The Media Guide for the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON 2026

Entry figures show half marathon runners only. In 2020 the race was cancelled due to the Corona pandemic.

Men

Women

Gideon Kiprotich

© SCC EVENTS / Sportografen

Personal Best: 58:49
Nation: Kenya
Age: 25

Career Highlights
 

Gideon Kiprotich has been competing in international races since 2023 and on the roads has focused exclusively on the half marathon distance. Otherwise the Kenyan has only competed in a few cross-country races.

His international career began in New Delhi in the autumn of 2023. He finished ninth in the highly competitive half marathon in India. In 2024 Gideon Kiprotich ran four races over the ‘half distance’ and performed consistently well. He finished fifth in Naples, fourth in Prague and second in Rome.

The Kenyan achieved a breakthrough in March 2025. He took the prestigious Rome Ostia Half Marathon, breaking the one-hour barrier for the first time and significantly improving his PB to 58:49. However the slightly downhill point-to-point course is not record-eligible, so this time does not appear in the official rankings. After finishing eighth in Berlin a year ago and then running 60:03 in Valencia, the goal will now be to achieve a time of under one hour on a regular course.

Bereket Nega

Personal Best: 60:03
Nation: Ethiopia
Age: 21

Career Highlights

Bereket Nega is another young Ethiopian athlete who is trying to establish himself on the international road running scene. The 21-year-old already performed well twice last year over the half marathon distance. First he won his half marathon debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with 62:28. He then improved to 60:03 when he was fourth in Buenos Aires. On the flat course in Berlin Bereket Nega's goal will likely be a time under one hour.

Bereket Nega is also a strong cross-country runner. Three years ago, as an 18-year-old, he finished an impressive eighth in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships. In January this year he competed in the World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee (Florida, USA), but was unable to finish higher than 35th in hot temperatures.

Robert Koech

© SCC EVENTS / Victah Sailor

Personal Best: 60:56
Nation: Kenya
Age: 29

Career Highlights

Robert Koech will run the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON for the third time in a row. The Kenyan, who won the 5,000 m gold medal at the 2019 All Africa Games, finished seventh (2024) and tenth (2025) here. He has shown solid results over 21.0975 k, surprisingly running his personal best of 60:56 in high altitude in Nairobi.

In the last two years Robert Koech has focused much more on cross country than before. He qualified for the competitive World Cross Country Championships in Tallahassee (USA). However in the heat of Florida he had to be content with 43rd place in January this year. Running a personal best will most likely be Robert Koech's goal at the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON.

Benson Kiplangat

© SCC EVENTS / Victah Sailor

Personal Best: Debut
Nation: Kenya
Age: 22

Career Highlights

Benson Kiplangat is a debutant who has the potential to have immediate success in the half marathon.

The World 5,000 m Junior Champion from 2021 took the bronze medal at senior level at the World Cross Country Championships in 2024 when he was just 20. Little over a year later Kiplangat ran a top-class 10,000 m time of 26:50.00 in Eugene less than three weeks after his 22nd birthday.

These performances suggest that he could be in for a surprise at the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON.

Amanal Petros

© SCC EVENTS / Jean-Marc Wiesner

Personal Best: 59:31

Club: Hannover 96

Age: 30

Career Highlights

After a extraordinary successful year 2025 Amanal Petros returns to the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON to start the new season. Twelve months ago he broke his own German half marathon record here, became the first German to smash through the one hour barrier with 59:31 and moved up to fourth place on the European all-time list. He still is the only German with a PB of sub 60:00.

In the summer Amanal Petros won the silver medal in the World Championships’ marathon in Tokyo in sensational style, just missing out on the gold by the tiniest of margins. Finally in December he ran 2:04:03 for second place in the Valencia Marathon, making sure that he became the German record holder again. 

At the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON Amanal Petros will be among the favourites. He hopes to further improve his national record. However the main spring race will be the London Marathon on 26th April. As in the past Amanal Petros trained in high altitude in Iten, Kenya. He will return there after the Berlin race to continue training for the London Marathon.

