The Beijing Marathon is an annual marathon race held around October in Beijing, People's Republic of China, since 1981. The race begins at Tiananmen Square and finishes in Celebration Square in Olympic Green. The full marathon is the only distance offered.
The Athens Classic Marathon The Authentic is an annual marathon road race held in Athens, Greece, normally in early November, since 1972. It also often serves as Greece's national marathon championships. The race attracted 43,000 competitors in 2015 of which 16,000 were for the 42.195 kilometre (26.2 mile) course, both numbers being an all-time record for the event. The rest of the runners competed in the concurrent 5 and 10 kilometres road races and the racewalking contest.
Lydia Cheromei is a Kenyan athlete born into a family of athletes. She specialises in long distance running. She rose to fame at the age of thirteen with a win in the junior race at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. She took some years away from competition, citing burnout, and returned in the mid-nineties, making an appearance at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
The Hamburg Marathon is an annual marathon race over the classic distance of 42.195 km (26.219 mi) held in Hamburg, Germany. In 2009, 13,938 participants were counted. The marathon is categorized as a Gold Label Road Race by World Athletics.
Tsegaye Kebede Wordofa is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in road running events, including marathons. He quickly rose to become a prominent distance runner after his international debut at the Amsterdam Marathon in 2007. In his second year of professional running, he won the Paris Marathon, the Fukuoka Marathon and the marathon bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Gilbert Kipruto Kirwa is a Kenyan athlete who specialises in long-distance running and the marathon. His personal best for the marathon is 2:06:14 hours and has won races in Vienna and Frankfurt.
Yemane Adhane Tsegay is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He won the 2012 Rotterdam Marathon with a personal best time of 2:04:48 hours. He has also won marathons in Eindhoven, Gyeongju, Macau and Taipei.
Siraj Amda Gena, also known as Giday Amha and Siraj Amda Bene, is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specialises in the marathon. He won his first race in 2010, beating all-comers at the Rome City Marathon to set a personal best of 2:08:39.
Aberu Kebede Shewaye is an Ethiopian long distance runner who specializes in road running competitions. Her half marathon best of 1:07:39 is one of the fastest ever by an Ethiopian woman. She gained bronze at the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships with the performance and has won at the Berlin Marathon, Stramilano Half Marathon and the Rotterdam Marathon. She has a marathon best of 2:20:30 hours.
Atsede Bayisa Tesema, also known as Atsede Bayisa, is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in road running events. She has won the Chicago Marathon, Boston Marathon and Paris Marathon twice. She has also won at the Xiamen International Marathon and the Istanbul Marathon.
The Prague Half Marathon is an annual half marathon road running event which takes place in Spring on the city streets of Prague, Czech Republic, first held in 1999. It is managed by the same organisation that holds the Prague Marathon in May. The race has a loop course, starting and ending in Jan Palach Square near the Rudolfinum, and largely follows the Vltava river. The competition has enjoyed an increasing level of participation, with around 6500 participants in 2009 and almost 8500 runners taking part in the 2010 event.
Atsede Habtamu Besuye is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialises in road running and the marathon distance.
Amos Tirop Matui is a Kenyan professional long-distance and marathon runner. He has won marathons on four continents with career highlights including consecutive wins and course records at the Singapore Marathon, a win at the Country Music Marathon in 2009, and a bronze medal for Kenya over the distance at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Benjamin Kolum Kiptoo is a Kenyan professional marathon runner. He has won marathons in Rome, Beijing and Chuncheon, and represented Kenya at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. He holds a personal best of 2:06:31 for the distance, set en route to victory at the 2011 Paris Marathon. He also holds the fastest ever time recorded on Italian soil (2:07:17), with which he won the 2009 Rome City Marathon.
Raymond Kimutai Bett is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in the marathon.
Alemayehu Shumye Tafere was an Ethiopian long-distance runner who specialised in marathon running.
The 2011 Berlin Marathon was the 38th edition of the annual marathon event and was held on Sunday 25 September on the streets of Berlin, Germany. The men's race was won by Patrick Makau of Kenya in a world record time of 2:03:38 hours. The women's winner was Florence Kiplagat, also from Kenya, won in a time of 2:19:44 hours, which made her the ninth fastest woman of all-time. It was the first marathon she had completed in her career. In total, 32,991 runners managed to finish the 2011 edition of the marathon, comprising 25,577 men and 7414 women.
May El Khalil is the Founder and President of the Beirut Marathon Association, which oversees the annual Beirut Marathon and has been held every autumn since 2003. It was accredited by the International Association of Athletic Federations (IAAF) in 2009. In 2014, the race attracted over 38,000 runners from 104 countries.
Deressa Chimsa Edae is an Ethiopian long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. He represented Ethiopia in the event at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. His personal best of 2:05:42 hours was set at the 2012 Dubai Marathon. He won the Daegu Marathon in 2010.
Gaddisa Dekeba 
