LIVE-BLOG: News from the 27th Vattenfall BERLIN HALF MARATHON

Good morning. Soon our live blog will start. Official start time of the 27th Vattenfall BERLIN HALF MARATHON is at 10.45 a.m. (CET).  

For live splits during the race, please go to our website www.scc-events.com, choose the German version and there you can click on live splits in either English or German.  

The Vattenfall Berlin Half-Marathon has carved out its niche as one of the fastest on the world circuit : from the start along the famous avenue of Unter den Linden to the finish within sight of the Berlin Dom or cathedral, it is flat and fast for almost the entire distance. The only semblance of a hill for those following the green line to the finish comes at around 9 km.  

 Fastest man on the start line will be the Kenyan Patrick Makau who finished runner-up to Sammy Wanjiru  when the latter ran the first of  his world records  for the distance this year. That  was at  Ras  Al Khaimah  (UAE) on February 9 when  Wanjiru ran  58:53 and  Makau 59:13. Wanjiru  has since improved  that remarkable performance with 58:35 in the Hague on March 17.

Edith Masai broke the course record with 67:16 last year but the Kenyan's best should be pushed to the limit by Australia's Benita Johnson who also has clear ambitions on the national record of 67:48, held by the Commonwealth marathon champion Kerryn McCann. Johnson won the Great North Run in Newcastle in 67:55 in 2004 and says her form in preparation for the Flora London Marathon is right on schedule. 

START : The race is underway as some 21,000 competitors including runners, inline skaters, wheelchair racers and walkers take to the streets of Berlin.

2 km Men : a group of 9 go through the split in 5:25, all the leading contenders in the group. That includes Evans Cheruiyot, runner-up last year and Patrick Makau with Wilfred Taragon.

2 km Women : Edith Masai and Benita Johnson go through together in 6:23. 

3 km Men : 8:11 for the lead group of 9.

3 km Women : 9:36 with Masai and Johnson together and the leading German contender, Irina Mikitenko, 10 m behind. 

4 km Men : 10:56 with the group still together.  

5 km Men : 13:37 for the lead group, this puts them right in contention to break the world record of Sammy Wanjiru. He went through  10 km in 27:27 in the Hague on March 17. 

5 km Women : 16:03 with Masai and Johson sharing the lead and Mikitenko having a fine run, on her own in third place and around 10 m behind. 

6 km Women : 19:16 with Johnson ahead of Masai but gap appearing. Mikitenko remains third. 

8 km Men : 21:55 and the Kenyans are certainly winning the team race! Just one Ethiopian in te lead group and that is Eshetu Wondimu. Otherwise the lead group has Cheruiyot, Makau, Taragon and Moses Kigen. 

9 km Men : 24:40 and group still together. Just after 10 km they will be on of the long, straight avenue of the Kurfürstendamm.

10 km Men : 27:27 and this superb running equals the split of Wanjiru en route to his world record in the Hague! The group is unchanged. 

9 km Women : 29:01 and big surprise as Masai has dropped to third place. Johnson leads with Mikitenko second, 100 m behind and Masai is 5 m behind the German. 

10 km Women : 32:20. Johnson leads, running impressively while Mikitenko is second with 32:33 and Masai still 5 m behind her. Masai's course record of 67:16 from last year is definitely under threat from the Australian. 

11 km Women : 35:33. Johnson leads from Mikitenko, Masai remains third.

In the men's race, the lead group is Cheruiyot, Makau, Francis Kibiwott and the Ethiopian Wondimu.  

14 km Men : 38:53 for the lead group. 

15 km Men : 41:46. In comparison with Wanjiru's world record in the Hague, they are 16 seconds slower. They certainly have a great chance of beating the course record of 59:07 but the world record may well be out of reach.

12 km Women : 3849. Johnson looks very good. Mikitenko still second but has fallen back to a little over 100 m down, Masai third.

13 km Women : 41:47. Johnson leads.

17 km Men : 47:16. Makau leads from Kibiwott while Cheruiyot has just overtaken the Ethiopian Wondimu. 

15 km Women : 48:33. Johnson leads from Mikitenko. 

18 km Men : 50:03. Makau is making a big effort and could break the world record.  

19 km Men : 52:57. Makau still leads but needs an even bigger effort to stay on world record pace. He leads from Kibiwott and Cheruiyot.

20 km : 55:53. Makau leads but is slower than the world record split of Wanjiru in the Hague, who was timed at 55:31. 

18 km Women : 58:22. Johnson leads from Mikitenko and then Masai. 

MEN'S RESULT!

Makau wins in 58:56, a course record and fourth fastest performance of all time. Francis Kibiwott is second and Evans Cheruiyot third with Eshetu Wondimu fourth and Moses Kigen fifth. Makau's winning time, for the moment unofficial, equals the former world record of Haile Gebrselassie when the Ethiopian ran in Phoenix on January 15, 2006. Only Wanjiru and Gebrselassie have run faster than Patrick Makau today.

OFFICIAL RESULTS - MEN'S RACE

1. Patrick Makau (Kenya) - 58:56 (Course record and 4th fastest of all time)

2. Francis Kibiwott (Kenya) - 59:24 (personal best)

3.  Evans Cheruiyot (Kenya) - 59:47

4. Eshetu Wondimu (Ethiopia) - 60:07

5. Moses Kigen (Kenya) - 60:37 

WOMEN'S RESULT

Benita Johnson of Australia wins in 68:27, the fourth fastest time ever in Berlin. Irina Mikitenko achieves a notable personal best to finish second in 69:45, improving her personal best by 18 seconds.The defending champion and still course record holder Edith Masai finished fourth, her time still to be officially confirmed.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

1. Benita Johnson (Australia) - 68:27 (second fastest in the world rankings for 2007 behind the 68:00 of Kayoko Fukushi (Japan) at Marugame, Japan on February 4)

2. Irina Mikitenko (Germany) - 69:45 (personal best)

3. Luminita Zaituc (Germany) - 71:05 

That's all from Live Ticker in English. Berlin has again proved what a fast course it is!