I am currently preparing myself for this years
New York Marathon and getting bored with just training, I decided to
give it
a go already in September in Berlin.
The Marathon is extremely flat and has produced
several world records in the last few years (no that I was trying to break
one....).
Registration was straight forward on-line and a
cheap ticket was book during the same session with Virgin Express, which
necessitated a 3 1/2 h journey to Stansted (this was before the fuel
crisis....).
In Berlin travelling was pretty easy with the
extensive tube-network.
Saturday morning before the race some 10 000
runners showed up for a 6k breakfast run which ended with coffee and
croissants at the old Olympic stadium. After that everybody (who hadn't been
in Berlin earlier) headed for the start number and microchip
hand-out at a local exhibition centre, which
also hosted a huge sport equipment and medicine exhibition.
Beside giving a closer in sight in how to
cover 26 miles in just over an hour with in-line skaters (why are we still
running?....) (Berlin is hosting both events) was this also the venue for
the traditional pasta party.
The actual race started at 8.55 am the next
morning on the very wide "Strasse des 17.Juni" heading towards the
Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate.
The start itself was well organised and it took
me just 50 seconds to get over the start line , which wasn't a problem anyway
because of the electronic timekeeping and the microchip.
The first third of the race went through the
former East-Berlin passing several former communist institutions and
buildings still displaying some Russian advertisement.
The organisation and atmosphere throughout the
event of superb - everywhere were music bands playing, food and water supply
was arranged every 3-5 kms and more than a
million people very lining the streets to help you on the way.
I myself started struggling after km 30 with the first
sign of cramps in the thighs and calves, but managed to keep on running.
In fact I was surprised to find out later, that
my second 21k had been 4 minutes faster than my first one !
I was pretty happy to clock at the end 3:18:53 and
with that beating the German foreign secretary by 35 minutes.
The only irritation was this guy in a (long!)
lady's dress who I just managed to pass on the last few hundred metres - how
fast would he have been without it ?!....
After passing the finishing line came some
surprises - not only were there circa a hundred massage beds staffed by
forthcoming physiotherapists, there was even the opportunity to get a lager or
two courtesy to a German brewery which was sponsoring the event !....(I
declined as I had to catch a flight back to London - what a shame....)
All together a really well organised and
enjoyable event, highly recommendable for everybody who wants to run a
"big" marathon and enjoys travelling.
