SCC Events used the post-London news cycle to confirm the most heavyweight men's start list Berlin has put on paper since 2018. Eliud Kipchoge, twice a world record-holder over the Brandenburg Gate course, is back to begin his title defence on 27 September alongside London champion and current marathon world record-holder Sabastian Sawe and London runner-up Yomif Kejelcha. The race director's announcement confirms that all three sub-two-hour men from London have agreed in principle to line up in Germany, setting the stage for the deepest legal field ever assembled at the front of a major marathon.
The numbers are unprecedented. With Sawe's 1:59:30, Kejelcha's 1:59:41 and Jacob Kiplimo's 2:00:28 all from London, plus Kipchoge's outright Berlin course record of 2:01:09 from 2022, Berlin will be the first major to start at least three runners with sub-two-hour or sub-two-hour-eligible credentials. Talkative pacemaker plans, a rolling pace strategy and the famously flat profile of the Berlin course all push the conversation toward another world-record attempt, although organisers have so far stopped short of confirming a formal pacing target. Kipchoge, 41, has indicated he intends to race for victory rather than chase a time, framing the meeting as an opportunity to test himself against a generation he helped create.
The women's field is built around the world's two fastest active marathoners. Tigst Assefa, who lowered her own women-only world record to 2:15:41 in London on Sunday, returns to a course she has owned since her 2:11:53 mixed-race world best in 2023, while three-time New York champion Hellen Obiri is expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks alongside reigning Berlin runner-up Joyciline Jepkosgei. Germany's national record-holder Amanal Petros leads a domestic men's contingent that organisers say will be the largest in a decade, with selection for next summer's home European Championships in Birmingham hanging on Berlin times for several middle-tier German marathoners.
Berlin's announcement also signalled an aggressive prize structure. Following the lead set by London's record £171,000 winner's cheque earlier this month, SCC Events has matched the 2025 World Marathon Majors winner's payout and increased per-second time bonuses for any performance under the men's or women's world record, with a separate appearance fee disclosed by Kipchoge's management as part of the deal that brings him back to Germany. The race will form part of the new World Marathon Majors winning-purse pool, which pays an aggregated bonus to the top performer over a rolling six-major window.
The remaining piece of the puzzle is the wheelchair race, where the Berlin organising committee is closing in on a deal to bring the Boston and London champions Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner back to Germany after they elected to skip the 2025 edition. With sponsorship logos still being finalised, the elite line-up published this week is expected to grow further before entries close in late June. Either way, 27 September has just become the most-watched date in the autumn road racing calendar.