Triathlon great Jan Frodeno ran 2:23:33 at the Berlin Marathon on Sunday, beating his pre-race target with a faster second half in his first city marathon.
Germany’s 2008 Olympic triathlon champion and three-time IRONMAN World Champion had won his M45–49 category at OCC just a month earlier. That 61.4km race through the mountains around Mont Blanc was the longest run of his life. Berlin offered a very different test and here’s how it played out…
Jan Frodeno’s Berlin Marathon splits
“Time to pin up the bib number again,” Frodeno wrote the day before the race. “The goal for tomorrow is 2:25, but where will I actually end up?”
He set out close to that target pace, covering the opening 5km in 17:06. Frodeno reached 10km in 34:07 and halfway in 1:12:03, leaving himself almost exactly on schedule.
But there was no late fade. He ran the 30–35km stretch in 16:55, followed by 17:03 from 35–40km, then completed the final 2.195km in 7:22. His second half took 1:11:30, making it 33 seconds faster than his first and bringing him home 1:27 inside his target.
| Distance | Elapsed time | Segment time |
|---|---|---|
| 5km | 17:06 | 17:06 |
| 10km | 34:07 | 17:01 |
| 15km | 51:22 | 17:15 |
| 20km | 1:08:20 | 16:58 |
| Half marathon | 1:12:03 | 3:43 from 20km |
| 25km | 1:25:17 | 13:14 from halfway |
| 30km | 1:42:13 | 16:56 |
| 35km | 1:59:08 | 16:55 |
| 40km | 2:16:11 | 17:03 |
| Finish | 2:23:33 | 7:22 from 40km |
Elite company
The controlled road run followed a very different endurance test at OCC. On the mountain trails, Frodeno had worked his way from 83rd at the Trient checkpoint to 58th overall at the finish, winning his age category by nearly 25 minutes.
In Berlin, he finished 127th overall, 117th among the men and third in his age group. Around 56,000 runners took part.
“What an event, Berlin Marathon, thanks for having me!” he wrote afterwards on Instagram. “Finished my first-ever city marathon, and luckily I didn’t blow up. Thanks to everyone cheering along the course.”
At the front of the race, Ethiopia’s Guye Adola won the elite men’s event in 2:02:51, while compatriot Tigst Assefa took the women’s title in 2:11:04 – she had been on target for the world record until the closing stages.
