Amanal Petros Headlines the Fastest Men’s Field in Frankfurt Marathon History

Amanal Petros will line up at the Frankfurt Marathon on Oct. 25 as the quickest man in the strongest men’s field Frankfurt has ever seen, at least on personal bests, and he is aiming for records as well as the win.

The German record holder ran 2:04:03 at the 2025 Valencia Marathon, and the start list organizers released Thursday puts three more men under 2:05 beside him: Ethiopia’s Andualem Belay (2:04:44) and his compatriots Samuel Fitwi (2:04:45) and Richard Ringer (2:04:47). Four others have broken 2:07. Race director Jo Schindler, now in his 25th year running the event, said in the organizers’ announcement that “overall this is surely the fastest elite field we have ever assembled for the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon,” adding that he expected the German men to play a major role.

Only 27 seconds separate Petros from the European record, the 2:03:36 that belongs to Belgium’s Bashir Abdi, and Wilson Kipsang’s Frankfurt course record of 2:03:42 has stood since 2011. Petros told the race’s news service he would go for the European mark if the conditions allow. “If we have good weather conditions a German record would be great,” he said. That caveat carries some weight in Frankfurt, where very strong winds last October ended any talk of records; Belay Asfaw won the men’s race in 2:06:16 and Buze Diriba the women’s in 2:19:34.

Petros has been in the best form of his career for over a year now. He took silver at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo in what was the closest finish in the event’s history, then won the European title in Birmingham in August in 2:09:11, a championship record. Fitwi finished ninth that day and Ringer 10th, the latter slowed by a leg problem late in the race.

Fitwi ran his 2:04:45 in Hamburg in April, and Ringer’s 2:04:47 came the same month at the Boston Marathon, where he ran the fastest time by a European in the race’s history, as LetsRun reported. Boston’s point-to-point, net-downhill course is not eligible for records, so his official personal best remains 2:05:46.

Kenya’s Benard Biwott gives the men’s race a former champion: he won Frankfurt on his marathon debut in 2024 in 2:05:54 and lowered his best to 2:05:25 in Paris the following spring. Israel’s Haimro Alame (2:06:04), fourth at those Tokyo world championships, is also entered.

Meskerem Assefa needed a visa that organizers say was in doubt for a time, because of much tougher entry rules they describe as a problem for every race in Europe right now. They have since secured it, and the Ethiopian is confirmed for the race she won in 2018 in 2:20:36, still her personal best, finishing 11 seconds ahead of Haftamnesh Tesfay and taking 25 seconds off what was then the course record.

Only two women in the field have run faster: Zeineba Yimer, who clocked 2:18:47 for third place in Barcelona this spring, and American Betsy Saina at 2:19:17. Saina was eighth in Frankfurt the year Assefa won. Five women on the list have broken 2:22, the second-best tally in the race’s history after last year’s six. The course record, Hawi Feysa’s 2:17:25 from 2024, is 82 seconds quicker than Yimer’s best.

Buzunesh Getachew, the 2023 winner, has withdrawn with an injury. Blanka Dörfel of Berlin, the only German in the women’s elite field, will run her first marathon.

The Full Frankfurt Marathon Elite Entry List

Personal bests as listed by organizers. Ringer’s 2:04:47 was run in Boston and is not record-eligible; his official best is 2:05:46.

Men

Women