Richard Ringer faces tough test in Hamburg

The German runner will therefore not defend his continental title at the championships held earlier in April in a new format. Ringer, who improved his marathon PB to 2:05:46 in Valencia last December and is the third fastest German runner ever at the classic distance, will face at least four athletes who have run considerably faster than him.

With a personal record of 2:03:13 the former London Marathon winner Amos Kipruto heads the current start list. The Kenyan is the joint fastest runner ever entered into Germany’s biggest spring marathon.

“We are still assembling the elite fields. But as it stands we can look forward to a fascinating men’s contest. With regard to the fastest runners on the start list we will have the strongest field in our history. Richard Ringer can not be considered the favorite, but as we know he has the ability to defy the odds and produce a surprise,” said chief organiser Frank Thaleiser during today’s press conference in Hamburg. 15,000 entries have been registered for the 39th edition of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg, the biggest number for many years.

For the first time Hamburg features three men with personal bests of sub 2:04. Besides Amos Kipruto the Ethiopians Guye Adola and Kinde Atanaw have also achieved such results. 32 year-old Kipruto ran his PB of 2:03:13 when he finished runner-up to Kenyan superstar Eliud Kipchoge in Tokyo 2022. Later that year he achieved his biggest career win when he took the London Marathon with 2:04:39. Kipruto ran sub 2:05 times in both 2023 and 2024. With his PB he is the joint fastest entrant in the history of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg. Back in 2018 fellow-Kenyan Emmanuel Mutai competed here with exactly the same personal record.

Guye Adola’s PB of 2:03:46 makes him the number two on the current start list. The Ethiopian ran this time in a brilliant debut performance in Berlin back in 2017, when he challenged Eliud Kipchoge. He led the great Kenyan until shortly before the 40k mark and then finished runner-up with an unofficial world debut record. His career was often hampered by injury and turned into a rollercoaster ride. Adola has not run in major races recently, but at the age of 34 he could still produce a strong performance.

While Kinde Atanaw ran his personal best of 2:03:51 back in 2019 when he took the Valencia Marathon, the strongest performances of Philemon Kiplimo came much more recently. Breaking 2:05 in Berlin in 2023 when he improved to 2:04:56 the Kenyan was third in last year’s Haspa Marathon Hamburg with a strong 2:05:37.

Richard Ringer prioritized competing in Germany’s major spring marathon instead of defending his European title at the continental championships in April. The 35 year-old returns with great memories to the Haspa Marathon Hamburg. It was here where he improved to 2:08:08 two years ago, just dipping under the Olympic qualifying time and taking a fine 6th place in a strong field. “The course and the atmosphere at the Haspa Marathon Hamburg are terrific. So opting to return to Hamburg was a straightforward decision for me. This time I will focus my training even more on this race to make sure that I will be in top form on the day,“ said Richard Ringer. “In the summer my goal is to run the marathon at the World Championships.” Ringer is an outstanding championship runner. Besides winning the European marathon title in Munich in 2022 he was Germany’s best runner in the Olympic Games marathons in 2021 and 2024, when he was 25th and 12th respectively.