The international athletics body IAAF has ratified the world record set by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya at this year’s BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on September 28. Kimetto won in 2:02:57 hrs, breaking the previous record of 2:03:23 set by Wilson Kipsang at the 2013 Berlin race by almost half a minute. It is the 10th time a world record was set in Berlin. Since 2003 all six world records in the marathon were set at the BERLIN-MARATHON.
Second place finisher Emmanuel Mutai (Kenya) also went under the former record mark by clocking 2:03:13 hrs. En route to the Berlin finish line Mutai ran a world record for 30 kilometres which was also ratified by the IAAF. He passed the mark leading the field in 1:27:36 hrs.
10 world records at the BERLIN MARATHON
1977 Christa Vahlensieck GER 2:34:48*
1998 Ronaldo da Costa BRA 2:06:05
1999 Tegla Loroupe KEN 2:20:43
2001 Naoko Takahashi JPN 2:19:46**
2003 Paul Tergat KEN 2:04:55
2007 Haile Gebrselassie ETH 2:04:26
2008 Haile Gebrselassie ETH 2:03:59
2011 Patrick Makau KEN 2:03:38
2013 Wilson Kipsang KEN 2:03:23
2014 Dennis Kimeto KEN 2:02:57***
*Winning the German Marathon Championship, held as a separate event on the same course with the same infrastructure as a women only race after the BERLIN MARATHON was finished.
**First time a woman ran under 2:20 hrs. This mark was broken a week later by Catherine Ndereba of Kenya in Chicago clocking 2:18:47 hrs.
***Coincidence: all three times when a time barrier in the men´s marathon was broken at the BERLIN-MARATHON, it happened on the 28th of September (2:05 in 2003, 2:04 in 2008, 2:03 in 2014)
30 km world records* set at the BERLIN MARATHON
2009 Haile Gebrselassie ETH 2:27:49
2011 Patrick Makau KEN 2:27:38
2014 Emmanuel Mutai KEN 2:27:37
In cases like this the IAAF does recognize the split time at 30 km as an official world record when the course was measured properly and if official time keepers have been present. In this cases two time keepers of the German Athletics Federation took the split time.