Tigst Assefa is going back to the place that made her famous. On September 27, the 29-year-old Ethiopian will return to the BMW Berlin Marathon, the race where she once broke the world record by more than two minutes, and try to take the record back.
The current mark sits at 2:09:56, set by Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich at the Chicago Marathon in October 2024, who has since been banned for doping charges. Assefa’s own 2:11:53, run on Berlin’s flat streets in 2023, stood for just over a year before Chepngetich erased it.
“It is a great pleasure for me to return to the streets of Berlin three years after setting my world record here in 2023,” Assefa said in a statement released by race organizer SCC Events. “I am excited to once again try to break the world record.”
Berlin organizers announced the women’s elite field this week. By almost any measure, it is one of the deepest the race has ever assembled.
A field thick with contenders
Joining Assefa is Amane Beriso, her training partner from Addis Ababa. Beriso ran 2:14:58 at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, the third-fastest women’s marathon in history at the time, then won the 2023 world title in punishing heat in Budapest. Injuries kept her quiet through much of 2024 and 2025. Berlin will be her comeback race.
Defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru also comes back. The 31-year-old Kenyan won last year’s edition in 2:21:05 under brutally hot conditions, finishing on visibly wobbly legs. She first ran Berlin in 2022, finishing second on her debut in 2:18:00 before winning the Tokyo Marathon six months later.
Then there’s the German story. Esther Pfeiffer, 28, ran 2:37:00 in her marathon debut in Cologne back in 2023 and hasn’t raced the distance since. But this March she ran 67:25 at the Generali Berlin Half Marathon, a time that puts her squarely in German record territory at the full distance.
“If I can complete my training as planned leading up to the Marathon in Berlin, and if the weather cooperates, I will be aiming for the German record,” Pfeiffer said. “I have deliberately put myself in this position. My performances over the shorter distances justify this ambitious goal.”
A history with the course
Few athletes have a relationship with a course quite like Assefa’s with Berlin. She ran 2:15:37 in 2022, taking nearly 20 minutes off her personal best. A year later she ran 2:11:53 and rewrote the sport.
Since then she has added an Olympic silver from Paris in 2024 and a world championship silver from 2025. In London this spring she successfully defended her title there, lowering her women-only world record (run without male pacers) to 2:15:41. The distinction between mixed and women-only records has only grown more important as times tumble.
The mixed-race record of 2:09:56 has so far stayed out of reach. Whether Berlin’s record-friendly course and Assefa’s familiarity with it can close the gap will be the question on September 27.
The men’s race and the wider event
The men’s field has a headline of its own. Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe, who ran 1:59:30 at the London Marathon this spring in a record-eligible race, has confirmed his return to Berlin.
Around 60,000 runners from roughly 160 countries are expected, including wheelchair athletes, handcyclists and inline skaters. The race remains one of the fastest courses in the world, and a marquee stop on the World Marathon Majors circuit.
“The BMW Berlin Marathon 2026 once again promises to be an event of superlatives,” Race Director Mark Milde said. “We are particularly excited about the outstanding women’s elite field, with athletes such as Tigst Assefa, Amane Beriso and defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru all set to deliver a thrilling competition.”
For Assefa, the goal is simpler. She wants the record back.
Original reporting by Christopher Kelsall, Athletics Illustrated; additional details from the SCC Events press release.
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