After the sensational World Championship silver, now a German record that is no less magnificent: three months after his World Championship coup in Tokyo, marathon ace Amanal Petros once again completed a dream race and regained the national record in Valencia.
In 2:04:03 hours, the 30-year-old was a whopping 53 seconds below Samuel Fitwi’s time, which he achieved at the same place last year.
“This is a great end to this year. I am so relieved that I have achieved my goal,” said Petros on “ARD”.
After a tactical masterpiece, the Eritrean-born Petros, who runs for Hannover 96, only had to admit defeat to the Kenyan John Korir in ideal conditions (13 degrees and light clouds). The Boston winner triumphed confidently in 2:02:25 hours and took eighth place on the “all-time” marathon best list.
Petros broke away from his opponent Fitwi shortly before the 30 km mark and picked up a few more runners with a very strong second half of the race. Fitwi crossed the finish line in 13th place, well behind, in 2:07:01 hours. Surprisingly, Hendrik Pfeiffer came between the two, breaking the 2:07 hour mark for the first time in eleventh place in 2:06:46 hours. Only Petros, Fitwi and former European champion Richard Ringer have been faster than Pfeiffer so far.
Petros broke the German record for the first time in Berlin in 2023 in 2:04:58 hours, which Fitwi (2:04:56) took from him a good year later. In September, Petros was only defeated by Alphonce Simbu from Tanzania in the final sprint of a thrilling World Cup marathon, but became the first German to win marathon silver at the World Championships.