The 2011

Berlin Marathon The Berlin Marathon (, ) is a marathon event held annually on the streets of Berlin, Germany on the last weekend of September. Held annually since 1974, the event includes multiple races over the marathon distance of , including elite level road r ...

was the 38th edition of the annual

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

event and was held on Sunday 25 September on the streets of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. The men's race was won by

Patrick Makau Patrick Makau Musyoki (born 2 March 1985) is a runner from Kenya. He is a former world record holder in the marathon—His time of 2:03:38, run at the 2011 Berlin Marathon, was the world record for two years, until it was beaten by Wilson Kipsa ...

of Kenya in a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

time of 2:03:38 hours. The women's winner was

Florence Kiplagat Florence Jebet Kiplagat (born 27 February 1987) is a Kenyan professional long-distance runner. She is a two-time world champion, having won at the 2009 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. ...

, also from Kenya, won in a time of 2:19:44 hours, which made her the ninth fastest woman of all-time. It was the first marathon she had completed in her career. In total, 32,991 runners managed to finish the 2011 edition of the marathon, comprising 25,577 men and 7414 women. Patrick Makau at the Berlin Marathon 2011

Patrick Makau at the Berlin Marathon 2011

Irina Mikitenko at the Berlin Marathon 2011

Prior to the race, the two favourites for the men's competition were Makau (the defending champion and then-fifth fastest ever) and the world record holder

Haile Gebrselassie Haile Gebrselassie (; born 18 April 1973) is an Ethiopian former Long-distance running, long-distance track running, track, road running athlete, and businessman. He won two Olympic gold medals and four World Athletics Championships, World Cha ...

of Ethiopia – the race marked the first outing since Haile had declared retirement following a poor showing at the 2010 New York City Marathon. There were a large group of

pacemaker A pacemaker, also known as an artificial cardiac pacemaker, is an implanted medical device that generates electrical pulses delivered by electrodes to one or more of the chambers of the heart. Each pulse causes the targeted chamber(s) to co ...

s aiding the elite men for the first part of the race. The leading group, including the two favourites and three others ( Edwin Kimaiyo, John Kyui and Emmanuel Samal), reached the halfway point in 61:44 minutes. Makau became the first runner to break away at the 26 km mark and he began zig-zagging along the course in the hope of disrupting Haile Gebrselassie, who followed. The tactic worked as the Ethiopian came to an abrupt halt, later dropping out entirely. Makau sped away unopposed and finished the race with a world record, beating his rival's former mark by 21 seconds. Behind him, Stephen Kwelio Chemlany, who started as a pacemaker, continued to the finish to take second place with a time of 2:07.55 hours and Kimaiyo was third to cross the line in 2:09:50 hours, making it a Kenyan podium sweep.Butcher, Pat (2011-09-25)
Makau stuns with 2:03:38 Marathon World record in Berlin! - UPDATED
IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-10-06.Patrick Makau breaks Haile Gebrselassie's marathon world record in Berlin

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

(2011-09-25). Retrieved on 2011-10-06. The two headline athletes for the women's race were Germany's Irina Mikitenko, the 2008 champion, and world record holder

Paula Radcliffe Paula Jane Radcliffe Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a British former long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 200 ...

of Great Britain. Radcliffe had not raced in a marathon for two years, due to injury and childbirth, and stated that her target was to gain the qualifying time for the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. A trio of Russians,

Lidiya Grigoryeva Lidiya Grigoryeva (; born 25 January 1974 in Smychka, Chuvash ASSR) is a Russian long-distance runner from the Chuvashia region. Running career Grigoryeva won the bronze medal in the 10,000 metres at the 2006 European Championships in Ath ...

, Tatyana Petrova and

Nailiya Yulamanova Nailiya Yulamanova (; born 6 September 1980) is a Russian long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon. She won the Saransk Marathon in 2006 and went on to finish twelfth at the 2006 European Championships and 32nd at the 2007 World Ch ...

were considered the other main contenders for the elite women's race.Butcher, Pat (2011-09-22)
Radcliffe's long moment of truth to come in Berlin?
IAAF. Retrieved on 2011-10-06. However, it was

(the 2009 World Cross Country Champion) who assumed the lead at the start of the race and set a fast pace. Only Radcliffe followed, but she fell back after 12 km as she was unable to match the Kenyan's speed. Kiplagat was never overtaken and crossed the line in a time of 2:19:44 hours, becoming the ninth fastest woman of all-time and completing her first ever marathon (she had started the

2011 Boston Marathon The 2011 Boston Marathon took place on Monday, April 18, 2011, as the 115th official running of the Boston Marathon. On October 18, 2010, the 20,000 spots reserved for qualifiers were filled in a record-setting eight hours and three minutes. Geof ...

but dropped out). Radcliffe was in second place for much of the race, but was overtaken after 33 km by Mikitenko, who ran a more steady-paced race. The German was the eventual runner-up in 2:22:18 hours, while Radcliffe took third with a time of 2:23:46 hours. The

wheelchair race Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, including leg amputees, spinal cord injuries, and cerebral palsy. Athletes are classified in acc ...

s saw Swiss athletes take the top two places:

Marcel Hug Marcel Eric Hug (; born 16 January 1986) is a Paralympic Games, Paralympic Track and field, athlete from Switzerland competing in category T54 (classification), T54 wheelchair racing events. Hug, nicknamed 'The Silver Bullet', has competed in fo ...

narrowly defeated Heinz Frei in the men's race and there was just one second between the women's winner Edith Hunkeler and runner-up Sandra Graf. Ewan Fernandez and Sabine Berg were the men's and women's winners in the in-line skating marathon.

Results

Elite races

;Elite Men ;Elite women

Wheelchair

;Men ;Women

In-line skating

;Men ;Women

References

;Official results
38. BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2011
SCC Events. Retrieved on 2011-10-06.

External links

Official Berlin Marathon website
{{Footer Berlin Marathon Champions Wheelchair Women

Berlin Marathon 2011 in Berlin