Berlin Marathon - 2018

and still ricky villa

elk1984 wrote: »

Finish time: 2:01:39 Real marathon PB

Pfff, it's not on Strava. Didn't happen

adrian522

OOnegative wrote: »

Any other times from Boardsies? Wasn’t able to track this morning.

Jebuz 2.33.01

Phoebas

Did it in 3:39:35 today. A couple of minutes off my PB but happy enough with that. I found the last few miles hellish, but I guess that's just something to work on.

Weather was pretty good. I HATE running in warm weather but although the sun was out, there were plenty of sections in the shade along tree lined streets so there was relief from it.

The plastic cups at the water stations were a bit of a PITA and I found it pretty congested, especially in the first 5 miles.

Apart from that it's a great marathon experience. It's pretty flat so no having to worry about Heartbreak Hill and what she might do to you, and the support was pretty good. Lots of drum bangers and bands along the route and the usual 'press here for power' posters (NONE of them provided me with any extra power whatsoever). There was one poster that said 'one hour to go', but it wasn't clear if that was meant for me or for Eliud (in fairness he was probably on his second post recovery beer by the time I passed it).

It was my first overseas marathon and I'd highly recommend it. It has a big overseas croud - according to the announcer at the end of it over 700 runners from Ireland ( the biggest overseas contingent were from the UK, followed by China).
And Berlin is a great city anyway, and it's probably the only one of the majors that non elite runners (i.e faster than me :-) have a good chance of getting to.

Hope everyone else from this parish had a good experience.

Annie get your Run

OOnegative wrote: »

Any other times from Boardsies? Wasn’t able to track this morning.

Fletch 2:56:24 :cool:

Jmcmen

Guten morgan......or however you write it.

Had a decent race all things considered. Was flying along and felt great and on my target of 2.45 up to 17mile. Then got a cramp in hammer out of the blue and had to stop and stretch it. Couldn’t get back into to- gear after so just had to manage it home. Last 9mile was a gruel and a mind fu(k but managed to grind out a wee pb which I was delighted with.

Savage course, savage weather, savage to be there when the record was obliterated.
Some serious Irish runners there too. Very impressive
Well done to one and all

innuendo141

What a city! Was terrified I waaay overdid the sight seeing on the Friday, but absolutely buzzing to get 2.56.50, knocked off around 1 minte 30 of my PB.

Last 2 miles I really felt it. The heat and fatigue just upped a notch and I'd say I lost 30 odd seconds between both miles, which I wasn't too fussed over in the end. Absolutely incredible race though. I though the first 22 miles flew, constantly taking in the surroundings and buildings. Then mile 23 came and it was business time.

Cups were annoying, but I actually didn't find it too much of a hindrance after the halfway point. The addition of the sponge with the expo bag really came in handy once or twice I must say!


Running through the Brandenburg Gate will stay with me forever as an absolutely surreal experience. Imagine less than 30 years ago the wall completely blocked the side we ran from!?

Already looking at going back so I can have a proper weekend of it there. I saw so much over the few days, but so much more to see. Easily my favourite city I've been to and my favourite race.

Well done everyone. That's certainly a race to do again.

It's nice to say we ran the historic race with Eliud also!

TFBubendorfer

I'm glad everyone else had a great race.

There's always one with a nightmare, and yesterday it was me. I knew after 10 km that I was in trouble and it just got worse and worse after that, resulting in my slowest marathon since 2013 and definitely one of the more painful ones.

Berlin is a great city, though. I'd recommend a visit to anyone.

NeedsTraining

Itziger wrote: »

Needs Training with a sweet 2.59.52. Nearly let it slip away!! I'd say the last 197.5 metres were fun.
JMCMEN, or however he writes it, with a small fade. 2.47.51

Well done lads. Enjoy a nice cold German beer or two.

‘Fun’ is one way of describing it 😱
Didn’t realise the finish was so far beyond the gates. I was damned if I was leaving it out there without an effort.
No idea where the energy came from but ran that last 300m at 3.34min/km pace.

Delighted to break the 3 hours

spc78

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

I'm glad everyone else had a great race.

There's always one with a nightmare, and yesterday it was me. I knew after 10 km that I was in trouble and it just got worse and worse after that, resulting in my slowest marathon since 2013 and definitely one of the more painful ones.

Berlin is a great city, though. I'd recommend a visit to anyone.

