Bernard Koech isn't coming to Hamburg for a stroll down the Reeperbahn; he’s coming to claim what his stride has earned him. The Kenyan, current course record holder, returns to the Hanseatic city this Sunday with an almost insolent goal: securing his third consecutive victory at the Haspa Marathon Hamburg. After his masterclasses in 2023 and 2024, Koech knows every crack in the German asphalt, but this time the wall won't just be a distance—it will be human.
The real buzz in long-distance running circles is the assault on the throne being prepared by the Ethiopian contingent. With Stephen Kissa—who already knows what it’s like to shatter national records on this course—and the local surge of Samuel Fitwi, the men's race promises to be a total war from the starting gun at 08:30. Fitwi, who shaved his PB down to 2:04:56 in Valencia, is racing on home turf and knows that on a course as flat as this, drafting and managing the pace groups will be vital to avoid a monumental bonking before reaching Planten un Blomen.
In the women's field, the tension shifts to a clash of titans between Tigist Ketema and Degitu Azimeraw. Ketema arrives as the favorite after her meteoric rise in the distance, but Hamburg is a treacherous venue where the humidity from the Elbe River can turn a record pace into a heavy-legged ordeal. There is no room for error at the aid stations; with the new ESN sponsorship, nutritional strategy will be under the microscope, especially for the 20,000 amateur runners who sold out the bibs seven months ago.
While the relays and the Haspa Marathon Hamburg Half Marathon—which moves its start to the afternoon this year to ease runner flow—complete the program, all eyes are on the blue line. Weather forecasts predict a window between 12 and 17 degrees, laboratory conditions for Koech to attempt to lower his own 2:04:09. If the wind stays calm around the Alster, we could witness the fastest edition in the event's 40-year history.