Berlin Marathon Betting Odds and Event Info

Date: 2026.09.27
Contest: Marathon
Location: Berlin, Germany


Distance: 42.195 km / 26.2 miles

A place on the podium is only one of the targets runners bring to Berlin. For the leading professionals, the city's flat streets offer an opportunity to challenge the clock as well as the opposition. Further back, thousands of participants follow the same route with personal milestones of their own in mind.

The BMW Berlin Marathon belongs to the Abbott World Marathon Majors, and its reputation has been shaped by a succession of exceptional performances. Eliud Kipchoge, Haile Gebrselassie and Tigst Assefa have all helped make Berlin a fixture in discussions about how fast the marathon can be run.

The race returns for its 52nd edition on September 27, 2026, with the Brandenburg Gate again providing the setting for the final approach to the finish.


The 2026 Berlin Marathon

The men's race will have a different winner from last year. Sabastian Sawe, who took the 2025 title, withdrew through injury in an announcement made by the organizers on August 27.

Among the announced entrants are Tanzania's Gabriel Geay and Ethiopia's Guye Adola. Adola already knows what it takes to win here, having secured the Berlin title in 2021.

The women's entry list brings together several runners with strong connections to this course. Tigst Assefa returns to the city where she set a world record in 2023, while Rosemary Wanjiru is entered to defend her 2025 victory. Ethiopia's Amane Beriso, the marathon world champion in 2023, adds another major title winner to the field.


How the Berlin Marathon Began

Berlin's first marathon looked very different from the event it has become. On October 13, 1974, a field of 286 participants gathered for a race through the Grunewald area. The move to central West Berlin in 1981 helped turn that relatively small running event into a city spectacle.

The 1990 edition carried a significance that went well beyond sport. With German reunification only days away, runners were able to pass through the Brandenburg Gate. A marathon route had become part of the story of a divided city coming back together.

Another lasting change arrived in 2003, when the start and finish were relocated to the area between the gate and the Victory Column. That arrangement placed one of Berlin's best-known landmarks at the centre of the race experience.


Course and Race Format

The running course covers the full marathon distance of 42.195 kilometres. Its relatively flat profile gives athletes a setting in which they can pursue an even pace, making Berlin attractive to both record contenders and recreational runners seeking a faster finishing time.

Runners start on Strasse des 17. Juni and make their way through the city before reaching the Brandenburg Gate near the end. Passing through the gate does not quite complete the race: the finish line lies beyond it.

The weekend accommodates several forms of competition. Alongside the elite and mass-participation running races are wheelchair and handcycling events, with inline skating also on the programme. Each discipline has its own results and winners.


Berlin Marathon Course Records

Men's record: Eliud Kipchoge, Kenya, 2:01:09 in 2022.

Kipchoge's winning run established a new world record at the time and remains the fastest men's performance on the Berlin course ahead of the 2026 edition.

Women's record: Tigst Assefa, Ethiopia, 2:11:53 in 2023.

Assefa followed her 2022 Berlin victory with a performance that cut more than two minutes from the existing women's world record. Her time remains the women's course record.

Those records sit within a longer history of repeat success. Kipchoge has five Berlin victories, while Gebrselassie put together four consecutive wins between 2006 and 2009. For both men, Berlin became a place to return to with increasingly ambitious targets.


Recent Berlin Marathon Winners

2025

Men: Sabastian Sawe of Kenya, 2:02:16.

Women: Rosemary Wanjiru of Kenya, 2:21:05.

2024

Men: Milkesa Mengesha of Ethiopia, 2:03:17.

Women: Tigist Ketema of Ethiopia, 2:16:42.


What Happened in the 2025 Race?

The two elite races produced very different finishes in 2025. Sawe had almost four minutes to spare over runner-up Akira Akasaki of Japan, while Wanjiru's advantage over Ethiopia's Dera Dida was just three seconds.

Sawe had set off at an aggressive pace, but warm conditions made that early speed difficult to maintain. He still secured a convincing victory, even as the prospect of a record slipped away.

For anyone assessing Berlin, the lesson is straightforward: the course creates an opportunity for a fast time, but the conditions on the day determine how realistic that opportunity is.


Berlin Marathon Betting Markets

Where Berlin Marathon markets are available, bettors can look for separate outright prices on the men's and women's winners. Depending on the sportsbook, there may also be markets covering finishing positions or race times.

Outright winner: Back a runner to win the specified men's or women's race.

Head-to-head matchups: Choose which of two named athletes will finish ahead of the other.

Podium finish: Back a runner to claim one of the first three places, where this market is offered.

Winning time: Select whether the winner's time will be faster or slower than a stated threshold.

Record specials: Bet on a specified course or world record being broken, if the sportsbook lists that option.

Market availability differs between operators. The rules for a runner who withdraws before the start may also differ from those for someone who starts and fails to finish, so those terms matter when comparing prices.


What to Consider Before the Race

A runner's personal best is a useful reference point, but it is only part of the assessment. Recent marathon performances, fitness and the intended pace can all change expectations. Weather deserves particular attention when evaluating a winning-time or record market.

Berlin gives the field a course with a proven history of fast performances. The remaining question is which runners arrive ready to make the most of it.

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