Snap TFB – I was battling a sore throat for the days beforehand and tried to make myself believe it wasn’t going to affect me and that it was just taper madness but I knew a mile in my heart rate was genuinely significantly up. After 5k I knew I was not going to make it home in any sort of time. I struggled on to keep at my conservative race pace until 15k but after that I really struggled - when you know your race is done 27km to go is a long long way to go. >30min off my target but easy to get over afterwards given the atmosphere was so good for the marathon, would love to do it again in the future.

mdlb

spc78 wrote: »

Snap TFB – I was battling a sore throat for the days beforehand and tried to make myself believe it wasn’t going to affect me and that it was just taper madness but I knew a mile in my heart rate was genuinely significantly up. After 5k I knew I was not going to make it home in any sort of time. I struggled on to keep at my conservative race pace until 15k but after that I really struggled - when you know your race is done 27km to go is a long long way to go. >30min off my target but easy to get over afterwards given the atmosphere was so good for the marathon, would love to do it again in the future.

Tough day at the office for me too, but to be fair given my lack of quality long runs due to injury I knew it would be..
started with a target of 3:45 and managed to keep it together till approx 32k, started to fade after that and reset goal to 3:50 and then to “ just finish this damn thing”!!
Came in at 3:51:43, definitely have some unfinished business over there...

Glencarraig

Having picked up a nasty bug in the last week or so, myself and training buddy who was put on a course of antib's last Monday decided that we were not in the shape to go chasing times so settled on a sub 3.30. All was well and hit the half way mark about 1 minute up on schedule. The drink station at 16 miles was the same scrum as all the other ones and we lost contact and it was around then I got that awful rumble in the gut and I knew that I needed to make the pit stop. Lost about 2 minutes there and it took me around 2 miles to get back to sub 8 min/mile pace. There was no point in trying to catch the 3.30 pacers who in my opinion were about 3 minutes too fast. At 22 miles another 3.30 pacer who must have been playing sweeper appeared and I got into his pocket for the last few miles, you can imagine the shock when the mile 25-26 came up on the garmin as 8.26. I gave it as much socks as I could through the gate and beyond, hanging onto the pacer and stopped the watch at 3.30.01 but of course the garmin paused while I was in the portaloo so the official finishing time was 1.31.48. Given the condition I was in and a blocked nasal problem which really hampered the breathing I have to be happy. I really loved the route, the support but the water stations were just a scrum, plastic cups just dont work.

seanin4711

all good until 35km then wheels came off.
on course for PB 5:30 kms then cramped up all over feet toes calfs quads.had to wait for it to pass 3-4kms walking then limped to finish 4:21.
not a good day at the office, mentally head was where it needed to be but body let me down.
6+ weeks of injury over the last 4 months forced compression of plan and i reckon not enough rest in between sessions.
probably too much giddy walking around Berlin for the few days before hand didn't help.Really enjoyed the breakfast run Saturday.

draw a line and move on.

Manchester 2019 is the next one to target.

MonkstownHoop

Goal all year was to go sub 3 here but I tore my calf 3 months ago so it became a scramble to get fit for a decent time, would have been happy with any sort of pb previous being 3.26 so was delighted to come in 3.12, had to grind out the last 12k and walk the water stations and mile 25 was by far my slowest but managed a strong finish, great race and I'll definitely be back, well done everyone who ran!

Edit

Meant to add I can't stop watching the video of Kipchoge finishing, what a champion!

Ardennes1944

If anyone pays the 20quid for the personalizes video thing can they let us know if it’s worth it please

Polster

2:45:03, very happy with that. 1:22:29 1st half, 1:22:34 second half.  Couple of minutes quicker than expecting, just ran to feel.  Thought I'd sneak under 2:45 but took eye off the ball at mile 25 and lost over 20 seconds there, then crunched numbers at the 2km to go stage.  Realised I needed 3:40 km's, sprinted last half mile at 5:30 miling pace, still delighted with time.  
One negative for me was the start.  I slipped in back of 'A' area, but once that gun went I found the first mile a nightmare.  So many people obviously running too hard and just generally found it very tough to find any space to get into stride.  Other than that it is a very nice course, long straits which makes pacing easy, great support and plenty of water stations.  Great steins and bratwurst :-)

Nuttzz

Bad day at the office for me, coming in a 4.34, extermely disappointed with this, I had targeted 3.45 during the summer and training was going very well until my calf went in July, had hoped for a 4.15 but the second half the marathon was a disaster, I had being doing 5k in 30 minute blocks and hit 20k in 2 hours, but I had to go to the loo and lose momentum and ended up with 3 toilet breaks. I have new york in november, not sure if I should rip the plaster off and try again for a sub 4 time or defer until next year.

