Berlin Marathon 2026: Date, Start Times, Elite Field and How to Watch
The 2026 BMW Berlin Marathon is on Sunday, September 27, with the first runners' wave starting at 8:45 a.m. local time (7:45 a.m. BST, 2:45 a.m. ET). Tigst Assefa, who holds the Berlin course record of 2:11:53, says she is targeting the women's world record, while Kenenisa Bekele leads a men's field that lost 2025 champion Sabastian Sawe to injury. More than 56,000 runners from over 160 countries are entered. Sources: BMW Berlin Marathon, Marathon Handbook, Watch Athletics.
The context
Berlin, the fast course, on September 27
The BMW Berlin Marathon runs on Sunday, September 27, 2026, and as every year the conversation starts with the clock rather than the finish order. The loop through the German capital is flat, has few sharp turns, and usually gets cool late-September mornings, which is why so many world records have fallen here. The forecast for race morning is clear and dry, from about 11°C at the start to around 21°C by midday.
The schedule is tight and early. The handbike field goes at 8:20 a.m., the elite wheelchair race at 8:26 a.m., and the runners at 8:45 a.m. CEST, in six waves until 10:27 a.m. That is 7:45 a.m. in the UK and 2:45 a.m. on the US East Coast. In Germany, RTL shows the race free-to-air; elsewhere there is an official YouTube finish-line stream, and FloTrack carries it in the United States.
The women’s race is the one with a headline. Tigst Assefa owns the course record at 2:11:53 from 2023 and has said openly that she wants the world record, which stands at 2:09:56. She faces defending champion Rosemary Wanjiru, who won in 2025 by three seconds, and European champion Alisa Vainio. The men’s race lost its defending champion, Sabastian Sawe, to injury, and now looks open: Kenenisa Bekele is back in Berlin, alongside Gabriel Geay, Guye Adola, Getaneh Molla and Shura Kitata, in a field with 25 men under 2:08.
Behind the elites, more than 56,000 runners from over 160 countries are entered, making it one of the biggest races of the year and one of the seven Abbott World Marathon Majors. For most of them the only record that matters is their own. Watch out for the tram tracks around the 8 km and 38 km marks.
Sources: BMW Berlin Marathon, Marathon Handbook, Watch Athletics, Wikipedia.
People also ask
True or false?
Both current course records, Kipchoge's 2:01:09 and Assefa's 2:11:53, were world records on the day they were run. (Marathon Handbook)
She holds the Berlin course record. The world record is Ruth Chepngetich's 2:09:56 from Chicago 2024. (Marathon Handbook)
She says she is going for it, but she needs close to two minutes on her personal best. Ambition, not a result. (Marathon Handbook)
Sabastian Sawe pulled out injured, which leaves the men's race wide open. (Watch Athletics)
The Ethiopian great, whose best is 2:01:41, is confirmed in the elite field. (Watch Athletics)