Men’s course record
2:01:09
Eliud Kipchoge · 2022
- Average pace
- 2:52 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +0.05 %
Berlin Marathon
Berlin, Germany The last Sunday in September Founded 1974
A ten-minute walk from start to finish, and thirteen world records set in between.
Overview
People come to Berlin for a time. Thirteen world records have been set on this course, more than on any other, including every men's record from 2003 to 2022. Neither of the current world records was run here.
The ballot takes somewhere between one applicant in five and one in three. Once you're in, it's an easy race to get around: start and finish are 840 m apart in the Tiergarten, a ten-minute walk, so there's no coach to a distant start and no trek back to your hotel.
The course runs the wide boulevards of both halves of the city, through Kreuzberg, Charlottenburg and Prenzlauer Berg, and comes home down Unter den Linden and through the Brandenburg Gate, which the race couldn't use until 1990. The Gate is 0.4 km from the finish line, and it's where people cry.
The ballot takes somewhere between one applicant in five and one in three. Once you're in, it's an easy race to get around: start and finish are 840 m apart in the Tiergarten, a ten-minute walk, so there's no coach to a distant start and no trek back to your hotel.
The course runs the wide boulevards of both halves of the city, through Kreuzberg, Charlottenburg and Prenzlauer Berg, and comes home down Unter den Linden and through the Brandenburg Gate, which the race couldn't use until 1990. The Gate is 0.4 km from the finish line, and it's where people cry.
- When
- The 2026 Berlin Marathon is on Sunday, 27 September 2026, starting at 8:45am local time on Straße des 17. Juni, Tiergarten.
- Course
- Berlin's course climbs 72 m in all, with its lowest point at 33 m and its highest at 54 m.
- Entry
- Entry to Berlin is by ballot (1 in 5 to 1 in 3), and costs €205 for 2026.
- Field
- The 2026 Berlin Marathon has a marathon field of 54,000.
- Weather
- Across 31 years, Berlin's race-day temperature has a median of 14 °C.
- Records
- The Berlin Marathon course records are 2:01:09 (Eliud Kipchoge, 2022) and 2:11:53 (Tigst Assefa, 2023).
- Time limit
- Berlin's time limit is 6 hours 15 minutes.
Marathon Course · every marathon course, measured the same way
Berlin Marathon
A ten-minute walk from start to finish, and thirteen world records set in between. Straße des 17. Juni → Brandenburg Gate, Berlin, Germany.
- Distance
- 42.2 km
- Ascent
- 72 m
- Descent
- 72 m
- Net
- +1 m
Course map and elevation
5 km splits marked · hover or drag the profile below to move along the courseElevation · measured on the organiser's own course file · Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0 · smoothed 100 m 33–54 m
—
0.08.416.825.333.742.1
kmmi — elev — grade — hover or drag the profile
The whole course fits inside 21 m of height. Its lowest point is 33 m, at 4.0 km, and its highest 54 m, at 27.8 km.
What shape there is comes in the middle. The course drifts up through the second half of the twenties, and the steepest kilometre of the race, 9 m, runs from 26.8 km towards Innsbrucker Platz. It gives that back between 30.0 km and 35.0 km, losing 8 m on the way back north.
The last 7.0 km are flat to within 3 m, through Potsdamer Platz and Checkpoint Charlie to Unter den Linden and the Gate. Add up the energy cost of every gradient and the course comes out about level with a flat 42.195 km.
Take it with you
Course GPX Organiser's course map
The GPX is ours: our resampled line, a point every 25 m, carrying Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0 elevation rather than the GPS noise a watch file usually holds.
Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0, measured on the organiser's own course file, smoothed 100 m · marathoncourse.com/marathons/berlin/ · checked 2026-09-23
How to enter: ballot odds
Berlin's ballot is drawn in the autumn for the following September. The organiser publishes neither applicant numbers nor acceptance rates, and third-party estimates put the odds somewhere between one in five and one in three. For comparison, London's 2027 ballot took 1.34 million applications and New York accepted about one per cent. Sydney's draw came out at roughly one in three.
The ballot for the 2026 race was open from 25 September to 6 November 2025. General entry is €205. The 2027 ballot hasn't been announced, but on recent form it opens within days of the 2026 race finishing.