Met a very sympathetic Irish guy in the ubahn who did it in 2.42, if you are here I just want to say thanks for the kind words.

seanin4711

Nuttzz wrote: »

Bad day at the office for me, coming in a 4.34, extermely disappointed with this, I had targeted 3.45 during the summer and training was going very well until my calf went in July, had hoped for a 4.15 but the second half the marathon was a disaster, I had being doing 5k in 30 minute blocks and hit 20k in 2 hours, but I had to go to the loo and lose momentum and ended up with 3 toilet breaks. I have new york in november, not sure if I should rip the plaster off and try again for a sub 4 time or defer until next year.

Met a very sympathetic Irish guy in the ubahn who did it in 2.42, if you are here I just want to say thanks for the kind words.

i can completely empathize with this!

Dub13

Another one with a bad day at the office story. I was going for sub 3:30 and had a good block of tanning in but I just cant operate in the heat, I tried to convince myself that with the weather a little cooler than it had been earlier in the week that it would not be to bad. I came through half in 1:46 so about a min off pace, I had a choice to make to go for it and try to pull that min back in the next 5k or so or to let it go.

So glad I let it go, it just got hotter and hotter. It was actually a relief when I decided it was gone and I could enjoy it a bit more if that's possible. I suffered a bit with crap in the last 8km or so and that was a first, I thought it was gone and when I came through the gate at the end I tired to kick on and the cramp came back bad and I had to stop within about 300m of the finish. Only stopped for a few seconds but felt like forever, I did not want to be one of them people who wobble over the line so thankfully I got over the line with no more incidents.

Came home in 3:44 so plus 14 min or so, I am happy with that as the last time I did a marathon in heat like that (Brighton 2017) I was 37 min off time target.

davedanon

Username | Race No. | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
davedanon| 28470 | 3:14:18 | 3:09:59 | 3:40:51 |
spc78| 15531 | 2:52:xx | 2:43:xx | |
NeedsTraining | 15548 | 3:06:12 | 2:59:59 | |
Polster | | 2:43:50 | 2:47:30 | |
TFBubendorfer | 52224 | 2:55:07 | 3:30:00 | |
Jmcmen | 28324 | 2:49:09 | 2:44:XX | |
MacSwifty | 39834 | 3:20:19 | 3:29:59 | |
cityrep | 28429 | 3:28:34 | 3:19:59 | |
HibernianRunner | 61049 | 3:28:22 | 3:27:00 | |
mdlb | 30317 | 3:26:56 | 3:44:59 | |
seanin4711 | 61172 | 4:08:00 | 3:59:00 | |
Ardennes | 18040 | 3.23:00 | 3:10:00 | |
Glencarraig | 24541 | 3:24:20 | 3:29:59 | |
purelike | 30869 | 2:58:54 | 2:56:xx | |

davedanon

Ok, step right up folks and lay down the unvarnished facts. PB or just poo?

The latter for me. High hopes, and the first 2 5ks were grand. Ok up to halfway as well, as I was making allowances for the conditions, but after that things got seriously horrendous. Have been struggling with tight hamstrings and glutes, and despite the best efforts of the finest muscle therapists known to humanity, they restricted me so badly that I was running 10 and a half minute miles in the latter stages. It was almost funny how slow I was running compared to the first 10k. I found the whole thing so challenging that I got extremely emotional at the finish line, and I took genuine pride in having finished, possibly for the first time ever.

But anyway, all that's by the by. What a wild town*. Holy mother pearl.

* And Beerlin (my typo) is much like Lambay, in terms of things happening there, staying there.

MacSwifty

MacSwifty 03:29:21 if someone can add please. Came in on target no issues other than the dark shyte that was being served as an isotonic drink - I still have heartburn from half a cup:O

