Berlin and its annual marathon jointly awarded Heritage Plaque

We love the Heritage Department of World Athletics. We also love the Heritage Plaque program. Chris Turner is a total track geek, and he loves building the history stories on our sport. If you have not enjoyed the World Athletics Museum of Athletics. 

This release comes from Race News Service, one of our partners in the global content world. 

Berlin and its annual marathon jointly awarded Heritage Plaque

The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, received a World Athletics Heritage Plaque honoring the city of Berlin and the annual Berlin Marathon at a ceremony in Berlin’s City Hall on Wednesday (1). The mayor was joined at the ceremony by the marathon’s founder, Horst Milde, and a host of runners, including Uta Pippig, the 1993 New York City Marathon winner and a three-time marathon champion in Berlin and Boston. The plaque, which has been awarded in the joint categories of ‘City’ and ‘Competition, ‘ celebrates the city’s rich athletic history, including the first organized running events in the 1890s and the foundation of the Berlin Marathon in 1974.

“World Athletics is delighted to recognize the outstanding contribution that the city of Berlin and the Berlin Marathon have made to the history and development of international athletics, with the award of the World Athletics Heritage Plaque,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe in a video message. “The plaque honours more than 130 years of organized track & field athletics and running events in Berlin. Notably, in 1913, Berlin staged the second Congress in our federation’s history, and the city is one of only nine to have hosted the Summer Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships. On those two occasions, Berlin’s Olympic Stadium provided the dramatic stage for the legendary triumphs of Jesse Owens and Usain Bolt. At the epicentre of the city’s running history is the annual Berlin Marathon, founded by running enthusiast Horst Milde. The race director for the first three decades, Horst established the Berlin Marathon’s international reputation for organisational excellence. With more than 40,000 finishers annually, the Berlin Marathon is one of the world’s largest mass road races. The city’s flat, fast course attracts the world’s best elite runners. Twenty years since Paul Tergat ran the first sub-2:05 marathon, Berlin’s streets have seen the men’s world record broken another seven times. Berlin has also welcomed…