BMW BERLIN-MARATHON 2023: The Finisher Magazine

second athletics career, after
her first attempt as a promising
young talent ended at the
age of 17: With good times in
the middle distances, she initially
said goodbye to track
and field. After graduating
from high school, she studied
at the Bavarian Police University
of Applied Sciences,
resumed running and met her
husband and coach Christian.
However, her second career
only really got rolling after
the birth of her two children.
In March 2021, she first improved
her 10K time in Berlin to
32:34 minutes and then in the
half marathon two weeks later
in Dresden to her still current
best time of 69:52 minutes.
The two girls, now aged four
and five, were not present in
Berlin. They were looked after
by grandma and grandpa
at home in the Amberg-Sulzbach
district, east of Nuremberg.
After her race, Domenika
Mayer was looking forward
to seeing them again—and to
the fall break, when she plans
to recover from the marathon
and spend quality time with
her family.
Two Berlin legends met at the
marathon finish: Uta Pippig is one
of two German women to have
run 42.195 kilometres faster than
Domenika Mayer. However, the
2:21:45 hours with which she won
the Boston Marathon in 1994 do
not count for the official record
lists because the point-to-point
course did not qualify.