NeedsTraining

Username | Race No. | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
davedanon| 28470 | 3:14:18 | 3:09:59 | 3:40:51 |
spc78| 15531 | 2:52:xx | 2:43:xx | |
NeedsTraining | 15548 | 3:06:12 | 2:59:59 | 2:59:52 |
Polster | | 2:43:50 | 2:47:30 | |
TFBubendorfer | 52224 | 2:55:07 | 3:30:00 | |
Jmcmen | 28324 | 2:49:09 | 2:44:XX | |
MacSwifty | 39834 | 3:20:19 | 3:29:59 |3:29:21 |
cityrep | 28429 | 3:28:34 | 3:19:59 | |
HibernianRunner | 61049 | 3:28:22 | 3:27:00 | |
mdlb | 30317 | 3:26:56 | 3:44:59 | |
seanin4711 | 61172 | 4:08:00 | 3:59:00 | |
Ardennes | 18040 | 3.23:00 | 3:10:00 | |
Glencarraig | 24541 | 3:24:20 | 3:29:59 | |
purelike | 30869 | 2:58:54 | 2:56:xx | |

TFBubendorfer

Username | Race No. | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
davedanon| 28470 | 3:14:18 | 3:09:59 | 3:40:51 |
spc78| 15531 | 2:52:xx | 2:43:xx | |
NeedsTraining | 15548 | 3:06:12 | 2:59:59 | 2:59:52 |
Polster | | 2:43:50 | 2:47:30 | |
TFBubendorfer | 52224 | 2:55:07 | 3:30:00 | 3:49:59|
Jmcmen | 28324 | 2:49:09 | 2:44:XX | |
MacSwifty | 39834 | 3:20:19 | 3:29:59 |3:29:21 |
cityrep | 28429 | 3:28:34 | 3:19:59 | |
HibernianRunner | 61049 | 3:28:22 | 3:27:00 | |
mdlb | 30317 | 3:26:56 | 3:44:59 | |
seanin4711 | 61172 | 4:08:00 | 3:59:00 | |
Ardennes | 18040 | 3.23:00 | 3:10:00 | |
Glencarraig | 24541 | 3:24:20 | 3:29:59 | |
purelike | 30869 | 2:58:54 | 2:56:xx | |

A complete horror show from me, as painful as feared but a lot slower than expected. I never hit the wall, I just got slower and slower and slower as the legs got worse and worse and worse.

At the finish I swore I'm done with running. Not exactly for the first time, admittedly, but for the first time ever I'm still put off three days later.

cityrep

Username | Race No. | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time
davedanon| 28470 | 3:14:18 | 3:09:59 | 3:40:51 |
spc78| 15531 | 2:52:xx | 2:43:xx | |
NeedsTraining | 15548 | 3:06:12 | 2:59:59 | 2:59:52 |
Polster | | 2:43:50 | 2:47:30 | |
TFBubendorfer | 52224 | 2:55:07 | 3:30:00 | 3:49:59|
Jmcmen | 28324 | 2:49:09 | 2:44:XX | |
MacSwifty | 39834 | 3:20:19 | 3:29:59 |3:29:21 |
cityrep | 28429 | 3:28:34 | 3:19:59 | 3:27:32 |
HibernianRunner | 61049 | 3:28:22 | 3:27:00 | |
mdlb | 30317 | 3:26:56 | 3:44:59 | |
seanin4711 | 61172 | 4:08:00 | 3:59:00 | |
Ardennes | 18040 | 3.23:00 | 3:10:00 | |
Glencarraig | 24541 | 3:24:20 | 3:29:59 | |
purelike | 30869 | 2:58:54 | 2:56:xx | |

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

A complete horror show from me, as painful as feared but a lot slower than expected. I never hit the wall, I just got slower and slower and slower as the legs got worse and worse and worse.

At the finish I swore I'm done with running. Not exactly for the first time, admittedly, but for the first time ever I'm still put off three days later.

I think everyone on this forum feels for you TFB, davedannon, Dub13, Nuttzz, and anyone else out there who had a horror show but remember to take HUGE amounts of pride in the fact you finished the race and conquered Berlin.

I've only done 4 marathons but I know they are a fickle beast - as likely to bite you as they are reward you. I had 2 bad days (Rotterdam 2018 and Dublin 2016) and 2 good days (Dublin 2017 and Berlin). I know how long it took me to lace back up my runners and get out again after the bad days.

