Berlin Marathon - 2019

ISOP

Kicked off a 16 week training block on Monday which I aim to follow as closely as possible.

ReeReeG

Applegirl26 wrote: »

I have deferred my place in Berlin until 2020.
Just wanted to wish you all the very best of luck with your training and in September.
I'll be rooting for you all.

Sorry to see this L, hope all is ok

Dealerz2.0

Applegirl26 wrote: »

I have deferred my place in Berlin until 2020.
Just wanted to wish you all the very best of luck with your training and in September.
I'll be rooting for you all.

Sorry to hear this L

healy1835

Anyone know of any instance of a 3rd party picking up the race number in Berlin? Asking for a friend (seriously! haven't drastically changed my Autumn plans or anything ). I know the website is pretty clear that you have to collect in person with your ID and Start Card, and my own memories of the expo was that it was pretty business like.

opus

A friend collected mine for me before but that was ~5 years ago so might have changed now.

eve

At the expo last September everyone got a wristband that was heat sealed to your wrist as you entered the expo building. You had to show your acceptance letter and ID to get it (mine had different surnames but they still gave me one without questioning it). We we told at the time that you needed to have that on your wrist on the Sunday morning in order to get into the secure area. As i had one, i didnt have an issue but i dont know what they did with any person who turned up with a race number but with no wristband

galwayspur

As the weekly LSRs start to steadily increase in distance over the next few weeks, I’m looking ahead to fuelling during the race and working it into training. Has anybody here used the ‘ultraSPORTS’ gels or drinks before? Or seen them on sale here anywhere? I wouldn’t mind trying them out in advance seeing as that’s the brand used on the course. I’m travelling light and have a stopover each way so wanted to bring as little as possible with me. Thanks.

Pink11

Applegirl26 wrote: »

I have deferred my place in Berlin until 2020.
Just wanted to wish you all the very best of luck with your training and in September.
I'll be rooting for you all.

I'm so sorry to hear that, hope you're ok.

I'm thinking of deferring too, I have a niggling knee issue and physio thinks continuing marathon training may end in a big blowout. Have just emailed them asking for the deferral form

I've free cancellation on my hotel, but have flights paid for. (edit: I got a great 4 star hotel very near start/finish line if anyone would like it? Can swap the names).

They got back to me, will get a refund on all the merch (thankfully!). Don't get a refund on the marathon place (no shock there) but get 40euro off registering next year. That's pretty cool if you ask me! Grateful for that.

Applegirl26

Pink11 wrote: »

I'm so sorry to hear that, hope you're ok.

I'm thinking of deferring too, I have a niggling knee issue and physio thinks continuing marathon training may end in a big blowout. Have just emailed them asking for the deferral form

I've free cancellation on my hotel, but have flights paid for. (edit: I got a great 4 star hotel very near start/finish line if anyone would like it? Can swap the names).

They got back to me, will get a refund on all the merch (thankfully!). Don't get a refund on the marathon place (no shock there) but get 40euro off registering next year. That's pretty cool if you ask me! Grateful for that.

Hi pink, it's a difficult decision to make for sure.

Hope your knee is on the mend.

Younganne

Applegirl26 wrote: »

Hi pink, it's a difficult decision to make for sure.

Hope your knee is on the mend.

Applegirl sorry to hear you've had to defer, hope leg is on the mend again now.

Pink hope your knee improves with some rest and you make the best decision for you. I had to defer marathons & Donadea 50k in the last 2 years and hindsight it was the best decision for me. I'm now on the road to recovery and doing good a atm.

Taz18

Hi everyone, my husband is doing Berlin this year and we have flights and hotel booked. Only just realised today that the expo closes at 7pm on sat and our flight is due to get in at 6.30pm so no chance we will make it 😫😫 any ideas? Any chance you think we' could contact the organisers and find a solution. Beginning to panic now and the earliest flight is now up at over 300 euro each which we just can't afford. The two days is costing a fortune as is 😭😭

The Davestator

Taz18 wrote: »

Hi everyone, my husband is doing Berlin this year and we have flights and hotel booked. Only just realised today that the expo closes at 7pm on sat and our flight is due to get in at 6.30pm so no chance we will make it ���� any ideas? Any chance you think we' could contact the organisers and find a solution. Beginning to panic now and the earliest flight is now up at over 300 euro each which we just can't afford. The two days is costing a fortune as is ����

He could fly Dublin to Manchester & Manchester to Berlin for €98. Long day but lands in Berlin at 3.30 pm. (Check out sky scanner for the details)

ligerdub

I see a flight to Berlin departing at 6.45am on Saturday the 28th of September for €117 (or 101 through an agent). It's a direct flight with Aer Lingus.

Davestator's suggestion looks decent too. Alternatively you can fly to Frankfurt that morning for €25 and get a train to Berlin likely arriving around 5pm. Long day though.

Younganne

So with ongoing problems with my feet and a light bulb moment the other morning I've decided to defer Berlin until 2020.

Its the most sensible thing to do as even though i wasn't bothered about time I am a bit bothered about been able to get the whole way round considering the state my feet are after 16m run. And i want to enjoy the Berlin experience.

