Frankfurt Marathon 2026 preview: Germany's three fastest ever line up against Belay and Yimer

The Mainova Frankfurt Marathon on Sunday 25 October has assembled the three fastest German marathoners in history for the first time at a city marathon. Amanal Petros, the national record holder with 2:04:03, will be joined by Samuel Fitwi (2:04:45) and Richard Ringer (2:04:47), giving the home crowd a rare chance to see the best of German distance running in one race.

They will not have things their own way. Andualem Belay of Ethiopia has a personal best of 2:04:44, making him the second-fastest man in the field on paper, and Benard Biwott of Kenya returns as the 2024 Frankfurt winner, when he took victory in 2:05:54 on his marathon debut. The 24-year-old improved to 2:05:25 in Paris in 2025 and was ninth in Cape Town this year. Haimro Alame, who is Ethiopia-born and competes for Israel, has a best of 2:06:04 and finished fourth at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.

Race Director Jo Schindler has been clear that the German trio are not being handed a victory, saying they face a strong field. The depth of the line-up means tactics will matter as much as fitness, and a fast early pace could expose any runner who has not recovered fully from a busy season.

In the women's race Zeineba Yimer of Ethiopia is the fastest on the start list with a personal best of 2:18:47 set this spring, when she was third at the Barcelona Marathon. She is one of three women with bests under 2:20:00, alongside Betsy Saina of the United States (2:19:17) and Buzunesh Getachew of Ethiopia (2:19:27, set in Frankfurt three years ago). Getachew won in Frankfurt in 2023, and Saina finished eighth there in 2018.

Marion Kibor of Kenya, who ran 2:21:12 in Hamburg this spring, is another to watch, while Germany's Blanka Dörfel will make her marathon debut. Frankfurt follows Chicago on 11 October and Amsterdam on 18 October in a crowded autumn calendar, and it comes before the TCS New York City Marathon on 1 November. The race has a record of producing quick times on a flat course, and this year's field gives organisers every reason to expect a competitive afternoon.