Whatever you decide thanks for sharing your memories and your days here. You should be immensely proud of yourselves for getting to the start line - never mind the finish line.

fletch

Username | Race No. | PB | Predicted Time | Actual Time | Behind/Ahead Target
davedanon| 28470 | 3:14:18 | 3:09:59 | 3:40:51 | ▼ |
spc78| 15531 | 2:52:xx | 2:43:xx | 3:13:24 | ▼ |
NeedsTraining | 15548 | 3:06:12 | 2:59:59 | 2:59:52 | ▲ |
Polster | | 2:43:50 | 2:47:30 | | |
TFBubendorfer | 52224 | 2:55:07 | 3:30:00 | 3:49:59| ▼ |
Jmcmen | 28324 | 2:49:09 | 2:44:XX | 2:47:51 | ▼ |
MacSwifty | 39834 | 3:20:19 | 3:29:59 |3:29:21 | ▲ |
cityrep | 28429 | 3:28:34 | 3:19:59 | 3:27:32 | ▼ |
HibernianRunner | 61049 | 3:28:22 | 3:27:00 | 3:27:31 | ▼ |
mdlb | 30317 | 3:26:56 | 3:44:59 | 3:51:43 | ▼ |
seanin4711 | 61172 | 4:08:00 | 3:59:00 | 4:21:57 | ▼ |
Ardennes | 18040 | 3.23:00 | 3:10:00 | 3:10:37 | ▼ |
Glencarraig | 24541 | 3:24:20 | 3:29:59 | 3:31:48 | ▼ |
purelike | 30869 | 2:58:54 | 2:56:xx | 3:17:49 | ▼ |
fletch| 18174 | 3:07:31 | 2:59:59 | 2:56:24 | ▲ |

Had targeted 2:59:59 in training but felt strong on the day so pushed on a bit & thrilled to come in well under sub3. Training didn't really go to plan due to taking too many holidays but perhaps that was a good thing as I didn't find the heat on the day to be tough at all. I was also dabbling in triathlon a bit too during the Summer, so my max mileage peaked at about 50 miles (running) and I only ever really got around to 5 runs a week. Felt comfortable the whole way around and no cramps. A few of my club members had been telling me it was pancake flat but I kind of didn't believe them so held back a bit in case they were lying...they weren't. Love another go at it now.

I've added in other runners times to the table from the results.

Edit - I also added a final column to show a visual representation of who met or didn't meet their target. It's surprising how many didn't.

sideswipe

Nuttzz wrote: »

I have new york in november, not sure if I should rip the plaster off and try again for a sub 4 time or defer until next year.

Having been in that exact position I would resist the urge to go for it in NY. Not because it's too soon or anything, it could work well for timing. I went chasing times in NY and regret it slightly as the race kind of past me by. I was concentrating on times and didn't enjoy running through the streets of NY which is something to savour and enjoy IMO.

AuldManKing

fletch wrote: »

Had targeted 2:59:59 in training but felt strong on the day so pushed on a bit & thrilled to come in well under sub3. Training didn't really go to plan due to taking too many holidays but perhaps that was a good thing as I didn't find the heat on the day to be tough at all. I was also dabbling in triathlon a bit too during the Summer, so my max mileage peaked at about 50 miles (running) and I only ever really got around to 5 runs a week. Felt comfortable the whole way around and no cramps. A few of my club members had been telling me it was pancake flat but I kind of didn't believe them so held back a bit in case they were lying...they weren't. Love another go at it now.

I've added in other runners times to the table from the results.

Edit - I also added a final column to show a visual representation of who met or didn't meet their target. It's surprising how many didn't.

In fairness Fletch- if you had of set a target based on your 10k time or your HM times, then you'd be targeting a 2.4x Marathon.

Train properly next time and dont mind those 4-5 holidays every 6 months :pac:

btw - I think that was the last PB that I had over you....... its gone now.

fletch

AuldManKing wrote: »

In fairness Fletch- if you had of set a target based on your 10k time or your HM times, then you'd be targeting a 2.4x Marathon.

Train properly next time and dont mind those 4-5 holidays every 6 months :pac:

btw - I think that was the last PB that I had over you....... its gone now.

Ha yeh my Garmin does seem to think I'm capable of a lot more. The marathon is a strange race though. Memories of walking by the RDS with calfs and quads cramping still haunt me and hold me back from giving my all.

That's funny...you actually entered my head during the race and no not because I saw a tall dark attractive German :eek: ..but I wondered had I done enough to beat your San Seb PB...I knew it was late 2:50s but wasn't sure of the exact time...I confess that I did check soon after the race

NeedsTraining

fletch wrote: »

Ha yeh my Garmin does seem to think I'm capable of a lot more. .....

It's not only the Garmin thinking that. Only man I saw on Sunday that looked like he could do it all again straight away

Polster

Sorry, getting errors when trying to update the table, if someone could do the honours please.

Number - 13914
Finish time - 2:45:03