FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
50th BMW BERLIN-MARATHON - Berlin celebrates with record participation!
- 58,212 runners at the start
- Opening ceremony at Brandenburg Gate
- Record number of 161 nation
- Great demand for new 5-km run
The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON moves people - and has been doing so for 50 years!
From a popular marathon in Grunewald with 286 participants, the race has
developed into a major global event. This year, the event will get more
participants moving than ever before! More than 80,000 runners, wheelchair
athletes, handbikers and skaters from a total of 161 nations are expected
to take part in the various disciplines - another record. The organisers of
SCC EVENTS discussed all of these topics with invited guests at a round
table today.
A lot has happened since the first edition in 1974 - when 286 runners took
part. Jürgen Lock, Managing Director of SCC EVENTS, pointed out a few
milestones: 'The most important thing, of course, was that Horst Milde laid
the foundation stone with the first race in 1974. Another milestone was the
move from Grunewald to the city in 1981 - at that time still under the
Allies. The 1990 reunification race, when the BERLIN MARATHON ran through
the Brandenburg Gate for the first time, remains unforgotten. The
international development of the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON continued with the
founding of the Abbott World Marathon Majors in 2006.'
One person who knows the changes of the last 50 years particularly well is
Jutta von Haase, who won the first edition in 1974. 'It was a different
world, everything was different. We ran alone, there was hardly anyone
there,' says von Haase. As a running woman, she was ridiculed by many at
the time. Snide comments were almost always part of her daily forest runs.
Nowadays, the picture is different: this year, 34.6 per cent of
participants are female - the proportion has been growing steadily for
years.
With a total of 58,212 registered runners, this year's BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
has already set a record before the start. 'Our vision right from the start
was to have 50,000 finishers for the anniversary,' says Lock. Intensive
data analysis and years of preparation made this increase possible. After
all, the top priority is the quality of the event for the participants, for
whom not only optimal medical care is guaranteed, but also no traffic jams
should impair the running experience.
Organiser SCC EVENTS has been successfully implementing the high quality
standards for years with a large number of reliable partners, above all the
Berlin police, the Berlin fire brigade and Johanniter as well as more than
6,000 volunteers.
New features of the anniversary edition include the new course format for
the skaters (see details here) and the GENERALI 5K as part of the BMW
BERLIN-MARATHON. This new race will cover the final five kilometres of the
marathon course on Saturday and is sold out with 10,000 starters.
Mark Milde, in his role as Race Director of the BMW BERLN-MARATHON, spoke
about the broad top of the top athlete fields, which will be presented in
their entirety during the upcoming press conferences. Further
information on the top athletes can be found here.
Since 17 September, the MOVE at the Brandenburg Gate has been offering
great insights into the history of the race as well as a varied sports and
cultural programme. You will find a link to the current MOVE programme
below. The MARATHON EXPO will open on Thursday at 3 pm at the former
Tempelhof Airport. The opening ceremony on Friday evening from 7.30 pm at
the Brandenburg Gate will take you through five decades of the BERLIN
MARATHON. The event is already fully booked with 14,000 visitors.
MOVE programme:
Here you will find an overview of the MOVE programme.
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