Berlin Marathon 2025 Preview: Date, Start Time, and How to Watch Live

The World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 may have the attention of the athletics community, but the autumn marathon season is also approaching.

On Sunday, September 21, the 51st edition of the World Marathon Majors, the fastest of them all, will take place in Berlin.

In the men’s race, which also features fellow East Africans Milkesa Mengesha, the reigning champion, and Gabriel Geay, the current Tanzanian marathon record holder, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe, who has only completed two marathons, will be the main attraction.

The women’s list features two former runners-up, Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya and Mestawut Fikir of Ethiopia. Wanjiru is going back to her marathon debut course.

Here is all the information you require regarding the 2025 Berlin Marathon schedule, who to watch, and where to watch it.

Watching athletes at the 2025 Berlin Marathon

What is Sawe’s top speed in Berlin?

One of the seven World Marathon Majors, the Berlin Marathon is also among the fastest in the world, which would have been a major lure for 30-year-old Kenyan Sabastian Sawe.

When the former 5000m track runner lines up on a course where the previous eight men’s world records were established, he will be eager to keep his title as the fastest marathoner, having finished 2024 with a personal best time of 2:02:05, his winning performance from his maiden event in Valencia.

That is, until 2023, when the late Kelvin Kiptum set a new record in Chicago.

Sawe was still vying for half-marathon titles at that point, finishing the season as the first-ever World Athletics Road Running champion over 21 kilometers.

The fifth-fastest person on the all-time list is the favorite in Berlin two marathons later and is even being hailed as a potential world record holder. How soon, anyone can guess?

Sawe will probably be at the front in Berlin with Milkesa Mengesha, who did not react well to his unexpected burst of speed at the London Marathon this year, where the Ethiopian finished in 10th place. In 2024, Mengesha emerged as the unexpected winner of the Berlin Marathon.

Some of the favorites in this year’s race are aware that the Ethiopian flag, which is green, yellow, and red, dominated the podium in Berlin last year.

They include Degitu Azimeraw, a runner-up at the 2021 London Marathon, and Mestawut Fikir, who placed second in Berlin last year. Rosemary Wanjiru, a Japanese runner, is the quickest in the women’s division, having finished the Tokyo Marathon last year in 2:16:14. In seven years, she hopes to become the first Kenyan to finish first on the Berlin Marathon podium. Gladys Cherono was the last Kenyan woman to win the race in 2018.

Timetable for the 2025 Berlin Marathon

At 9:15 a.m. (CEST) on Sunday, September 21, runners will start the Berlin Marathon, which attracts around 80,000 participants, in four waves. Straße des 17. Juni, between the Brandenburg Gate and the “Kleiner Stern,” is where the race begins.

2025 Berlin Marathon Start times:

• 8.50 a.m.: Handbiker (Tops)
• 8.56 a.m.: Wheelchair athlete (Elite)
• 8.59 a.m.: Handbike and wheelchair athletes
• 09.15-10:40 a.m.: Runners (in four waves)

How to watch the Berlin Marathon in 2025

In Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, UAE, and Uzbekistan, the Berlin Marathon will be televised live on TV RTL in Germany and on Olympics.com worldwide.