Hamburg's 40th-edition Haspa Marathon turned into a record-rewriting Sunday for both fields, with Morocco's Othmane El Goumri running a national-record 2:04:24 to win the men's race and Kenya's Brillian Kipkoech taking 32 seconds off the women's course record in 2:17:05. The April 26 race shared the weekend with London's three sub-2:01 men but produced its own slate of milestones, including the first German marathon podium in Hamburg since 1999.
El Goumri took control inside the final 10 kilometres after a hard-paced opening half passed in 1:01:50, breaking clear of compatriot Hicham Amghar and Germany's Samuel Fitwi over the closing miles along the Alster. His 2:04:24 erased the previous Moroccan record of 2:04:43 and made him the third winner this decade to set a national record on the Hamburg course. Pre-race favourite Bernard Koech, the two-time champion bidding for a third title, suffered muscular problems from halfway and faded to 15th in 2:08:10.
Fitwi's runner-up 2:04:45 was the personal-best moment of the day for the German federation. The 30-year-old from Trier had been targeting 2:05 in his second marathon, and his time was the fastest by a German since Andre Pollmacher's 2:08:51 era and the first Hamburg podium for a home runner since Stephan Freigang's third place at the Olympic trials in 1999. He immediately confirmed European Championships selection and a likely September Berlin Marathon start.
Kipkoech's 2:17:05 took the women's race apart from the half. The 24-year-old, fourth in last year's Vienna Marathon, ran negative splits to demolish Mathea Hirniak's 2:17:37 course record and break clear of Rebecca Tanui (2:18:25) and Ethiopia's Kasanesh Ayenew (2:19:39). It was the third sub-2:18 women's marathon performance of April after Tigst Assefa's 2:15:41 women's-only world record at London and Hellen Obiri's 2:15:53 personal best the same day.
The 40th-edition Haspa Marathon also broke its own participation record with 25,800 finishers across the marathon, half marathon and relay, helped by mild 12C conditions and a flat course that has now produced 14 sub-2:05 winning times. Hamburg organisers confirmed the dates for 2027 — April 25 — and said El Goumri had already been invited back to defend his title.