PRESS
RELEASE September 30, 2012
BMW BERLIN
MARATHON RACE REPORT
photo by George Ross
One Second Win leads to Half a Million Dollars
The 39th edition of the BMW BERLIN MARATHON
took place on September 30, 2012 Weather: 11C at start,
sunny, and light winds from the South West.
BMW Berlin Marathon –
Men’s Race
Geoffrey Mutai (Kenya)
won the Men’s race at the BMW Berlin Marathon today by one second from
teammate and training partner Dennis Kimetto (Kenya). Kimetto, the World
Record Holder at 25m earlier this year in the same city, stayed behind Mutai as
they approached the finish line after passing through the iconic Brandenburg
Gate. Maybe they had discussed together out on the road about the significance
of a win for Geoffrey Mutai here in Berlin.
That one second margin from Mutai’s 2:04:15 to Kimetto’s brilliant
debut marathon in 2:04:16 virtually assures Geoffrey Mutai the win and $500,000
in the 2011-2012 World Marathon Majors
Series. He has three wins and 75 points. None of the
contenders can catch him unless they were to race exceptionally well at BOTH
the Bank of America Chicago Marathon
and the ING New York City Marathon in the next five weeks ÛÓ a most
unlikely scenario. Mutai and Kimetto ran the 4th and 5th fastest times in
history on a standard course (not counting Boston 2011).
The halfway was reached in 62:12 with four
pacers doing a good job leading four principals. By the time the
last pacer left the race at 31km, Geoffrey Mutai started increasing the pace,
and dropped fellow Kenyans Joanathan Maiyo and Geoofrey Kipsang from the
lead group with a 2:43 split for the 32nd kilometer. Only Kimetto could
live with the surges. For a while at around 35k the pair flirtied with challenging
Patrick Makau’s World Record of 2:03:38 set in the 2011 BMW Berlin
Marathon. But a few kilometers at over three minutes pace showed
that the strain of the distance and the speed were taking their toll. The
record challenge passed, and the duo strode past cheering crowds to the finish
line and the Û¢pot of gold’ for Mutai. For the
statisticians the 10km splits were 29:41; 29;21; 29:09 and 29:11.
BMW Berlin Marathon – W
omen’s Race
Two Ethiopian women battled together
for the Berlin
crown. Aberu Kebede, the 2010 Berlin Champion, raced Tirfi Tsegaye, the
2012 Paris Marathon Champion. They passed the halfway point in 1:10:33 and
raced through 10km splits of 33:58, 33:01; 33:02 and 32:53, with Aberu Kebede
breaking away from her country woman by 35km, to secure her second victory in Berlin. Her
win did not impact the 2011-2012 World Marathon
Majors Series for Women.
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For more on the event,
visit the BMW Berlin Marathon
website:
http://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/
2011-2012 World Marathon Majors Series for Women.
The race to be the World Marathon Majors
Champion for Women for 2011-2012 Series is now at an intriguing point.
The women’s race is down to three
contenders. Mary Keitany (KEN) has a 15 points lead but she is not racing
anymore this fall, Edna Kiplagat (KEN/50 points) and Sharon Cherop (KEN/45
points) will fight for the World Marathon Majors title, and $500.000, as
they will compete in the ING New York City Marathon. Liliya Shobukhova (RUS)
will be going for her fourth victory in a row at the Bank of America Chicago
Marathon and while a win there would give her the same number of points as
Keitany (65), the two-time London
champion would prevail based on a better head-to-head record. (1st versus 2nd,
London 2011 and 4th versus a did not finish, London Olympics 2012).
So it is most likely that the 2011-2012 Women’s World Marathon Majors
Champion will be decided in New York.
The 2011/2012 Men’s
leaderboard:
http://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/US/athletes/leaderboard/men/2011-2012/
The 2011/2012
Women’s leaderboard:
http://www.worldmarathonmajors.com/US/athletes/leaderboard/women/2011-2012/
WMM series points earned in 2012 will also
count toward the 2012ÛÓ13 series championship. Athletes are awarded points
for a top-5 finish, with 25 points for 1st, 15 for 2nd, 10 for 3rd, 5 for 4th
and 1 for 5th. A maximum of four events can be counted in a two-year period.
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