News Archive

Gete Wami, (Ethiopia) real,- BERLIN champion 2006

„I am pleased to start in Berlin for the second time. I am in good shape but do not want to make predictions for the race on Sunday. To run a time of sub 2:20 hours will depend on many factors like weather and competition. I did not change my preparations for this marathon also when I am running the ING New York City Marathon in November. It is always the same hard training. Marathon is never easy. That is the way I am living. At the moment put my focus on the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON, and then I will start thinking about the next races and the Olympic Games 2008 in Beijing.”

Naoko Sakamoto, (Japan) Personal best of 2:21:51 hours

“Due to the fact of an injury I had to take a break from running last year and started to prepare for the marathon again in the beginning of 2007. Therefore I trained in high altitude in Kunming , China and in New Mexico , USA . For Japanese runners the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON is a very special event because a number of elite female participants ran their personal best here. I am just naming Mizuki Noguchi or Yoko Shibui. I hope to continue this success somehow and achieve my best.”

Irina Mikitenko, (Germany)

“Some time ago I said that I do not know if I would continue after the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON as an elite runner or just for fun. That has not changed. By Sunday evening I will know if I am going to run again. I trained very well but do not think too much about my time. Let us see what is going to happen. To break 2:30 hours is my first goal. Probably I am able to run faster but I do not want to set myself under pressure. Sabrina Mockenhaupt [who is going to run her first marathon next week] sees Beijing or World Championships as a goal. I do not want to make up my mind about which distance I will go for at the Olympic Games before Sunday’s race. I trained since June for the race here and Berlin is a very nice place for me. My main goal is to run road races and the half marathon in future. At the moment I cannot imagine to run more than one good marathon a year. Maybe in the next years it will be possible to run two or three a year, but for now I focus on one very good marathon a year.“