Kipchoge missing for the first time in 11 years as the 50th Berlin Marathon holds on Sunday

 The 50th BMW Berlin Marathon will take place on Sunday with many hoping for more historic moments after women's winner Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia set a new world record in 2023 and men's winner Eliud Kipchoge won it for an unprecedented fifth time.

The Berlin Marathon has been the site of numerous world records over the last half-century. When it celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1998, Brazilian Ronaldo da Costa stormed to a shock win breaking a men's ten-year-old marathon world record with a time of 2 hours, 6 minutes, and 5 seconds in what was his sole international marathon title.

Da Costa's world record stood for five years until Kenyan Paul Tergat set a new time of 2 hours, 4 minutes, and 55 seconds in 2003. A runner from Kenya or Ethiopia has won the Berlin Marathon ever since with world records set by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia in 2007 and 2008 followed by Patrick Musyoki in 2011, Wilson Kipsang in 2013, and Dennis Kimetto in 2014, all from Kenya.

Most recently, their fellow countryman Eliud Kipchoge achieved two world records beating his own world-record time of 2 hours, 1 minute, and 39 seconds at the 2018 Berlin Marathon by half a minute with a time of 2 hours, 1 minute, and 39 seconds at the 2022 Berlin Marathon.

These two times are now the second and third fastest marathon times run by a man in history after the late Kelvin Kiptum became the first to break 2 hours and 1 minute at the 2023 Chicago Marathon.

While last year Kipchoge secured a historic fifth Berlin Marathon title, his time of 2 hours, 2 minutes, and 42 seconds fell behind the top three times including his two previous world record times in Berlin.

The women's winner last year, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia, however, shattered the women's marathon world record, clocking 2 hours 11 minutes and 53 seconds in her second consecutive Berlin marathon title to become the first to run a marathon in under 2 hours and 12 minutes.

This weekend, all eyes will be on Berlin awaiting any world record results in the 50th year of the historic race which has attracted a record entry of 58,212 runners from 161 different countries.

It's Tigst Assefa's training partner Tigist Ketema who is touted as the likeliest to challenge Assefa's world record time with a personal best of 2 hours, 16 minutes, and 7 seconds. Assefa won't be competing having won silver at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games marathon in August but many have dubbed Ketema as more than capable of producing something special in Berlin.

“I have prepared to run a personal best and plan to run the first half on Sunday in around 68 minutes. I hope it won’t be too cold since I run better in warmer conditions,” said Ketema.

Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya is another favourite with a person best just 7 seconds slower than Ketema.

“Tigist is expected to set off at a faster pace than the others. But the elite field is closely matched and could produce a surprise,” said Berlin Marathon Race Director, Mark Mild.

There will also be eyes on 1500m former world record holder Genzebe Dibaba who is the younger sister of Ethiopian running legend Tirunesh. She ran her debut marathon in a time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, and 5 seconds in Amsterdam in 2022.

“I’ve seen on TV how Haile Gebrselassie broke two world records in Berlin. Since then I’ve always wanted to run here and now I have the chance,” said Dibaba. “Success for me would mean breaking my personal best.”

The strongest German marathoner in recent years is 32-year-old Melat Kejeta who finished sixth on her Berlin Marathon debut in 2019 with a time of 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 57 seconds.

“I'm not in the kind of form to attack the German record but I hope to set a personal best. I had a slight knee problem recently and shall have to see how it goes on Sunday,“ said Keleta.

The men's field for the 50th Berlin Marathon, meanwhile, looks to be the deepest of all time. Over the last decade, only four different men have won.

Following Dennis Kimetto's world record time in 2014, Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele won in 2016 and 2019 and his compatriot Guye Adola won in 2021. The other five years were won by Kenya's running Eliud Kipchoge in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2023.

For the first time in eleven years, Kipchoge won't be competing in the German capital. Kenya's Tadese Takele is instead the favourite with a current personal best of 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 24 seconds

14 different athletes competing for the title in Berlin have personal best times of under 2 hours and 6 minutes which represents the highest quality in the men's field in the Berlin Marathon's 50-year history.