Posted: March 30, 2005

Athletics: Bewag BERLIN HALF MARATHON Press Conference Highlights

Mark Milde (Race Director)
"We expect about 18,000 participants at the 25th Bewag BERLIN HALF MARATHON. That would be a new record for us. We’ve got 16,459 entries from 64 nations so far. The course of the Bewag BERLIN HALFMARATHON is very attractive, as it is fast and flat. Furthermore it is a very attractive distance for runners of every age. The number of runners increased compared to last year, so we can tell that the running boom is not over yet. We have a female participation of 26 %, that is 8 % more compared to the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON. We do have elite and mass, so the only thing we need on Sunday is good weather.”

Stephan Freigang, Winner BERLINER HALF MARATHON 1990
"In 1990 everybody was filled with euphoria. Today almost nobody of the young athletes remember that Germany was once divided in two parts. They can’t even imagine what big event this was for us – running for the first time in West Berlin. At that time I focused totally on sport, but it was really exciting for me, too. Berlin got its peculiar flair – today and in the past. By the way, I still use the TV set that I have won in 1990. Today I focus more on my work. I don’t have this much time anymore to train. It was a sad year for me last year, not making the Olympic Team. That would have been a nice end for my career as a runner.”

Race website: www.berliner-halbmarathon.de.