From world record pace to the hospital: the latest Berlin-Marathon clearly shows how fine the line is between a personal best and hitting the wall over 42.195 kilometres.
Over the 42.195 kilometres through the capital, triumph and bitter defeat were extremely close together. In the men's race, the Ethiopian Guye Adola won in 2:02:51 hours, while the women's race was dominated by the pursuit of a historic record until shortly before the end. Yet the race dynamics among the elite female runners in particular demonstrate that a marathon is only decided on the finish line – a lesson that applies equally to professionals and recreational runners.
Up to kilometre 40, Tigst Assefa was clearly on world record pace to break the mark set by Ruth Chepngetich (2:09:56 hours). But over the last two to three kilometres, the Ethiopian lost around 90 seconds. With her face twisted in pain and limping noticeably, she dragged herself across the finish line in 2:11:04 hours. While this was enough for the win, a new course record, and the third-fastest time in history, it took an extreme toll.
Behind the scenes, however, there was confusion about the exact cause of the breakdown. While RTL expert Sabrina Mockenhaupt suspected in the FAZ report that the muscles had simply locked up, and leichtathletik.de spoke of muscular problems, Assefa was entirely absent from the podium ceremony and press conference: according to the organisers, she was taken to a hospital for examination due to a tendon injury. In training, when faced with pain and unclear complaints, the rule for you is clear: always get such injuries checked professionally instead of pushing through on your own.
The risk of an aggressive race pacing strategy was also evident in Esther Pfeiffer's race. She targeted the German record of 2:19:19 hours, but according to leichtathletik.de, she had to drop out just before kilometre 15 due to stomach issues and the enormous pressure. In contrast, there was the race of the top German finisher, Anna Langerwisch. She improved her personal best to 2:27:31 hours, finishing in 16th place. Langerwisch ran the first half in 72:35 minutes and the second in 74:56 minutes – she relied entirely on her instinct and her pacemakers, and by her own account, she had no idea on the course exactly how fast she was going.
For amateur runners, these race dynamics offer clear insights for preparation and race day:
Your takeaway: Pace your race in a controlled manner and listen to your body, because the threshold of exhaustion strikes mercilessly in the final kilometres.
This article was generated automatically with AI from the sources listed above and has not been editorially reviewed.