Amanal Petros will run Frankfurt with records in mind
German marathon record holder Amanal Petros, who sensationally won the silver medal at the World Championships in Tokyo last year, missing out on the title by the tiniest of margins, will run the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon on 25th October. This was announced by the organisers at today’s press conference with the athlete in Frankfurt. Just a short while ago German top runners Samuel Fitwi and Richard Ringer, who is the European marathon champion from 2022, confirmed that they will run in Frankfurt.
The Mainova Frankfurt Marathon is an Elite Label Road Race of World Athletics. Organisers are experiencing a strong demand and plan to increase the maximum capacity to 20,000 runners. Online-entry is available at: www.frankfurt-marathon.com
Petros, Fitwi and Ringer are currently the three fastest German marathon runners ever. It is extremely rare that the top three of the national alltime list are in the same race. Since reunification in 1990 this has only happened at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris so far, where Petros, Fitwi and Ringer also competed. This was also the only time to date that the ‘Three Musketeers’ of German marathon running have faced off against one another in a race over the classic distance. Since the Paris Olympics all three have improved their personal bests: Amanal Petros holds the German record with a time of 2:04:03, Samuel Fitwi ran 2:04:45 in Hamburg in April and Richard Ringer has an official personal best of 2:05:46 but recently ran 2:04:47 in Boston on the course which is not record eligible.
“We are delighted and proud that an exceptional athlete like Amanal Petros will run the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon. The fact that the three strongest German marathon runners are competing together and against each other here is an absolute dream scenario – it is a historic moment in the history of the event,” said Race Director Jo Schindler. With 31-year-old Amanal Petros, who originally comes from Eritrea and then fled to Germany as a teenager, a record-breaking runner is coming to the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon. Petros has broken the national marathon record four times (2020, 2021, 2023 and 2025) – more often than any other marathon runner in German athletics history. He is also the first and only German runner to have broken the records for 10 k, the half marathon and the marathon, and even held these records simultaneously for some time.
It will be the first time since winning the silver medal at the World Championships that Amanal Petros will run a German marathon. Like Ringer and Fitwi he will also be running the marathon at the European Championships in Birmingham in August. “Frankfurt fits very well into my schedule this year. The course at the European Championships will be difficult, so this will not be a fast race. The Mainova Frankfurt Marathon then offers me the chance to run a very good time,” said Amanal Petros. “I was in Frankfurt three years ago and watched the marathon. I really enjoyed the race. I am delighted that I now have the opportunity to compete here.”
“Richard, Samuel and I will certainly support each other during the race. It is not primarily about beating each other – we get on far too well for that. Together we want to produce something special in Frankfurt. Of course the time is also important,” said Amanal Petros. “If we have good weather conditions a German record would be great. But if everything really comes together, I would like to go for the European record.” The continental mark, held by Belgium’s Bashir Abdi, currently stands at 2:03:36. Amanal Petros is just 27 seconds off that mark.
Further information and online registration is available at: www.frankfurt-marathon.com
Please note: The attached photo showing Amanal Petros together with Race Director Jo Schindler in Frankfurt can only be used in association with this press release and with the following credit: Mainova Frankfurt Marathon / Andreas Arnold
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