At the 26th edition of the Generali Cologne Marathon, the favorites from Ethiopia prevailed in lonely races at the top of both the men’s and women’s fields on Sunday. The victories in the half marathon went to Tom Förster and Esther Pfeiffer.
Jane Sichting
At first glance, the runners at the 26th Generali Cologne Marathon had optimal conditions with sunshine, temperatures around 12 degrees and an atmospheric backdrop on the side of the road. However, the race was made more difficult by a stubborn headwind, which remained a constant companion despite numerous changes of direction – and was the only remaining opponent for the winner Demeke Tadesse (Ethiopia) in the second half of the race.
Instead of the expected four-way battle at the front of the field, the 25-year-old was on his own for a good 20 kilometers. With a transit time of 1:05:37 hours at kilometer 21.097, he was initially very consistent, but in the following kilometers he lost some of his speed as a lone fighter. In 2:12:36 hours he managed to land almost precisely on his pre-set target time of 2:12:30 hours.
Second place went to the Spaniard Chakib Lachgar with a new personal best time (2:18:14 h), third place went to the Ethiopian Weletaw Adane (2:20:37 h), who competes for LG Telis Finanz Regensburg. As the best German, Michael Wiegerling (2:27:30 h) crossed the finish line in sixth place.
Zinash Mekommen runs safely to victory
Zinash Mekonnen from Ethiopia won the women’s marathon race. Arriving with a best time of 2:24:55 hours, which she ran in her last completed marathon in 2019, she had set her target time of 2:27:00 hours – just like second place Failuna Matanga from Tanzania.
But the expected duel did not materialize, Matanga had to be demolished halfway through the route. In the end, the gap was five and a half minutes to Mekonnen, who reached the finish in 2:29:40 hours with a pacemaker at her side. With third place, Franziska Rennecke (Team beVegt.de; 2:49:01 h) also made it onto the podium as the best German.
Lonely fight against the wind
All good things come in threes – that was the motto of Tom Förster (LG Braunschweig). The winner of the two previous years over the half marathon distance was the first to cross the finish line again on Sunday after 64:36 minutes. With a start-to-finish victory, he ran away from the field right from the start and fought the full 21.097 kilometers alone through the wind from Cologne.
“I found the conditions a little worse today than last year, in some places it was very windy. That pulled my teeth out of it. From kilometer 16 onwards it became increasingly difficult and my calves were a bit tight. From then on I fought my way through to the end. Now I’m happy that I won here,” he said at the organizer’s microphone with moderator Tobias Ufer and ex-professional Tobias Blum. His next goals this year are the German Cross Championships and the European Cross Country Championships.
Second and third place in the men’s half marathon went to Jonathan Dahlke (TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen; 65:45 min) and Linus Korsmeier (Milers Colonia 2020). While the race was a relaxed and controlled start to the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon (October 27) for Dahlke, who had tackled the full distance last year and had to drop out after 37 kilometers, Korsmeier took advantage of his training partner’s slipstream and moved on to a new one set a personal best.
Esther Pfeiffer weakened to the best time
The women’s victory went to favorite Esther Pfeiffer (Hannover 96). After the German half marathon champion won the German championship title over 42.195 kilometers on her marathon debut last year, she decided to run half the distance on Sunday. Accompanied by her husband Hendrik Pfeiffer as pacemaker, who had completed the Berlin Marathon a week earlier, she crossed the finish line in a new personal best time of 69:49 minutes.
“I am incredibly satisfied. I was really sick for the week and had a stomach bug. Until three days ago I didn’t think I’d be standing here today – and now I’ve run the best time. Of course it hurts a little because you know what would have been in it if I hadn’t been sick. “But I’ll make up for it,” she said combatively. However, the 27-year-old is not planning any further races this season: “Now I’m putting my feet up. I’ve lost so much energy due to the illness that today’s race showed me that you should stop when it’s best.”
