Record-Breaking BMW Frankfurt Marathon sets new Standards in Elite Strength in Depth

On their way to world class performances in Frankfurt : Wilson Kipsang (left), Peter Kirui (behind) and Levy Matebo.

The BMW Frankfurt Marathon broke records in more ways than one last Sunday, achieving new yardsticks of success. While the champion Wilson Kipsang (Kenya) missed the world record by just four seconds with his fantastic time of 2:03:42, plenty of best performances were set in his wake.

14 runners went under 2:10 in a marathon, a unique achievement in the history of the classic race over 42.195 km. The following results are also world records (although they are, of course, not officially recognised as such) which document the enormous strength in depth of the elite finishers: 19 runners broke 2:11 and 22 crossed the line in under 2:12. According to “Race Results Weekly”, Frankfurt had the fastest ever runners finishing in positions 13 to 26. The Kenyan Edwin Yano ran 2:12:50 which was only good enough for 26th place.

Never before had 29 runners broken 2:15 in a race in German-speaking countries. Six athletes finished under 2:07 which was also an unprecedented achievement on the German roads. Eight of the first ten men achieved personal bests.

The women’s race – won by the Ethiopian Mamitu Daska in the sixth fastest time of the year, 2:21:59 – was also notable for the elite strength in depth. In almost ideal conditions, 12 runners finished under 2:30 – a unique achievement for a City Marathon in Germany (only the World Championships in Berlin in 2009 had a couple more).

As far as the men’s and women’s winning times were concerned, the BMW Frankfurt Marathon ranks ninth among the best marathons of all time. The combined time of the winners comes to 4:25:41 and on only eight occasions have better aggregate times been recorded.

On the basis of these world class times, Frankfurt has also jumped from ninth to fifth place on the all-time list of fastest City Marathons (based on the average of the ten fastest finishers in a race). Frankfurt’s new average time is 2:05:45.5. The only races faster are Rotterdam, Berlin, Boston and London while the BMW Frankfurt Marathon has now overtaken Chicago.

The 30th edition of the  BMW Frankfurt Marathon also set records in terms of mass participation. A record total of 15,210 runners entered the jubilee edition.  Of these, 12,436 (10,052 men and 3,384 women) finished the race which was also an event record. This made the BMW Frankfurt Marathon the clear number two behind Berlin for mass participation in Germany.