There were more Pakistani runners than ever before at this year’s Berlin Marathon, making their country a major player at one of the world’s most prestigious marathons.
Pakistani male runners Muhammad Sajjad and Amin Mukatay crossed the finish line ahead of the pack with times of 2 hours, 37 minutes, and 2 hours, 46 minutes, respectively.
Sara Lodhi’s incredible time of 3 hours, 17 minutes set the standard for the women’s division, with Hira Diwan not far behind at 3 hours, 30 minutes.
Dr. Rabia Naeem, the first Pakistani woman to complete all of the World Major Marathons, deserves special recognition. She therefore became the recipient of the prestigious six-star Abbott medal.
It was inspiring to see so many people from all walks of life in Pakistan show up to this important event, and not just the competitive runners. One of them was Rehman Azhar, an anchor for Express-News, who ran in his first World Major Marathon and set a new personal record for himself.
Both Karachi and Islamabad runners were represented in the Pakistani team, and many of them turned in impressive times, including Sadiq Shah, Faisal Shafi, Bilal Ehsan, Yawar Siddique, Ammar Mumtaz, Muhammad Junaid, Salman Khan, Prem Kumar, Adnan Gandhi, Ali Khurshid, Shoaib Nizami, Ayaz Abdullah, Imran Aleem, Irfan Aleem, Rehan Adam
Women’s athletes such as Sana Malik, Anum Jahangir, Uzma Abid, Kaukab Sarwar, Zahra Hoodbhoy, Nadia Rehman, Nada Anwar, Zahra Currimbhoy, Aisha Qamar, and Rohela Khan also performed admirably.
The increasing passion and commitment of Pakistani athletes is reflected in the large number of competitors from the country at the Berlin Marathon.