New Marathon World Record

Haile Gebrselassie did it again. With good support from pacemakers through the first 19 miles of the race, Gebrselassie continued along to blast away his own world record and become the first man to ever break 2:04 in the marathon - winning in 2:03:59 - that's a 4:44 average mile pace! Staying with Gebrselassie through mile 22, James Kwambai achieved a majar breakthrough to finish second in 2:05:36, a new PR by almost five minutes. Charles Kamathi finished third in 2:07:48.

For the women, Irina Mikitenko knocked nearly five minutes of her PR to win in 2:19:19 - a new German record and a time that makes her the fourth fastest female marathoner ever. Mikitenko's race was spectacular, in that she did not go out with the lead group and was more than 30 seconds back at the 20K mark but chased down and destroyed the rest of the field. Askale Tafa Magarsa finished second in 2:21:31. Helena Kirop finished third in 2:25:01.