Former champion Shura Kitata, the winner of the 2017 Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, will return for the 42nd edition of the race on October 26.
The Ethiopian leads the start list with his personal best of 2:04:49 and he will be among the favourites. Kitata is one of seven athletes in Frankfurt who have already run well under 2:08:00.
“We have a top-class men’s field and this year it is very well balanced, so there is no major favourite. We also hope that Filimon Abraham will be able to produce a fine race,“ said Race Director Jo Schindler.
The organisers of this traditional marathon expect a record number of participants on October 26th. The current record stands at 16,034 entries from 2012.
Shura Kitata made his decisive breakthrough at the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon in 2017. As a 21-year-old he caused a surprise when he took the race with a significant improvement to 2:05:50.
This is still the fourth-fastest winning time in the history of the race – at that time of course Shura Kitata did not benefit of the performance-enhancing carbon shoes.
The Ethiopian subsequently improved to 2:04:49 and even won the London Marathon in 2020. Recently the 29-year-old has been unable to match his best times. Because of this Shura Kitata is not considered the top favourite at the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon.
A young compatriot is among the athletes who will challenge Kitata in Frankfurt. At just 20 years old, Dejene Megersa already has a strong personal best of 2:05:42. He ran this time as an 18-year-old in Dubai in early 2024.
The Kenyans Kipkemoi Kiprono (PB: 2:06:45) and Stanley Rono (2:07:05) as well as the three Ethiopians Belay Asfaw (2:07:00), Getachew Masresha (2:07:04) and Kirbrom Habtu (2:07:05) are the other athletes on the start list who have already run sub 2:08:00.
Germany’s Filimon Abraham could probably achieve a position within the top ten. The 32-year-old, who grew up in Eritrea and currently trains in the capital Asmara in high altitude, intends to improve his personal best of 2:08:11.
Two other German runners hope to come closer to the best national marathoners by improving their PBs significantly. Tom Thurley and Jan Lukas Becker enter the race with personal records of 2:12:45 and 2:15:20 respectively.