The 2019 Berlin marathon starts in a little over 3 hours. In the men's race, all eyes will be on Kenenisa Bekele as he looks to get his marathon career back on track. Bekele's 2:03:03 PB comes from Berlin 2016, but he has no race finishes for this year. Along with Bekele there are five other men with PBs in the 2:06 range or faster including Tokyo champ Leul Gebrselassie (2:04:02).
On the women's side, CR holder Gladys Cherono (2:18:11) is again the favorite as she looks to get her fifth Berlin victory. She'll face former two-time Olympic 5000m champ Meseret Defar (2:23:33) and Olympic marathon bronze medalist Mare Dibaba (2:19:52).
Race starts at 9:15AM local time (3:15AM ET). US fans can watch on NBC Sports Gold.
https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/2019-09-29
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