M35-39 at Berlin: Adola Wins the Age Group in a World-Class 2:07:11

• Guye Adola took the M35-39 title in 2:07:11 (4:51/mi), one of the fastest marathon times recorded by any 35-39-year-old at a major.
• Hassan Chahdi ran a strong second in 2:07:43 — just 32 seconds back — and posted the fastest 40K-to-finish split among the men in the M35-39 group's top finishers, a blistering close that nearly erased the gap.
• Erik Hille was a distant but solid third in 2:16:40, more than nine minutes clear of fourth, making the podium battle the only real contest at the top.
• The top 20 in a field of 5,116 M35-39 finishers ranged from 2:07:11 down to 2:28:34 — a span of more than 21 minutes, showing just how elite the front end truly was.

Guye Adola owned this race from the front. Running at 4:51 per mile across 26.2 miles, he held a measured position in the men's field throughout — sitting fourth among the men at every major checkpoint before briefly moving to third at 30K, then settling back to fourth at the finish line. In the M35-39 group, though, he was untouchable. His 2:07:11 is the kind of time that doesn't just win an age group — it commands the entire race leaderboard.

Hassan Chahdi's story was one of relentless forward momentum. He entered the second half well back in the men's field, sitting 19th among the men at the halfway mark, but he kept climbing — 10th by 30K, 6th by 40K, and 6th at the finish. That late charge was punctuated by the fastest 40K-to-finish split among the top M35-39 men, a closing kick that trimmed Adola's lead to 32 seconds. It wasn't quite enough, but it was a performance built on patience and precision.

Behind the top two, Erik Hille ran a clean and composed 2:16:40 to lock up third, and Joseph Whelan followed in 2:18:21 for fourth — both men well clear of Emiel Berghout, who mirrored Chahdi's late-race surge with the second-fastest 40K-to-finish split in the group to claim fifth in 2:19:53. In a field of more than five thousand, the front of the M35-39 race was a genuinely elite contest.