You can skip the ballot with a qualifying time, a charity place or a tour-operator package. Berlin's Jubilee Club also guarantees a place to anyone who has finished ten times in the same discipline, provided they register by 31 December. The place is guaranteed, but the entry fee isn't waived until twenty finishes.
The ballot for the 2026 race was open from 25 September to 6 November 2025. General entry is €205. The 2027 ballot hasn't been announced, but on recent form it opens within days of the 2026 race finishing.
You can skip the ballot with a qualifying time, a charity place or a tour-operator package. Berlin's Jubilee Club also guarantees a place to anyone who has finished ten times in the same discipline, provided they register by 31 December. The place is guaranteed, but the entry fee isn't waived until twenty finishes.
History
Berlin began in 1974 as a race through the Grunewald forest, with 286 starters and 244 finishers. It moved onto the city streets in 1981.
The moment that made it was political. On 30 September 1990, three days before German reunification, the course ran through the Brandenburg Gate for the first time, and the race could finally use the long straight boulevards of both halves of the city.
That geography is why the records come here. The marathon world record has been broken in Berlin thirteen times. Twelve of those have come since Ronaldo da Costa in 1998, including every men's record from 2003 to 2022; the thirteenth is older, Christa Vahlensieck's in 1977.
The moment that made it was political. On 30 September 1990, three days before German reunification, the course ran through the Brandenburg Gate for the first time, and the race could finally use the long straight boulevards of both halves of the city.
That geography is why the records come here. The marathon world record has been broken in Berlin thirteen times. Twelve of those have come since Ronaldo da Costa in 1998, including every men's record from 2003 to 2022; the thirteenth is older, Christa Vahlensieck's in 1977.
- 1974First edition, 13 October — 286 starters and 244 finishers, run in the Grunewald forest
- 1977Christa Vahlensieck sets a women's world record here, 2:34:47
- 1981The race moves out of the forest and onto the city streets
- 199030 September: runners pass through the Brandenburg Gate, three days before reunification
- 1998Ronaldo da Costa runs 2:06:05 — the first world record on the modern course
- 2003Paul Tergat runs 2:04:55, the first marathon under 2:05
- 2008Haile Gebrselassie runs 2:03:59, the first under 2:04
- 2014Dennis Kimetto runs 2:02:57, the first under 2:03
- 2018Eliud Kipchoge runs 2:01:39
- 2022Kipchoge returns with 2:01:09 — still the course record
- 2023Tigst Assefa runs 2:11:53, a women's world record
- 202450th edition — 54,062 finishers
- 2025Sabastian Sawe wins in 2:02:16; 48,359 finish
- 202627 September, the 52nd running
19801990200020102020
Course records
Pace is derived from the certified distance. Terrain-adjusted figures come from the same model that ranks every course on this site.
Women’s course record
2:11:53
Tigst Assefa · 2023
- Average pace
- 3:08 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +0.05 %
Race day: start times and cut-offs
- 8:45am
- 5:00pm
- Time limit
- 6h 15m
- Eight
Start and finish are 840 m apart in the Tiergarten. Your bib is your public transport ticket across the whole ABC fare zone.
Entry to the start area is staggered by letter. Groups A–C go in from 7:00am, D–E from 7:30 and F–G from 8:00; H–J follow at 8:30 and K at 9:00. Timing stops about fifteen minutes after the last gun, so there's no such thing as a late start here.
The eight refreshment points are at km 5, 9, 15, 20, 25, 30, 36 and 40. You can drop your own drinks between 6:30 and 7:30am on Annemarie-Renger-Straße, though the organiser warns that so many runners do it that your bottle can be hard to find again. Hydration systems up to three litres are allowed and can be refilled on course. Bags and backpacks can't go into the start area at all.
Pacers run in every wave: 3:00, 3:15 and 3:30 from the front blocks, and slower flags further back. Only open-ear headphones are permitted.
Entry to the start area is staggered by letter. Groups A–C go in from 7:00am, D–E from 7:30 and F–G from 8:00; H–J follow at 8:30 and K at 9:00. Timing stops about fifteen minutes after the last gun, so there's no such thing as a late start here.
