Great comeback

Herzog: “Talent and weeds don’t go away!”

Peter Herzog at the finish in Berlin

(Bild: AFP/John MACDOUGALL, zVg)

Peter Herzog made a fantastic comeback over the classic 42.195 km at the 50th Berlin Marathon! At the age of 37, the man from Salzburg finished 34th overall in 2:12:08 hours. But much more importantly, he even won his age group (plus 35). That is a victory that counts for a lot in one of the world's biggest marathons.

Hardly anyone could have expected Peter Herzog to return to the road to success like this. Not even him! "The last two years simply sucked - physically and mentally." He was repeatedly set back by illness and injury.

"It wasn't fun anymore," admitted Herzog, who has held the Austrian record of 2:10:06 since London 2020. Even this year in July, he didn't know whether he wanted to try again: "Do I really want to train twice a day?" Then he decided to try again in July. "I started from scratch." Now he's almost back to 100.

"Gigantic new start!"
 "The first three months after starting again were gigantic, I trained in St. Moritz for seven weeks and felt young again," he reported from Berlin - and added with a laugh: "Talent doesn't go away, weeds don't go away!" Even though he "lost the toughness" in the Berlin race and didn't dare to "push himself to the limit", he ran his third-best time ever. He was only faster in his record (2:10:06) and in Berlin 2019 with 2:10:57. This year in Berlin, he achieved almost the same time as two years ago (2:12:16). Peter Herzog now has four of the six fastest ÖLV times in the marathon.

Certificate from Peter Herzog

(Bild: Berlin-Marathon)

"Peter has confirmed himself" 
 "There has never been such consistency from a local marathon runner," said a delighted Herzog coach Johannes Langer, who was "very satisfied" with his protégé's performance in Berlin. The most important thing for Hannes Langer was: "Peter has confirmed himself. He showed a very strong race!"

The fact that Herzog missed out on direct qualification for the European Championships in Brussels on April 13 by eight seconds was actually irrelevant. This totally unfortunate date for the European Championships clashes with many spring classics such as Vienna (April 6) as well as Rotterdam and Linz (both on April 13). Peter Herzog hardly has the European Championships in his sights.

Victories for Ethiopia
The anniversary race in Berlin was won by Milkesa Mengesha (Ethiopia) in 2:03:17 ahead of the Kenyan Cybrian Kotut (2:03:22) and his compatriot Haymanot Alew (2:03:31). There was a quadruple victory for Ethiopia in the women's race. Tigist Ketema (2:16:42 ahead of Mestawot Fikir (2:18:48) was in the lead.

Austria: Best performances in the marathon
2:10:06 Peter Herzog London 04.10.2020
2:10:44 Lemawork Ketema Vienna 07.04.2019
2:10:47 Günther Weidlinger Frankfurt 25.10.2009
2:10:57 Peter Herzog Berlin 09/20/2019
2:12:08 Peter Herzog Berlin 29.09.2024
2:12:16 Peter Herzog Berlin 09/25/2022
2:12:22 Gerhard Hartmann Vienna 13.04.1986
2:12:23 Günther Weidlinger Frankfurt 30.10.2011
2:12:39 Günther Weidlinger Vienna 19.04.2009
2:12:43 Michael Buchleitner Hamburg 25.04.1999