Gilbert Kirwa 2nd and Erick Rotich 4th in the 25k Berlin (9 may 2010)

A big leading group of more than 20 African runners surged through the 5Km point in 14:29. While the first five kilometres after the start at the Olympic Stadium are slightly downhill pacemakers made sure that the pace was kept fast on the flat portions in the city centre. The 10Km point was reached in 29:01, followed by a very fast 5Km section of 14:04, for a 15Km split of 43:05. It was here that the group fell apart, leaving a duel to the finish between Kenyans Samuel Kosgei and Gilbert Kirwa, the winner of the Frankfurt Marathon in 2009. At first the defending champion Matthew Koech of Kenya ran together with the pair, but he soon dropped back.
 
The pace remained brisk even thought the portion of the course between kilometers 18 and 21 is slightly uphill. Kosgei and Kirwa reached the 20Km in 57:22 before the pair reached the Half Marathon point in a remarkable 1:00:40.

Over the final two kilometres Kosgei opened a decisive gap, finally improving the World record set by Kenyan Paul Kosgei in this race in 2004 (1:12:45) by almost a full minute. Kirwa took second and he also achieved a sub 1:12 time with 1:11:58.

Erick Rotich, a young kenyan who was running his debut race outside his home country, finished in a strong time and left many strong named runners behind him.