The eight refreshment points are at km 5, 9, 15, 20, 25, 30, 36 and 40. You can drop your own drinks between 6:30 and 7:30am on Annemarie-Renger-Straße, though the organiser warns that so many runners do it that your bottle can be hard to find again. Hydration systems up to three litres are allowed and can be refilled on course. Bags and backpacks can't go into the start area at all.
Pacers run in every wave: 3:00, 3:15 and 3:30 from the front blocks, and slower flags further back. Only open-ear headphones are permitted.
The morning, hour by hour
- 8:20am
- Handbikes
- 8:26am
- Elite wheelchairs
- 8:29am
- Handbikes and wheelchairs · second wave
- 8:45am
- Wave 1 · groups A, B, C
- 9:05am
- Wave 2 · D, E
- 9:33am
- Wave 3 · F, G
- 10:02am
- Wave 4 · H
- 10:12am
- Wave 5 · J
- 10:27am
- Wave 6 · K
- 3:40pm
- Cut-off at km 33
- 5:00pm
- Finish line closes
Anyone who hasn't reached km 33 by 3:40pm is withdrawn and taken to the finish. The official finish time is 5:00pm; later crossings are recorded but not official. The time limit is 6 hours 15 minutes from crossing your own start mat, not from the gun.
Race-day weather, 1995–2025
- Median
- 14 °C
- Warm years
- 5 of 31
- Wet years
- 6 of 31
Race-day mean temperature, 1995-2025. Lime marks the hottest edition; the coldest and wettest carry a label only, so the colour still means one thing.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Berlin Marathon really flat?
Very. The whole course sits between 33 m and 54 m, a vertical range of 21 m. It climbs 72 m across 42 kilometres, and the steepest kilometre gains 9 m. There's no hill as such, only a slight tilt in the middle.
Sonny's LiDAR DTM of Europe, sampled every 25 m, smoothed over 100 m. Raw-to-smoothed ratio 1.56.
Why are so many world records set in Berlin?
Long, straight, wide roads with few turns, and a course that finishes higher than it starts, so no fast time here can be put down to a downhill. The start and finish are 840 m apart, and the course passes both World Athletics tests comfortably, though not by the widest margin: Vienna and Paris gain more, and a dozen loop courses start and finish closer together. Add late-September weather with a median of 14 °C and you have the conditions behind thirteen world records.
This site's own measurements, checked against World Athletics Competition Rules Part III; weather from ERA5, 1995–2025.
Does Berlin still hold the world record?
Not since 2022. Kipchoge's 2:01:09, set here that year, was beaten by Kelvin Kiptum at Chicago in 2023 and then by Sabastian Sawe at London in 2026, the first marathon under two hours. Tigst Assefa's 2:11:53 from 2023 was beaten at Chicago in 2024. Both still stand as Berlin course records.
Race results, checked September 2026.
What are the odds of getting a place?
The organiser publishes no odds, and third-party estimates run from one in five to one in three. London's 2027 ballot took 1.34 million applications and New York accepted about one per cent in 2026, while Sydney's draw works out at roughly one in three.
Third-party estimates; the organiser publishes neither applicant numbers nor odds.
How accurate is this course line?
Close to exact. It's one of three lines here taken straight from the organiser's own file, with Rotterdam and Copenhagen, and it measures 42,184 m against a certified 42,195. That's eleven metres out over a marathon, an error of 0.03 %, the smallest of the lot.
Organiser course file, archived with its SHA-256 in data/raw/sources.
How many people run it?
More than 54,000 took a marathon place in 2026.
Organiser figures for the 2026 edition.
What is the weather like on race day?
About 14 °C during a typical race: that's the median across 31 years, which have run from 10.2 °C to 21.8 °C. 6 of the 31 were wet.
ERA5 reanalysis for the race date, 1995-2025.
Can I use a time here to qualify for Boston?
Berlin finishes higher than it starts, by under a metre, so yes. The course is certified, and the B.A.A.'s downhill adjustment only starts at 1,500 ft of net loss. Plenty of people fly here to chase a qualifier on a course this flat.