This will be Amanal Petros' fourth appearance at the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON. In what was only his second over the distance, he improved his time to 62:32 in 2019 and finished ninth. This marked the beginning of his rise that led him into world class. In 2022 he was not in top form in Berlin and finished 15th in 62:21. 

Amanal Petros achieved a fine result in a half marathon championship race as well. At the European Championships in Rome in 2024 he won the bronze medal. With 300 metres to go he was still fighting for the title, but then stepped on the track barrier in the stadium, twisted his ankle and lost second place as well. Amanal Petros had even more bad luck at the Olympic Games two months later. An infection weakened him so much that he had to drop out in Paris. 

Amanal Petros is the first athlete in German athletics history to have broken the three main road running records 10 k, half marathon and marathon and even hold the records simultaneously for some time. In February 2023 he improved the almost 30 year-old 10 k mark from Carsten Eich (27:47) to 27:32 in Castellon, Spain.

Amanal Petros comes from Eritrea. He fled the country as a teenager. For many years he belonged to the long distance group of TV Wattenscheid, which was coached by Tono Kirschbaum. Marathon runners Hendrik Pfeiffer and Tom Gröschel were among his training partners. In 2023 and 2024 Amanal Petros competed for Marathon Team Berlin, since 2025 he is associated with Hannover 96. However Amanal Petros spends most of the time training in Kenya, where he joins the group of legendary Italian coach Renato Canova. 

Johannes Motschmann

© SCC EVENTS / Petko Beier

Personal Best: 61:03

Club: Marathon Team Berlin

Age: 31

Career Highlights

Johannes Motschmann will run the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON for the fourth time. His strongest race here was his first: In 2022 Motschmann surprisingly was the fastest German, leaving behind Amanal Petros in the process and clocking a fine PB of 61:45. He improved this PB to 61:03 in Houston a year ago. He also ran a 28:13 PB for 10k in 2025 in Valencia.

However Johannes Motschmann still did not achieve the expected breakthrough in the marathon. His PB remains at 2:10:39. In very warm weather conditions he did well in the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON with 2:10:40 for eleventh place. A second attempt to finally break 2:10:00 in December in Chandler (Arizona, USA) failed and he dropped out after 30 k. Now Johannes Motschmann prepares for the Hannover Marathon and hopes to make the most of the fast course on 12th April.

Johannes Motschmann studied psychology at New York’s Iona College for five years after receiving a sports scholarship. In 2019 he came to Berlin and started competing for SCC Berlin / Marathon Team Berlin.

The former steeple chaser (PB: 8:33,12) ran a fine 2:14:38 marathon debut in December 2022 when he was second at the Austrian marathon championships in Vienna, where international competitors were accepted despite the pandemic. He continued on the roads and improved to 2:12:18 in Rotterdam. With this time he qualified for the European Championships in Munich, where he took 16th place in 2022. With the German marathon team he won a silver medal in the team competition (European Marathon Cup). One of his best races came at the London Marathon 2024, where he ran his PB and finished ninth.

Johannes Motschmann started studying medicine in Bochum, Western Germany. However at the moment running is his priority. Motschmann is self-coached. The places he spends most time during the year are Berlin and Blacksburg in Virgina, USA, where his girl friend studies.

Simon Boch

Personal Best: 61:15

Club: Düsseldorf Athletics

Age: 31

Career Highlights

After prolonged hip problems Simon Boch came back with two 10 k victories in Siegburg (28:32/German Championships) and Berlin (28:17) last autumn. In December he then improved his marathon PB by 30 seconds in Valencia (2:08:55). Can he now continue to improve over the ‘half distance’ at the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON as well?

Simon Boch established himself among Germany's top long-distance road runners during the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020 he qualified for the World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland, where he achieved a respectable 35th place with a personal best of 61:36. 

During one of the lockdowns Simon Boch made a remarkable marathon debut in Dresden in March 2021. In freezing cold and windy weather he ran alone at the front for around 30 kilometres after his pacemaker gave up early. Simon Boch won the race in 2:10:48, finishing almost two minutes ahead of the runner-up. In the end, however, he narrowly missed out on an Olympic spot at the 2021 Games in Japan.

