Jirata Dinki and Zeineba Yimer win a wet Frankfurt Marathon as Blanka Dörfel runs 2:20:46 on debut
The 24-year-old German was second without a watch, the second-fastest time by a German woman. Amanal Petros led until the last two kilometres and finished second in the men’s race.
Ethiopia’s Jirata Dinki and Zeineba Yimer won the 43rd Frankfurt Marathon on 25 October, in 2:05:26 and 2:19:45. The most striking run of the day came from Germany’s Blanka Dörfel, who finished second in the women’s race in 2:20:46 on her marathon debut.
Rain and wind for much of the race ruled out the records that had been talked about beforehand, the organisers said.
Dörfel’s debut
Dörfel, 24, broke away from a group of ten, passed halfway in 70:29, then dropped strong contenders including Betsy Saina of the United States and Kenya’s Marion Kibor and steadily closed on the two leaders. She moved into second place at 33 km and held it to the finish in the Festhalle.
Her time is the second fastest ever run by a German woman and makes her the eighth-fastest European marathon runner in history, according to the organisers.
She ran without a watch. “I ran without a watch as I do in training, going purely by how I feel, not by the time,” she said in the race’s statement. “It was always a bit of a mystery to me what time I could achieve. It wasn’t until I was in the Festhalle that I saw the 2:20 and realised just how fast I was.”
Yimer, 28, led from the start, at first with her compatriot Siranesh Yirga, who fell back after 30 km. The Ethiopian started as favourite with a best of 2:18:47 from Barcelona in the spring, and had dropped out of the Berlin Marathon at 33 km four weeks earlier with stomach problems, World-Track reported. Her winning time is the sixth fastest by a woman in the history of the Frankfurt race.
“The weather was not on our side. The rain slowed me down, but I am very happy with my performance,” Yimer said.
Ethiopia’s Beriha Gebreslasie was third in 2:22:46. Meskerem Assefa, who was on the start list with a best of 2:20:36, is not among the top 31 women in the results published by World-Track.
Petros attacks, Dinki answers
The men’s leaders went through 10 km in 29:55 and halfway in 63:01, too slow for a German record attempt by Amanal Petros, who holds the national mark of 2:04:03.
Petros, the European champion, and Kenya’s Benard Biwott, the 2024 winner, raised the pace about 10 km from the finish. Samuel Fitwi dropped back with muscle problems and Richard Ringer could not close the gap. Dinki, who started with a personal best of 2:08:18, caught the leaders around 37 km.
Petros attacked again and dropped Biwott, but Dinki came back and went past him with about two kilometres left.
“I had not reckoned with him,” Petros said. “I gave it a go, but in that weather it was clear that a record was not going to happen. Then I suppose I attacked a bit too early,” he added, saying he would learn from it.
His 2:05:46 was the first podium place by a German man in Frankfurt for more than 25 years, and the fastest time by a German in the race’s history, according to the organisers. It came two and a half months after he won the European title.
“The weather was not ideal, so I started off more cautiously,” said Dinki, who was running his third marathon. “This is a huge victory for me.”
A record 19,720 runners from 128 nations entered. It was the last race for Jo Schindler after 25 years as race director. Holger Kranz succeeds him, and the organisers named London Marathon Events as a strategic partner.