Net drop +1 m from this site's course line; 2027 adjustment None. Certification platinum label: World Athletics Platinum Label; record-eligible, and thirteen world records have been ratified on it.
How accurate is the elevation figure?
It comes from Sonny 1" .hgt tiles — CC BY 4.0, sampled every 25 m along the course line and smoothed over 100 m. The raw-to-smoothed ratio here is 1.56. Around 1.3 means the model is reading the ground, not rooftops; above about 2.0 the total climb carries real noise, and the net change is the sturdier number.
0 missing samples · 8 bridge spans corrected.
Sources
Every fact on this page, its source, and the date it was checked · 8
| Fact | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Course line | The organiser's own published course file for the 2025 edition — one of only three races here whose line comes from the organiser rather than a third party — Rotterdam and Copenhagen are the others. It measures 42.184 km against a certified 42.195, an error of 0.03 %, the smallest on the site. Archived with its hash in data/raw/sources. | 2026-09-18 |
| Elevation | Sonny's LiDAR DTM of Europe (CC BY 4.0), sampled every 25 m, smoothed over 100 m. Raw-to-smoothed gain ratio 1.56. Eight bridge spans corrected. Cross-checked against Berlin's own DGM1 1 m lidar, which agrees on net (+1.0 against +0.8 m), minimum and maximum to within half a metre, but reads 86.5 m of gain against our 72.3 — 14 m apart on the one figure most exposed to model noise. The two sources also share a lineage, so even that agreement is a test of downsampling rather than of independence. | 2026-09-18 |
| Elevation, independent check | The organiser publishes figures in the region of 73–80 m of climb; our 72.3 m sits just below that range. Berlin is also the course that showed this project why global elevation models will not do: SRTM 30 m reads this same line as 554 m. | 2026-09-18 |
| Race-day weather | ERA5 reanalysis via the Open-Meteo archive, 1995–2025 at the Tiergarten start, 09:00–14:00 local, sampled on the last Sunday in September. The race is usually on that date but not always: 2025 was a week early, 1998 a week early and 2018 two weeks early, so at least three of the 31 samples are sampled on a day the race did not run. | 2026-09-18 |
| Course records and world records | Kipchoge 2:01:09 (2022) and Tigst Assefa 2:11:53 (2023) remain the course records. Thirteen world records have been set here. Both marks have since been beaten elsewhere — the men's at Chicago in 2023 and London in 2026, the women's at Chicago in 2024. | 2026-09-23 |
| Entry, ballot and field | Ballot for 2026 open 25 September to 6 November 2025, entry €205. 48,359 finished in 2025. The organiser advertises 'well over 56,000 athletes' across every discipline and both days rather than a marathon field; the 54,000 here is inferred from recent finisher counts, and the 2024 total is itself given as 54,062 on the timing list and 54,280 by the organiser. Published estimates of the ballot odds range from one in five to one in three. | 2026-09-23 |
| Race day | The organiser's 2026 race briefing: start-area access by letter from 7:00am, handbikes 8:20am, elite wheelchairs 8:26am, six running waves 8:45am–10:27am, refreshment points at km 5/9/15/20/25/30/36/40, a 3:40pm cut-off at km 33, official finish 5:00pm, and a 6 h 15 min limit measured from your own start mat. | 2026-09-23 |
| Record eligibility | World Athletics Competition Rules, Book C, Part III — Competition Rule 31.21: a record course may lose no more than 1 m per kilometre, and its start and finish may be no more than 21.098 km apart. Berlin gains 0.8 m overall and its start and finish are 840 m apart. Inside both. | 2026-09-23 |
Until the Berlin Marathon · 27 Sept 2026
— days
— hrs— min— sec
You might also be interested in
Chicago Marathon
Chicago, USA · 11 Oct 2026
Seven world records on a loop through twenty-nine neighbourhoods.
Amsterdam Marathon
Amsterdam, Netherlands · 18 Oct 2026
From the 1928 Olympic Stadium, through the Rijksmuseum and twelve kilometres out along the Amstel.
Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Toronto, Canada · 18 Oct 2026
Canada's biggest marathon spends most of the morning on the shore of Lake Ontario.