Overview
- Race organizers and media confirmed on Saturday that Kenyan runner Sabastian Sawe withdrew from the Berlin Marathon because of an injury, removing a high-profile men’s storyline.
- Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa has publicly stated she will target the women’s world record and must beat Ruth Chepngetich’s 2:09:56 to succeed.
- Germany’s Esther Pfeiffer said she will run a pace aimed at Irina Mikitenko’s long-standing national record of 2:19:19 and will be supported in-race by her husband and pacemaker Hendrik Pfeiffer.
- The Berlin Marathon is set to start Sunday at 8:45 CET and will be shown on RTL, concentrating live coverage on the reconfigured elite fields.
- Berlin’s flat, fast layout has produced multiple record runs, and Sawe’s April 1:59:30 in London helped raise expectations that the city could deliver time-focused performances this weekend.