Teklu (Ethiopia) – 2:04:42
Chimdessa Debele (Ethiopia) – 2:04:44
Kengo Suzuki (Japan) – 2:04:56
Chala Regasa (Ethiopia) – 2:05:06
Samwel Mailu (Kenya) – 2:05:08
Yihunilign Adane (Ethiopia) – 2:05:37
Tariku Novales (Spain) – 2:05:48
Kyohei Hosoya (Japan) – 2:05:58
Gebru Redagne (Ethiopia) – 2:05:58
Yuhei Urano (Japan) – 2:06:23
Stanley Kurgat (Kenya) – 2:07:05
Shuho Dairokuno (Japan) – 2:07:12
Hendrik Pfeiffer (Germany) – 2:07:14
Yitayew Abuhay (Israel) – 2:07:26
Ezra Kipketer Tanui (Kenya) – 2:07:28
Bernard Kimani (Kenya) – 2:07:28
Hassan Chahdi (France) – 2:07:30
Akira Akasaki (Japan) – 2:07:32
Sebastian Hendel (Germany) – 2:07:33
Shin Kimura (Japan) – 2:07:34
Robert Ngeno (Kenya) – 2:07:35
Hicham Amghar (Morocco) – 2:07:45
Haftom Welday (Germany) – 2:08:24
Ken Nakayama (Japan) – 2:08:24
Taiyo Iwasaki (Japan) – 2:08:25
Aoi Ota (Japan) – 2:08:31
Gao Peng (China) – 2:09:34
Jin Yuasa (Japan) – 2:09:43
Paulo Paula (Brazil) – 2:09:51
