2023: Preview

The GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON, Germany's largest and most spectacular half marathon, will start on the grand boulevard, Strasse des 17. Juni. Around 35,000 athletes have registered for the competition over the "half distance" of exactly 21.0975 km—to run, skate or to power through the distance by wheelchair or hand cycle. This makes the 42nd GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON also one of the largest races worldwide over this distance. The race was fully booked weeks before the registration deadline at the beginning of March. All participants will enjoy a super-fast loop course that takes them past Berlin's major sights—with the start and finish in the immediate vicinity of the Brandenburg Gate and the Victory Column. In this digital magazine you will find all the important information about the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON 2023: Your programme for the half marathon weekend | What the German and African stars have planned | A portrait of three amateur runners | The latest tips for sport, culture and restaurants during the half marathon weekend | What to pay attention to in the last 72 hours before the race | Lots of photos to peak your excitement.

Dominic Lobalu and

Dominic Lobalu and Gemechu Dida are the other two runners who have already finished under an hour with best times of 59:12 and 59:21 minutes respectively. While Dida comes from Ethiopia, Lobalu comes from South Sudan and lives as a refugee in Switzerland. He is part of the Swiss Refugee Team of the title sponsor GENERALI. Strong group of German athletes The runner who was surprisingly the fastest German athlete a year ago is returning to the GE- NERALI BERLIN HALF MARA- THON: Johannes Motschmann finished tenth in 2022, improving his time to 1:01:45 hours. This also currently makes him the tenth-fastest German half marathon runner of all time. The 28-year-old leads a group of strong national athletes. Samuel Fitwi Sibhatu (Silvesterlauf Trier), who clocked 1:01:56 in Dresden in 2021, also has a best time of under 1:02 hours. However, both have already run a marathon in the past two months, so it remains to be seen how quickly they can recover. Hendrik Pfeiffer (TK Hannover/best time: 1:02:05 h), Sebastian Hendel (LG Braunschweig/1:02:28 h) and Aaron Bienenfeld (SSC Hanau-Rodenbach/1:022:33 h) also have good chances in the fight for the position of the best German runner in Berlin. Philipp Pflieger (Marathon Team Berlin/1:02:50 h) will also return to the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON. Erik Hille (LG Telis Finanz Regensburg/1:04:29 h) and the just 21-year-old Tom Förster (LG Voigtland/1:04:50 h) complete the field of top German runners. - 44 -

Half marathon bests MEN’S RECORDS WOMEN’S RECORDS Course record 58:42 Eric Kiptanui (KEN) 2018 World record 57:31 Jacob Kiplimo (UGA) Lissabon/POR (2021) European record 59:13 Julien Wanders (SUI) Ras Al Khaimah/UAE (2019) German record 1:00:09 Amanal Petros (TV Wattenscheid) Valencia (2021) Berlin record 1:00:59 Amanal Petros (SCC Berlin) Ras Al Khaimah/UAE (2023) Course record 1:05:02 Sheila Kiprotich Chepkirui (KEN) 2022 World record 1:02:52 Letesenbet Gidey (ETH) Valencia (2021) European record 1:05:15 Sifan Hassan (NED) Kopenhagen/DEN (2018) German record 1:05:18 Melat Kejeta (Laufteam Kassel) Gdynia/POL (2020) Berlin record 1:07:58 Uta Pippig (SCC Berlin) Kyoto/JPN (1995) Johannes Motschmann was surprisingly the fastest German last year in 1:01:45 hours.