Australian Sprinter, 16, Runs Record-Breaking 200m Berlin Marathon announced that a world record 54,280 people finished the race in Germany on September 29, surpassing the 54,175 finishers from the Paris Marathon back in April and the 2019 New York City Marathon record of 53,627.
Ethiopia swept the 50th running of the marathon, with runners Tigist Ketema and Milkesa Mengesha taking it home for the women and men, respectively, the first time in three years the country has taken both men’s and women’s top spots in a World Marathon Major.
Ketema, 26, won the women’s race in 2:16:42, giving her two wins in three career marathons, all of which have occurred in 2024. She began the year with a bang, finishing her debut marathon in Dubai in 2:16:07 in January—the fastest debut ever. In Berlin, she bested second-place runner and fellow Ethiopian Mestawot Fikir by just over two minutes, with the country taking the top four spots in the race.
Mengesha, 24, won the men’s race with a time of 2:03:17. Unlike his female counterpart, his race came down to the final mile, winning by just five seconds over Kenyan runner Cyprian Kotut, making it the closest Berlin Marathon in 12 years.
Mengesha’s biggest honor before Berlin was arguably his sixth-place in the marathon at the 2023 World Championships. He also finished 10th at the Tokyo Olympics in the 5,000 meters.
In addition to the record number of finishers, 13 other world records were attempted in Berlin, with 12 of those records set or broken during the race. Three of them set during the inline skating marathon, which was the largest in the world.
The nine records set or broken during the main race include the fastest marathon in a martial arts suit (male), fastest marathon in school uniform (female), fastest marathon dressed as a mobile phone (male), fastest marathon in a onesie (male), fastest marathon dressed as a spartan warrior (male), fastest marathon by a married couple in traditional Thai dress, fastest marathon wearing a dirndl (female), fastest marathon in a Tanzmariechen dress (female), and fastest marathon dressed in an inflatable costume (female).
Berlin’s overall finisher record, however, could be threatened soon. The New York City Marathon, set for November 3, received nearly 165,000 applications and over 50,000 runners are expected to start the race. And the Chicago Marathon, on October 13, is expecting more than 50,000 participants as well, although the total number of finishers is usually fewer than New York.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Races - Places and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
