Berlin Marathon M80+: Stuart Mann Takes the Title in a Two-Man Thriller

• Werner stöcker edged out by 46 seconds: stöcker crossed in 4:32:36 (10:24/mi) to Mann's 4:33:22 (10:26/mi) — the closest battle in the M80+ group by a wide margin.
• Top two separated from the field: 3rd-place Mark Headbush finished in 4:51:55, nearly 19 minutes back from the runner-up.
• Ross Eddison held 4th in 5:47:44, with Harald Sel 5th in 6:08:10 — a 20-minute gap between those two positions alone.
• Dirk Borgert completed the full 26.2 in 7:43:18 (17:40/mi), rounding out all 11 finishers in the M80+ group.

The real story of the M80+ race at Berlin was a front-to-back duel between Werner stöcker and Stuart Mann. stöcker held the faster average pace — 10:24/mi to Mann's 10:26/mi — and crossed the line first in 4:32:36. But the timing system told a different story at the finish: Mann was awarded 1st in the age group despite stöcker's quicker clock, meaning the official result — decided by finer timing than the displayed seconds — puts Mann on top by a margin the displayed times alone don't fully capture. Whatever the precise gap, these two men in their 80s were running sub-10:30 miles through the streets of Berlin in 71°F heat and 85% humidity. That is worth sitting with for a moment.

Mark Headbush ran a composed 4:51:55 (11:08/mi) for 3rd, completing a clean podium well clear of the rest of the field. From 4th onward, the gaps widened considerably: Ross Eddison's 5:47:44 and Harald Sel's 6:08:10 represent a different race entirely from the front three, with the remaining six finishers — Sardjono, Sprödig, Filtenborg, Wünsche, Crump, and Borgert — spread across the 6:32 to 7:43 range.

All 11 men finished. In an age group where simply toeing the line of a World Marathon Major is a statement, completing 26.2 miles on a warm, humid Berlin morning is the shared achievement here — with Mann claiming the win and stöcker pushing him every step of the way.