The BMW Frankfurt Marathon is driving in the Fast Lane

Wilson Kipsang

Where to begin? With the fantastic new course record of Wilson Kipsang, who only missed the world record of his Kenyan compatriot Patrick Makau by four seconds with his time of 2:03:42? Or with the triumphant run of Ethiopia’s Mamitu Daska (2:21:59), the sixth fastest time of the year and also a course record? Or with Susanne Hahn from Saarbrücken, whose personal best unexpectedly qualified her for the 2012 Olympic Games in London? Or with the dramatic collapse of the highly rated Sabrina Mockenhaupt, who ran 2:28:08 but suffered her own Waterloo over the last few kilometres? Or with the phenomenal entry total of more than 25,000 participants in the BMW Frankfurt Marathon?

Whichever way you look at it – the 30th birthday of the oldest German city marathon on October 30, 2011 was an outstanding event at international level, let alone the domestic scene.

Entries reached a 15,000 maximum three weeks before the starting gun for the classic marathon distance; the Mainova Mini-Marathon, the biggest Youth Run in Hessen, was fully booked with 3,200 boys and girls aspiring to be athletes; the VGF Relay Marathon was (almost) full to capacity with 6,896 entries and there was an event record for the Kids’ Run powered by Mainova with 1,124 children.  A total of more than 21,000 finishers followed the red carpet to the finish line in Frankfurt’s Festival Hall! Frankfurt now has the second fastest course anywhere in the world and in terms of mass runners nationally for 2011 is number two behind Berlin with 12,436 marathon finishers, well ahead of Hamburg. Yet these are all just numbers, as are the 150 accredited journalists and camera crews from 12 nations, the 350,000 spectators along the course, more than 45,000 visitors to the sportswear fair in the Marathon Expo and participants from 88 countries. Frankfurt is now more international than ever.

The four-hour live coverage of the BMW Frankfurt Marathon on hr Television gave a perfect impression of what it’s really about. It’s about emotions, with runners male and female who are happy and feel they are taken care of in the best possible way, about pictures which last long in the memory of the elite and mass of runners. And not least it’s about happy sponsors because they are the ones who make it possible to stage international top events such as the BMW Frankfurt Marathon which presides over a budget of three million euros. All this made it possible that no-one set off unhappy on their journey home on October 30.

One lesson learned at this anniversary edition was clear: anyone who runs in Frankfurt once is happy to return. There’s no other way to explain the increases in every sphere. And it speaks for itself that a much in demand media star such as the 100-year-old Fauja Singh from London chose the financial centre of Frankfurt for his only race in Germany. Singh took part in the Pretzel Run and in an inter-faith relay, proving to be one of the most highly visitible figures in the television coverage along with the leading Kenyan and Ethiopian stars.

The 30th BMW Frankfurt Marathon also showed that the new title sponsor BMW and the classic race beside the River Main are a brilliant fit. A fact also proven by the debut of the emission-free timing car ActiveE. The BMW Frankfurt Marathon is right on course as a “Green Marathon” and a role model for other sports events in the city.

Here’s to the next edition on October 28, 2012!