The Berlin Marathon has produced so many world records that you'd expect the mark to be broken again at every edition, as if it were that easy. But not this time — winner Eliud Kipchoge crossed the finish line in 2:04:00, just over a minute off the world record. Even when the elite group passed the halfway point, they were already off pace to break the record; they went through in 1:01:53 (2:03:46 projected for the marathon), so the 2:02:57 record set by Dennis Kimetto last year was never really in danger.

On the other hand, Costa Rican Gabriela Traña fell short in her attempt to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The tica needed to break 2:42:00, but her legs only carried her to 2:46:34. Too bad, because halfway through she was right on pace to hit her target; Gabriela passed the half marathon in 1:20:22 and held steady through the 30k mark with a sub-4-minute-per-kilometer pace that would have gotten her the time. But the last 15k were a nightmare and she ran above the 4:00/km barrier. To hit the mark, her target pace needed to be 3:45–3:50/km.

Among the top women there were no surprises either. As expected, Kenya's Gladys Cherono won — in only her second marathon she was already everyone's favorite and lowered her time even further to 2:19:25 (she had run 2:20:03 in her Dubai debut). Second place went to Ethiopian Aberu Kebede with 2:20:48. Nobody ever talks about the women's world record because 2:15:25 is insane and even today, 12 years later, no one has come close.

Nearly 200 Costa Ricans ran in Berlin today, one of the marathons favored for the speed of its course and the perfect weather that usually prevails during the race. The fastest of all was Aurelio Sánchez, with 2:41:10. Congratulations to all the ticos who participated.