Kenenisa Bekele and Gladys Cherono Look for Return to Winner's Circle in Berlin

By Adam Kopet

The fall marathon season gets underway in earnest Sunday with the BMW Berlin Marathon. Once again, the elite fields make the event one of the top marathons in the world.

An American-focused preview can be found here.

Can Bekele Return to the top of the podium?

Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia won the 2016 Berlin Marathon, running 2:03:03. Three years later, his time still ranks him as the fourth-fastest man ever.

However, Bekele has not shown the same form he had in 2016. Injuries and less-than-ideal racing conditions have seen him finish two marathons since. His best was a runner-up finish at the 2017 London Marathon where he ran 2:05:57.

Most recently, Bekele was forced to withdraw from this year's Tokyo Marathon in the final weeks before the race, because of a stress fracture.

If there is one similarity between Sunday's race and the 2016 Berlin Marathon, it is the absence of Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge. Kipchoge won the Olympic marathon in 2016 and this year he will be attempting to break 2 hours at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge next month.

Bekele moved to the marathon after a successful career on the track. He is a three-time Olympic champion and five-time world champion at 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He also holds the world records in those events, having run 12:37.35 and 26:17.53, respectively.

Can the Ethiopian men be stopped?

Bekele is the fastest man in the field. The next four fastest men in the field are also Ethiopian.

Three of those four, Leul Gebrelassie, Sisay Lemma and Birhanu Legese, put together fast races at the 2018 Dubai Marathon. They ran 2:04:02, 2:04:08 and 2:04:15, respectively.

Unfortunately, the Dubai Marathon has not always indicated ability to race similarly on other courses elsewhere in the world. That could give Feyisa Lilesa a chance to take a turn at the front. His 2:04:52 personal best came at the Chicago Marathon seven years ago, but he won the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics.

No other athlete in the field has run under 2:06. Behind the top-five Ethiopians is Kenya's Felix Kandle. He ran 2:06:03 at the 2017 Seoul Marathon.

Cherono chasing third-straight and fourth overall Berlin Marathon win

Gladys Cherono of Kenya is the fastest woman in the field. Of all the competitors, she has had the most success in Berlin. Cherono has won the 2015, 2017 and 2018 editions of the race.

Last year, Cherono's winning time in Berlin was a personal best 2:18:11. That places her sixth on the all-time performer list. She has more than a minute on her next competitor.

Despite the large gap from personal bests, Cherono will still need to race hard to win once again. Nothing is guaranteed in the marathon.

More Ethiopian dominance in the women's race

Outside of Cherono, the front-end depth in the women's field comes from Ethiopia. Behind Cherono are two Ethiopians who have run under 2:20. Yebrgual Melese has run 2:19:36 and Mare Dibaba has run 2:19:52.

Three more Ethiopian women have run 2:21 or faster. Haftamnesh Tesfay has run 2:20:13, Helen Tola has run 2:21:01 and Ashete Bekere has run 2:21:14.

The next fastest woman in the field is Kenya's Sally Chepyego, who has run 2:23:15. That is a two-minute gap between Bekere and Chepyego.

However, like the Ethiopian men, some questions remain based on the success the Ethiopian women have had in Dubai. Three of the women, Melese, Dibaba and Tesfay, saw their best performances come at the Dubai Marathon.

Defar makes her first Abbott World Marathon Majors appearance

Ethiopia's Meseret Defar is another athlete to watch as she continues to make her transition from the track to the roads.

The Berlin Marathon will be Defar's third marathon of her career. She ran a personal best 2:23:33 for fourth at this year's Nagoya Women's Marathon.

Prior to her career on the roads, Defar was a two-time Olympic and two-time world champion at 5,000 meters. She owns a total of eight global medals from the 5,000 meters, going back to her first global win at the 2004 Olympics.

Defar is also a former world record holder at 5,000 meters. She first broke the record by running 14:24.53 in 2006. Defar improved on that mark a year later by running 14:16.63. She still stands third all-time, having run 14:12.88 in 2008.