© Wolfgang Scholvien,2012
As a city of sports, Berlin has many worth mentioning sports events, and marathon race is definitely one of the highlights.
Berlin Marathon is one of the six World Marathon Majors. It is held on the last weekend of September each year. The first Berlin Marathon began on October 13, 1974, with 286 competitors from four countries participating in the race, 244 among whom completed their competition.
Today, Berlin Marathons attracts about 40000 contestants from nearly 120 countries each year. Among them, there are many top international athletes who are enthusiastically sought after by sports fans. Among the six World Marathon Majors, events held in Chicago, London, and Berlin, the city of track and field, are reputed as the best marathons. The world record of marathon has been broken for many times in these three cities. For instance, in 2013, Wilson Kipsang from Kenya set a new world record at the Berlin Marathon with a score of 2:03:23.
The race route is specific to the city center of Berlin, passing many tourism spots. During the race, competitors will receive cheers and encouragement from fans, bands, as well as their families and friends. Sports stars such as Haile Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat can also be spotted on the track. In addition, the event also includes children's favorite bambini run and mini marathon.
The arrangement of 46. Berlin Marathon is as follows:
September 28, 2019 (Saturday)
11.00 a.m. 500m and 1000m bambini run (contestants can register at Tegel Airport)
3.10 p.m. mini marathon
3.30 p.m. inlineskating marathon
September 29, 2019 (Sunday)
8.50 a.m. hand-bike elite race
8.56 a.m. wheelchair race
8.59 a.m. hand-bike race
9.15 a.m. men’s and women’s marathon
Those who want to cheer for the athletes can take Berlin's public transport to get to all the spots. For example, Hansaplatz stop on U9 is only 1km from the starting point of the marathon. One can take U9 if he wants to