CNN —Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa obliterated the women’s marathon world record on Sunday as she won the Berlin Marathon, completing the course in 2:11:53 and shaving more than two minutes off the previous best. It was a blistering race from the very start with the leading 12 women all running within world record pace through the opening 15 kilometers. By the halfway point, Assefa was more than a minute inside world record pace and alone at the head of the race, streaking ahead of the field. Eliud Kipchoge won his fifth Berlin Marathon title. The speed of this year’s Berlin Marathon was underscored by a record nine men finishing inside 2:05 and a record eight women finishing inside 2:20.

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Persons: Assefa, Brigid Kosgei’s, Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui, Magdalena Shauri, Eliud Kipchoge, Tobias Schwartz, Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, Derseh Kindie Organizations: CNN, Berlin, Marathon, Athletics, Getty