Amos Kipruto breaks Hamburg course record

While Philemon Kiplimo ran 2:04:01 and was also inside the former record (2:04:09), third placed Erick Sang completed an all-Kenyan podium with 2:04:30. South Africa’s Elroy Gelant was fourth with a national record of 2:05:36 and Richard Ringer of Germany took seventh as the fastest European in 2:07:23.

Workenesh Edesa of Ethiopia won the women’s race with a world-class time of 2:17:55, which is the second fastest time in the history of the race. Kenya’s former world record holder Brigid Kosgei was second in 2:18:26 and Sichala Kumeshi followed in third place with 2:19:53. For the first time three women broke the 2:20:00 barrier in Hamburg. Norway’s debutant Karoline Grovdal dropped out before the 30k mark.

With regard to the winning times this was the best race in the history of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg which saw its 39th edition. “We are of course very happy with the course record and the three sub 2:20 times. These are stunning results. We now had course records in 2022, 2023 and 2025,“ said Chief Organiser Frank Thaleiser. Around 15,000 runners had entered Germany’s biggest spring marathon. Adding running events at shorter distances staged during the weekend the entry total was a record of over 38,000.

A big leading group ran at an extremely consistent pace. After a 10k split time of 29:20 twelve athletes reached the half marathon mark in 61:47. They were well on course to break the previous course record set by Kenyan Bernard Koech in 2023 with 2:04:09. Shortly after the 30k mark (1:28:09), there was a major move. Four athletes broke away: Amos Kipruto and Philemon Kiplimo, who are friends and shared a room in Hamburg, were joined by fellow-Kenyans Erick Sang and Felix Kibitok in the lead. Kibitok soon dropped back and Sang lost contact soon after 35k. “Philemon and I supported each other – that worked really well and we had planned to do so,“ said Amos Kipruto, who was then able to pull away from Philemon Kiplimo in the final kilometres. “The Hamburg Marathon is a fantastic race, the support of the spectators was a great motivation for me. I will be back next year,“ said the 32-year-old winner, who has a PB of 2:03:13 and ran inside 2:04:00 for the third time in his career.

Richard Ringer started the race much faster than planned. The European Marathon Champion from 2022 reached the 10k mark after 29:39 minutes which pointed towards a 2:05:10 finishing time. “A number of us started too fast, there was a certain euphoria due to the very good weather conditions,“ said Richard Ringer, who then reached the half marathon mark in 63:03. Despite running a slower second half the 36-year-old still achieved the third fastest marathon time of his career with 2:07:23 and the fastest ever by a German runner in Hamburg.

Five women were in the lead early on, running a course record pace for a long time. Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw is the record holder with 2:17:23 from 2022. Then three runners passed the half marathon mark together after 68:39: Brigid Kosgei, Sichala Kumeshi and Workenesh Edesa formed the leading group. Kumeshi then dropped back before the 25k mark. Almost ten kilometres later Workenesh Edesa made the decisive move: The Ethiopian, who had entered the race with a personal best of 2:18:51, pulled away and gradually increased her lead. “I am very happy. I deliberately didn’t run too fast in the first part to save some energy. I then could pick up the pace late in the race. From 30k onwards I knew I was going to win,“ said the 32-year-old Workenesh Edesa after improving her personal best by almost a minute to 2:17:55.

Karoline Grovdal was unlucky in her marathon debut. Last year’s Norwegian European half marathon champion was on course for Ingrid Kristiansen’s Norwegian record of 2:21:06 during the first half. But Grovdal had problems with her shoes and got blisters relatively early in the race, so she eventually dropped out before the 30k mark.