Berlin Marathon 2025: Is Sabastian Sawe on course for a new record?
In recent days, all eyes have been on Tokyo and the World Athletics Championships. And yet here we are: marathon season is finally about to get underway. It starts with a bang at the Berlin Marathon this weekend, on Sunday, September 21. One of the fastest and most prestigious World Marathon Majors on the circuit promises a spectacular race. For its 51st edition, the elite field features no fewer than ten men under 2:05 and six women under 2:19. An exceptional level of depth. History could once again be made on the streets of the German capital, which has seen 13 world records since the race was founded. Among the fastest runners in the field, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe is ready to make his mark.
Rosemary Wanjiru and Degitu Azimeraw are the women’s favorites
Among the women, Kenya’s Rosemary Wanjiru is the fastest runner in the field, with a 2:16:14 clocking in Tokyo in 2024. She will try to become the first Kenyan woman to win in Berlin since Gladys Cherono in 2018. She will face competition from Ethiopians Degitu Azimeraw (2:17:58), Dera Dida (2:18:32) and Mestawut Fikir (2:18:48), who finished second in the German capital last year and won the 2024 Paris Marathon.
Japan’s Honami Maeda (2:18:59, the national record) will also be one to watch. Her presence alongside Kengo Suzuki underlines Japan’s particular interest in the Berlin Marathon, in a country where the marathon is a national sport.
Exceptional depth in the men’s field
It comes as no surprise that Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe will be at the center of attention. With an impressive personal best of 2:02:05 set in Valencia in 2024 in his marathon debut and his victory in London this year, he is currently the fastest marathoner in the field and ranks number one in the 2025 World Athletics rankings. Alongside him, Ethiopia’s Milkesa Mengesha, last year’s Berlin winner in 2:03:17, and Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay (2:03) add to a talent-packed lineup that also includes Guye Adola, Leul Gebresilase and Daniel Mateiko.
The participation of Japan’s Kengo Suzuki (the national record-holder in 2:04:56) also highlights the international reach of this edition, which will feature both Japanese national record-holders for the first time, in the men’s and women’s races.
France’s Hassan Chahdi set to race
From the French perspective, attention will turn to Hassan Chahdi, one of France’s most consistent marathoners in recent years. After spending the summer training at altitude in Font-Romeu and putting in an impressive performance at the Mont Ventoux Half Marathon, the Olympian will line up with the ambition of setting a new personal best of 2:07:30.
Sabastian Sawe: a potential world-record threat?
For many observers, the 51st edition of the Berlin Marathon is about more than the win. It could provide the stage for a new world record. Like the late Kelvin Kiptum before him, Sabastian Sawe is only running his third marathon, yet his ability is already turning heads.
His first two attempts at the classic distance, Valencia 2024 and London 2025, produced victories and, above all, perfectly managed races, with a negative split and a faster second half than first. It is a clear sign of maturity over the distance, along with huge room for improvement. In Spain, he reached halfway in 1:01:18 before covering the second half in 1:00:47. In London, he passed halfway in 1:01:30, then clocked 1:00:57 for the second half. To break the mythical two-hour barrier, he would need to take a few risks, perhaps reaching halfway in 1:00:15 and then finishing hard, with a 59:30 return half. Inhuman for most, but not unrealistic after what Kiptum showed in Chicago in 2023. Sawe, for his part, simply keeps repeating: “Yes, it’s possible.”
Those around him share that calm confidence. His coach, Claudio Berardelli, emphasizes his extraordinary versatility: “I haven’t pushed him to the limit yet. You’ll see, he has much more to give.” His uncle Abraham, an important figure in his career, adds: “He has no fear, he knows his strengths.” With Sawe, there is no pressure, just a disconcerting sense of calm and composure.
© London MarathonAn unprecedented anti-doping protocol to restore Kenya’s image?
Beyond his talent, there is a desire to prove his integrity in a context often clouded by skepticism. Following the doping cases that damaged Kenya’s image this year, his training camp introduced an unprecedented protocol in collaboration with the Athletics Integrity Unit: an anti-doping test every three days since the end of July. No athlete of this level had ever been tested so frequently ahead of a major event. It is a way of showing that his pursuit is 100% clean. And it could well signal something big in Berlin.
Everything is now pointing toward September 21: Berlin, its legacy, a course that has witnessed so many records fall, and perhaps Sawe, whose talent and quiet faith suggest he could write a new chapter in marathon history.
With a historic elite field and runners from every corner of the globe, the 51st edition of the Berlin Marathon promises a thrilling contest. The anticipated head-to-head battles should provide plenty of drama, but all eyes will be fixed on Sabastian Sawe, whose stride could push back the limits of what seems possible. Berlin is ready, and so is the world.