At the European Championships in Munich in 2022 Simon Boch was part of the German men's team that won the silver medal in the European Marathon Cup. In the individual standings he finished 50th in very warm weather. In spring 2023 Boch won the Linz Marathon and broke the 2:10 hour mark for the first time with 2:09:25. He then improved this PB two and a half years later in Valencia.

Simon Boch is originally from St. Georgen in the Black Forest. In 2014 he moved to Regensburg to join the training group of Kurt Ring at LG Telis Finanz. He completed training as a retail salesman, working in a sports shop. In 2020 and 2021 Simon Boch was voted Germany's Road Runner of the Year by German Road Races (GRR), the association of German road race organisers. Since 2025 he has competed for Düsseldorf Athletics and is a training partner of Hendrik Pfeiffer.

Hendrik Pfeiffer

© SCC EVENTS / Petko Beier

Personal Best: 61:28

Verein: Düsseldorf Athletics

Age: 33

Career Highlights

Hendrik Pfeiffer has continually improved over the years. The marathon is his strongest distance and with a 2:06:45 PB from Valencia last December he is the fourth fastest German of all time. In contrast, his half marathon PB of 61:28 from Larne, Northern Ireland, last summer leaves room for some improvement. With this time he is not inside the top 10 in Germany’s all-time list.

Hendrik Pfeiffer specialized in the marathon early. In 2016 he finished his first ever marathon in Düsseldorf in sensational style, running 2:13:11 which was just enough to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio. Due to serious heel injuries the dream to start at the Olympic Games had to wait. He missed the 2018 European Championships in Berlin as well. After two surgeries Hendrik Pfeiffer made his comeback in 2020. In Sevilla he ran his personal best in 2:10:18 which was enough to qualify for the 2021 Olympic Games in Japan. In Sapporo, host of the Olympic Marathon races, he finished 50th.

Hendrik Pfeiffer was a member of the German team at the European Championships in Munich that won the silver medal in the team event (European Marathon Cup). Trying to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024 he ran a brave race in Houston in January that year. Pfeiffer had to push the pace himself at the front for most of the distance since there were no pacemakers. He was third in 2:07:14 and missed Germany’s third Olympic spot by an annoying ten seconds.

In April 2024 he showed another fine performance, when he was seventh in London with 2:10:00. It was the best result by a German in London’s men’s race since 1988. Only Christoph Herle has ever achieved a better position in London, when he was fourth in 1985.

Hendrik Pfeiffer lives in Düsseldorf and is married to long distance runner Esther Pfeiffer (maiden name: Jacobitz), who he partly coaches as well. She is the fastest German woman on the start list of the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON. Since this year Simon Boch is a training partner of Hendrik Pfeiffer.

Sebastian Hendel

© SCC EVENTS / Petko Beier

Personal Best: 61:52

Club: Marathon Team Berlin

Age: 30

Career Highlights

After what was a disappointing year the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON brings the opportunity of a re-set for Sebastian Hendel. He had missed the spring season in 2025 due to health issues and fully focussed on the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON. However in the unusually hot conditions he dropped out after 30 k. He then gave it another try at the Valencia Marathon in December. But this time a hip problem forced him to abandon that race as well.

Berlin is usually a good venue for Sebastian Hendel. He clocked all his three personal bests at the major road events in the capital. In 2021 he ran his 10 k personal best of 28:35 at the third Berlin Invitational, one of the few races held worldwide during the coronavirus lockdowns. Two years later he improved to 61:52 at the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON and in 2024 he ran the best race of his career at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON: Sebastian Hendel clocked 2:07:33 and was the fastest German at the 50th anniversary of the race. He remains the fifth fastest German marathon runner of all times with this PB. 

Sebastian Hendel’s strengths clearly are the long distance road events. He showed his best performances so far in the half marathon and the marathon. But originally he ran middle and long distances on the track. For several years now his focus is on the roads. Running his debut at the distance he took second place at the 2021 German half marathon championships in Hamburg with 62:28. It took over a year before he then ran his first marathon in Munich with a fine 2:10:37.

Sebastian Hendel’s wife Kristina is a long distance runner who formerly competed for Croatia (maiden name: Bozic). She will run the GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON as well. Sebastian and Kristina Hendel live in Vogtland near Zwickau with their nine year-old son.

