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Ethiopian duo Milkesa Mengesha and Tigist Ketema won the men’s and women’s races at the 50th running of the Berlin Marathon on Sunday.

Mengesha finished just five seconds ahead of Kenyan Cibrian Kotut with a time of 2 hours, 03 minutes and 17 seconds, with both setting personal bests.

The times were outside of the late Kelvin Kiptum’s world record time of 2:00.35 and five-time Berlin winner Eliud Kipchoge’s course record of 2:01.09 set in 2022.

“It was wonderful,” said Mengesha, 24.

“I’m totally happy.

“It was good that I wasn’t one of the favorites because I had no pressure at all.

“I was totally relaxed and in the end I achieved exactly what I wanted.”

“I’m not the most experienced runner and I’ve had bad experiences before, but it was perfectly organized and the spectators were great too.”

“It was hard, but I enjoyed it – I prepared very well for it.”

The 26-year-old Ketema, who only took part in her first marathon in January, won in a time of 2:16.42.

“I have worked very hard with my coach and I would like to thank my coaches from the bottom of my heart,” she said.

Ketema’s time was almost five minutes slower than training partner Tigist Assefa’s world record of 2:11.53, but is the third best women’s winning time in the history of the Berlin Marathon.

Many of the big names – including Kipchoge – missed Berlin after attending the Paris Olympics in July.

Despite the lack of world records, the men’s and women’s combined first-place finishes made Sunday’s race the 12th fastest marathon ever and the fourth fastest in Berlin’s history.

The leading men’s group broke away early and set a strong pace of 28:42 over the first 10 kilometers, just outside the world record time, but gradually slowed in sunny conditions.

Shortly before the 40-kilometer mark, four men broke away from the field: Mengesha, Kotut, Haymanot Alew and Stephen Kiprop.

When the Brandenburg Gate was in sight, Mengesha and Kotut distanced themselves from their pursuers and fought head-to-head until the Ethiopian managed to take the lead in the final meters.

Together with his Ethiopian compatriot Azmera Gebru, Ketema built an early lead over the rest of the field and broke away after five kilometers.

Just before halftime, Ketema began to pull away from Gebru and built a 12-second lead.

Ketema continued to distance herself from her compatriot and finally crossed the finish line two minutes and six seconds ahead of second-placed Mestawot Fikir.

With her first appearance in Dubai in January, Ketema signaled that she could be a force in the marathon. Her time of 2:16.07 was the best ever recorded by a debutante.