This way it gives me 4 extra weeks to get sorted and fully fit for Dublin. I won't be racing Dublin as still a long way off with my fitness but hoping for a good experience for marathon #10

Best of luck to everyone with the last 5 weeks.

loveisdivine

When we entered the draw we just put a bag down for myself and the poncho for my husband as we don't need 2 bags. But just thinking my husband is gonna be finished a good hour or more before me, will he be able to pick up the bag on my behalf?

Glencarraig

loveisdivine wrote: »

When we entered the draw we just put a bag down for myself and the poncho for my husband as we don't need 2 bags. But just thinking my husband is gonna be finished a good hour or more before me, will he be able to pick up the bag on my behalf?

They wont give out a bag without a number

loveisdivine

Glencarraig wrote: »

They wont give out a bag without a number

Thanks, I'll have to get on to them and see if we can add a bag to his entry.

I'm fairly certain we only chose a bag for one of us but it's a shame you can't easily check it somewhere. I went back to the email I got confirming our team entry into the lottery and it has total cost of €262 (so 2 entries) but under registration details it only seems to give the details for one person. He didn't get that email either, it was only me as I made the entry. Any subsequent email either of us have received has made no mention of what we selected when we entered the lottery.

loveisdivine

OK so there's no way to change the bag and he can't collect on my behalf. Would anyone have any other ideas for bag storage that he could get to after the race?

galwayspur

You could give the luggage lockers at Berlin Hauptbahnhof a go. They have smallish ones which are located outside in one of the car park areas and I think they cost about a fiver. Probably looking at 10-15 mins of a walk from the finish area though and I reckon a good few competitors will be using them on the day.

loveisdivine

galwayspur wrote: »

You could give the luggage lockers at Berlin Hauptbahnhof a go. They have smallish ones which are located outside in one of the car park areas and I think they cost about a fiver. Probably looking at 10-15 mins of a walk from the finish area though and I reckon a good few competitors will be using them on the day.

Yeah I was just looking at that sort of thing. The hotel we are staying has another location that's a 10 minute walk from the gate, I'm sure we could leave a bag there as we are staying at the sister hotel. But it's still a 10 minute walk.

opus

You'll probably recognise the closing stages of the marathon from this pic. Spotted it at an exhibition in UCC earlier. Not that long ago either!

tbukela

I got the Start Card email last week but I can't see where it says what wave I'm in.

Am I missing something or is this information providing closer to the race?

loveisdivine

tbukela wrote: »

I got the Start Card email last week but I can't see where it says what wave I'm in.

Am I missing something or is this information providing closer to the race?

Mine doesn't say it either. I think it depends on what predicted time you put down when entering. I know I'm in the last one cos it was 4:15 and over/first timers.

28064212

loveisdivine wrote: »

I think it depends on what predicted time you put down when entering

Yep, the splits for each block are in the handbook here: https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/your-preparation/participant-info/ (Page 36)

ISOP

Last of the longer runs today with 18 miles. Only a 12 miler next Sunday and that is nearly it. Have to say I am looking forward to an easy week or two after 14 weeks of it. Training has gone very well. Have hit every single session on the plan. Only hiccup so far was a fairly heavy cold this week which I managed to work through.

robinph

Looks like I might have had my arm twisted into the job of running as a guide for a blind runner in Berlin at the last minute. Just having a look at might flight options to get there on the Saturday and back on the Sunday. Saw a mention earlier up the thread about Schonefeld being relatively easy to get to compared with the other Berlin airport.

Not certain what wave they would have us starting in, or if it might even be setting of early for the VI runners although I can only see the hand bikes listed as early starters. How big a gap do they leave between the waves? How feasible would it be for me to make a 4:45pm flight from Schonefeld assuming a 3:30hr worst case run?

opus

I'd normally take the S9 from the Hbf, it's ~50 mins as far as I remember & then around a 15 min walk to the baggage check area. Assuming you'd want to be there around 15:30 at the latest then you'd need to be catching that S-bahn at 14:05 (I have the DB app on my phone so I checked the time table for it).

It's around a 20 min walk from the Brandenburger Tor to the train station I'd guess. They have showers at the finish area so you could get your bag, take a shower & hit the road if the times work out.

robinph

That almost leaves time for a post run drink, think I can cope with that.

Bez Bing

Bit of a problem here, hurt my calf on my last 'long run' on Sunday. Was supposed to run 16m but only managed 8m and had to stop.

Been to the physio and I hope he can get me to the start line but if I do I won't have run much (if at all) in the last 2 weeks.


My training up to now has been decent i.e. 3 20m+ runs, a 12m with 10 @MP last week, a 1/2 marathon race etc.



Anyone speculate on the impact no running in the last 2 weeks will have?

Unthought Known

Bez Bing wrote: »

Anyone speculate on the impact no running in the last 2 weeks will have?

It's taper time so it wont have much impact. I wouldn't stress about it at this stage, rest up and make sure you get to the start line.
Fyi, I had to do the same for Manchester this year, I think I managed 1 easy 3-4 miler in the last 2 weeks. Ended up being my strongest marathon and finished with a PB.