German
English
<
Defending champion Gete Wami (Ethiopia) will return to the 34th real,- BERLIN-MARATHON on 30th
September. That means that both champions will come back to Germany’s
biggest marathon race. Wami’s fellow countryman Haile Gebrselassie
intends to break the world record set by his big rival Paul Tergat
(Kenya/2:04:55) in 2003 in Berlin.
For Gete Wami it is also about more than just the victory in
Berlin. If she will win the race with 40,000 runners again, she would
take the lead in the World Marathon Majors (WMM). The first series will
end at the ING New York City Marathon on 4 th November. The top man and
woman will share a jackpot of one million dollar. Should Wami finish
second in Berlin, she would share the lead with Jelena Prokopcuka
(Lithuania). More information about the WMM series is available at: www.worldmarathonmajors.com
Gete Wami set her personal best of 2:21:34 in last year’s race in
Berlin. At that time it was also an Ethiopian record. In the meantime
Berhane Adere improved this to 2:20:42. To get the record back and to
become the ninth runner in athletics history to run sub 2:20 are the
main goals for Gete Wami in Berlin. Another target for Wami, who was
the 10,000 m world champion in 1999 and who finished second in the
Flora London Marathon clocking 2:21:45 this April, would be the world
leading time for 2007 of 2:20:38. China’s London winner Chunxiu Zhou
clocked that time in April.
The 32 year-old Gete Wami will face strong competitors at the
real,- BERLIN-MARATHON. Among them are Japanese Naoko Sakamoto, whose
personal best of 2:21:51 is barely slower than the one of Wami.
Russia’s Irina Timofeyewa (2:25:29) or Poland’s Grazyna Syrek (2:26:22)
could be in with a surprise. Furthermore German runner Irina Mikitenko
has a potential for a strong marathon debut.