Men

Women

As of: 22.2.26

Only those results listed which were achieved on courses that meet the required standards for records.

Men

Women

As of: 22.2.2026

Only those results listed which were achieved on courses that meet the required standards for records.

Men

Women

As of: 22.2.2026

* These courses do not meet standards needed for official records or have not met them during a certain period.

Men

Women

As of: 22.2.26

Only those results listed which were achieved on courses that meet the required standards for world records.

Men

Women

As of: 22.2.2026

Only those results listed which were achieved on courses that meet the required standards for records.

Men

Women

As of: 22.2.2026

Only those results listed which were achieved on courses that meet the required standards for records.

Men

Women

As of: 22.2.2026

Only those results listed which were achieved on courses that meet the required standards for records.

Men

2026

2025

Women

2026

2025

As of: 22.2.2026

Only those results listed which were achieved on courses that meet the required standards for records.

Click here for the route map, the interactive map and the maps of the start and finish areas.

About 150 meters after passing the Brandenburg Gate, the finish line comes into view, turning it into an unforgettable running experience for the half marathon finishers. The 21.0975 km course through Berlin makes this sightseeing tour very special. It takes you past some of the most iconic landmarks of the German capital at a running pace. The historical and cultural monuments you spot within such a short time are unmatched by any city bus tour.

Passing Numerous Capital Highlights

From the start, in the first few meters you see the Siegessäule in front and the Brandenburg Gate behind you. The route passes by the Technical University (2 km) and Ernst-Reuter-Platz (2.3 km) before continuing straight along Otto-Suhr-Allee toward Charlottenburg Palace (4.2 km). Here, you turn sharp left into Schlossstraße and continue straight to Kurfürstendamm, which is reached by turning left near the Schaubühne, one of Germany's most renowned spoken theater companies (6.7 km).

Now on the famous West Berlin promenade, we head east past Café Kranzler to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church (9 km), where we make a slight right turn onto Tauentzienstraße, passing Wittenberplatz (9.8 km) with its historic subway station (on the right, Kaufhaus des Westens, aka KaDeWe), and following Kleiststraße, which leads to Bülowstraße at Nollendorfplatz (10.5 km; on the right: historic Metropol building). The left turn onto Potsdamer Straße at kilometer 11 is traditionally a crowd favorite, with enthusiastic spectators loudly cheering the beginning of the second half of the race.

Historic Places and Routes of the Past

Passing by the National Gallery (Mies van der Rohe, on the left / 12.2 km) and the State Library (on the right), Potsdamer Straße turns slightly to the right, and we soon see the striking yellow building of the Philharmonie on the left (12.5 km), before reaching Potsdamer Platz, a historically significant highlight in Berlin’s East-West history. At Leipziger Platz (13 km), the route continues along Leipziger Straße into the former eastern part of the city. At the 14 km mark, we turn left into Markgrafenstraße, leading us past Berlin’s most beautiful historical square (German Cathedral, Concert Hall, French Cathedral). After a right turn, we pass the Foreign Ministry (on the right) and then the Humboldt Forum (on the left, 15.2 km). This is a nod to the history of the race, which had its start and finish area on Karl-Marx-Allee for many years before moving to Brandenburg Gate in 2019.

The Grand Finale with Brandenburg Gate and Finish Line

We pass Spandauerstraße and Grunerstraße, passing the Red Town Hall (on the left) and, at kilometer 16.4, the former parade boulevard of the DDR capital. Shortly after kilometer 17, we turn around and run past the Red Town Hall again (18.5 km), before heading into the final two kilometers, where one landmark follows another along the “Unter den Linden” boulevard: Berlin Cathedral (on the right / 19.3 km), Lustgarten with the New Museum (on the right), Kronprinzenpalais (on the left), Neue Wache and the German Historical Museum as well as Humboldt University (on the right), and the State Opera and Bebelplatz (on the left).

At the Friedrichstraße intersection, the Brandenburg Gate is already visible. Before reaching it, we pass the massive building of the Russian Embassy on the left, then the Hotel Adlon on the same side, before reaching Berlin's landmark, the Brandenburg Gate. From here, it’s just a few meters to the finish line.