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Tsegaye Kebede and Dennis Kimetto ready to race on the streets of Berlin on September 28

2014-07-10

Tsegaye Kebede ran 17 marathons and finished 14 in the top-3.
© PHOTORUN

Dennis Kimetto of Kenya and Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia are the top contenders on the world´s fastest marathon course in Berlin.

Dennis Kimetto (30) placed second in the 2012 BMW BERLIN-MARATHON clocking the fastest time ever for a first-time-marathoner (2:04:16), one second behind fellow Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai. Kimetto´s rise to the top came late as he won his first major race at the age of 27, a halfmarathon in Nairobi. In the following year (2012) he won the RAK Half Marathon (United Arab Emirates) and the Vattenfall BERLIN HALF MARATHON. A few weeks after his Berlin win he ran a world record for 25 k (1:11:18), again in Berlin bettering the mark held by Sammy Kosgei (Kenya) by 32 seconds. In 2013 he won the Tokyo Marathon (2:06:50) and the Bank of America Chicago Marathon (2:03:45), both with course records, the latter being the third fastest time ever run on a legitimate course.

Tsegaye Kebede (27) is one of the most successful marathon runners ever. He finished 17 marathons of which he won six and placed 2^nd three times followed by five 3^rd place finishes including bronce medals at the Olympic marathon 2008 and the World Championship marathon 2009. His personal best of 2:04:38 he reached winning the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in 2012.

The BMW Berlin Marathon has been the sight for the last 5 World Records in the Men's Marathon: 2003 Paul Tergat (Kenya) 2:04:55, 2007 and 2008 Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 2:04:26 and 2:03:59, 2011 Patrick Makau (Kenya) 2:03:38 and 2013 Wilson Kipsang (Kenya) 2:03:25. Four more world records were set in Berlin between 1977 and 2001 (two by men, two by women).

Last year Tsegaye Kebede won the World Marathon Majors´ Series 2012/13 cashing in 500,000 $ of prize money. World Marathon Majors is a series consisting of six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world: Tokyo Marathon, Boston Marathon, Virgin Money London Marathon, BMW BERLIN-MARATHON, Bank of America Chicago Marathon and TCS New York City Marathon. It was founded in 2006. Kebede is leading in the WMM 2013/14 Series.