World Record Shattering Performance At 2023 Berlin Marathon

Based in Teaneck, New Jersey, Jennifer Heiner served for several years as a retail director at a New Jersey running company and is an avid runner who has competed in six marathons. Jennifer Heiner volunteers with the New York Road Runners and has helped organized numerous group training runs focused on preparing runners for the New York City Marathon. The New York City Marathon began 50 years ago and is the world’s largest marathon. The race is also the main event of the New York Road Runners (NYRR) organization, a premier community running entity.

Held each year in November, the event draws more than 50,000 professional and amateur runners from more than 125 countries. The 26.2-mile running route passes through five of New York’s neighborhoods, including Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan. Over 10,000 volunteers and a million spectators watch the marathon’s runners compete from New York’s streets, while millions more watch the event on television.

The New York City Marathon is a part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a group of major marathons that take place in New York, Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, and Chicago. After the return of the World Marathon Majors in 2021 following the worldwide lockdown due the Covid pandemic, all 5 races (Toyko was still postponed or cancelled) were held in the fall within 6 weeks of each other, creating a unique challenge for those runners attempting to do some or all of the races in one season.

Abbott posted some interesting stats showing the breakdown of finishers, between gender, age, country of origin, and finish time. When will YOU begin or finish your World Marathon Major Journey?

The 2023 Berlin Marathon took place yesterday, where defending champion and world record holder Eliud Kipchoge won for the men. Usually, the story focuses on him. But this time, it was the women’s champion, Tigist Assefa, who stole headlines by beating the women’s world record by over two minutes!

The following CNN article captures the highlights from the day: Tigist Assefa obliterates women’s marathon world record in Berlin while Eliud Kipchoge makes history (msn.com)

Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa obliterated the women’s marathon world record on Sunday as she won the Berlin Marathon, completing the course in 2:11:53 and shaving more than two minutes off the previous best.

It marked her second consecutive Berlin Marathon title, and a time that was two minutes and 11 seconds faster than Brigid Kosgei’s previous world record set at the 2019 Chicago Marathon, though it is still subject to the usual ratification procedure, according to World Athletics.

Still a relative newcomer to the distance, it was only Assefa’s third ever competitive marathon after she made the switch from middle-distance running.

It was a blistering race from the very start with the leading 12 women all running within world record pace through the opening 15 kilometers.

By the halfway point, Assefa was more than a minute inside world record pace and alone at the head of the race, streaking ahead of the field.

Eventually, she crossed the finish line almost six minutes ahead of Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui in second and Tanzania’s Magdalena Shauri in third — who set a national record with her time of 2:18:41.

Eliud Kipchoge won his fifth Berlin Marathon title. — Tobias Schwartz/AFP/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

Meanwhile, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge won a record fifth title in the men’s race, stopping the clock at 2:02:42, the fifth-fastest time of his career.

The two-time Olympic champion was challenged almost all the way by Derseh Kindie but he eventually outpaced the Ethiopian about 31 kilometers into the race and won by 31 seconds.

The speed of this year’s Berlin Marathon was underscored by a record nine men finishing inside 2:05 and a record eight women finishing inside 2:20.