More than 1,000,000 spectators, 70,000 runners from 130 countries, and 5,500 volunteers descended upon Berlin on September 25 for the 43rd BMW Berlin Marathon. That's the 43rd Berlin Marathon, not the 43rd time BMW has sponsored it. According to BMW, the BMW Berlin Marathon is the biggest one-day sports gathering in Germany.
The Berlin marathon is said to be the fastest route of the six elite marathons comprising the Abbot World Marathon Majors. The six include marathons in Tokyo, London, Boston, New York, Chicago, and Berlin. Being the title sponsor of its home country’s marathon reflects BMW’s commitment to sports and to running in particular.
“Sportiness is at the heart of our company, so we are all delighted to be the title partner of the BMW Berlin Marathon again as we celebrate the centenary of the BMW Group and the BMW brand,” said Peter van Binsbergen, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing BMW Germany.
In addition to providing a BMW i3 electric vehicle as the official timing and lead car, BMW will also provide a BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car as the safety car, seven more timing cars, and twelve BMW C Evolution electric scooters. To help the organizers and for use as shuttles, BMW will have an additional 40 cars at the event.
The BMW Berlin Marathon has seen two world records broken in the past three years. In 2013, Kenyan Wilson Kipsang covered the 26 miles, 385 yards in 2:03:23 hours, the fastest time ever. In addition to Kipsang, this year’s race will also include three-time Olympic medalist Kenenisa Bekele from Ethiopia. The favorite in the women’s division is Kenyan Florence Kiplagat who won this race in 2011 and 2013 and has a best time of 2:19:44.
“The fact that the route through the German capital is always good for a world record is another thing that makes the BMW Berlin Marathon so special,” said BMW’s van Binsbergen. “Facing every challenge and pursuing ambitious goals with passion and stamina has always been in the DNA of our company, ever since the early days of BMW. This is behind the innovation BMW demonstrates in automobile manufacturing, which has set new benchmarks in electric mobility with the development of the BMW i cars, which are made sustainably and from carbon.”
Its home country’s marathon is a great venue for BMW to show off the BMW i3. It also must be pretty nice for the marathon leader not to suck up internal combustion engine exhaust fumes for 24 miles.—Scott Blazey
Update:
Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele held off former world record holder Wilson Kipsang to win the men's division of the 2016 BMW Berlin Marathon with a time of 2:03:03, the second-fastest winning time ever on a record-eligible marathon course. Ethiopia swept both running divisions as Aberu Kebede won the women's race with a time of 2:20:45.
[Photo courtesy of BMW AG.]
