BMW Berlin Marathon M70-74: Butler Runs Away with It at 7:31 Pace

• David Butler won the M70-74 group in 3:16:55 — a 7:31/mi average that put nearly 16 minutes of daylight between him and runner-up David Gibson (3:32:46).
• Gibson ran a controlled early race but faded through the back half, slipping from 4th to 6th among men between 20K and the finish.
• Positions 3–5 were a genuine battle: Giovanni Battista Aimetta (3:48:26), Jeremiah Kerrisk (3:48:49), and Charles Kaminski (3:44:29) were separated by just 4:20 across three spots — with Kaminski finishing 6th despite clocking the fastest time of that trio.
• 204 men finished in M70-74, making this one of the deeper age groups on the course.

David Butler didn't just win the M70-74 group — he dismantled it. Running 7:31 per mile for 26.2 miles in 71°F heat and 85% humidity, the 70-year-old was a different class entirely. His move through the men's field tells the story: he advanced from roughly 6,688th among men at 5K all the way to 3,535th by 40K, steadily picking off runners over the second half of the race while others were fading around him.

Gibson, the only other man to break 3:35, looked well-placed through the first half — he was holding steady in the 4,400s among men through 20K. But the back half told a different story. By 40K he had drifted to 5,663rd among men, a slide of more than 1,200 places over the final 20 kilometres. He still secured a clear second in the age group, but the gap to Butler — 15 minutes and 51 seconds — was never really in doubt.

The real drama unfolded in the battle for third through sixth. Kaminski clocked 3:44:29, the fastest time of that cluster, yet finished 6th — a reminder that in a race this large, gun-time positioning and pacing lines can scramble the final order. Aimetta (3:48:26) and Kerrisk (3:48:49) were virtually inseparable at the line, with Schaap (3:51:06) and Cui (3:50:11) rounding out the top five. Cui's 3:50:11 edged Schaap's 3:51:06 by 55 seconds, enough to claim 5th despite Schaap's stronger late-race men's field position at 40K.