Berlin Marathon - 2019

healy1835

ISOP wrote: »

I was a bit disappointed with the lack of camaraderie to be honest. Plenty of pushing, shoving and elbowing going on. Its not like we were going to win it

I reckon it just comes down to the sheer numbers involved. I was watching this morning and even some of the elites and pacers had trouble at the stations.....did you imbibe at the Red Bull station?

ISOP

healy1835 wrote: »

ISOP wrote: »

I was a bit disappointed with the lack of camaraderie to be honest. Plenty of pushing, shoving and elbowing going on. Its not like we were going to win it

I reckon it just comes down to the sheer numbers involved. I was watching this morning and even some of the elites and pacers had trouble at the stations.....did you imbibe at the Red Bull station?

oh god no. It would have turned my stomach:)

robinph

healy1835 wrote: »

ISOP wrote: »

I was a bit disappointed with the lack of camaraderie to be honest. Plenty of pushing, shoving and elbowing going on. Its not like we were going to win it

I reckon it just comes down to the sheer numbers involved. I was watching this morning and even some of the elites and pacers had trouble at the stations.....did you imbibe at the Red Bull station?

There was no warning signs saying water in x meters, the stations just suddenly appeared and so people changed direction on the road as the last seconds. That was a very noticeable problem for us guiding as we really wanted to avoid all the water station mayhem and then whichever of us wasn't attached to the runner at the time went fetching and carrying supplies.

Even without the issued of guiding someone I know that I know that there is a good warning at London as I have always tried to avoid the early tables there. Just wasn't possible today and we had a few close calls with people cutting us up.

galwayspur

Berlin 2019 was my third marathon having ran Dublin twice in 2010 & 2013. I really love Berlin as a place to visit, so adding in a race to run there was a great experience and one I would easily recommend for anyone considering entering the ballot. I was travelling solo and tried to keep costs down where I could. I suppose the main area that this affected was the flights which I booked direct with Lufthansa and got a good price but it meant I had a short stop in Frankfurt on the way over and Cologne on the way back. No big deal. I based myself in Friedrichshain in a place I had stayed before on previous trips. I really like F’hain as a neighbourhood there are plenty of good places to eat and it’s really easy to get to and from the start/finish area after the race via the Hauptbahnhof.

I arrived on Saturday after an early start in Dublin and after a really smooth bus and underground transfer from Tegel Airport I got to the expo at 1pm local time, probably peak time for expo, but the crowd kept moving even though there were lengthy queues. The wristband process was straightforward and I knew the number collection was at the far end of the expo so I took my time on the walk through checking out a couple of stalls on the way. The expo was huge as I’d imagine it to be for any of the Majors, if you really want to spend time there I would suggest going on the Friday or much earlier on the Saturday. I was getting hungry at around 3pm so left after taking a couple of pics outside (Tempelhof Airport as the setting is pretty cool in fairness). I went on the hunt for some carbs, and found that the bakery/sandwich shops in the immediate vicinity of the Expo were sold out of everything! I walked down one of the streets a little further and found a small restaurant serving fresh pasta and nice coffee – delicious lunch sorted for €6.50.

I had chosen the Poncho option at registration rather than the bag drop, so had planned to use a locker at the Hauptbahnhof to drop a bag in with dry clothes for after the race. I went there after eating lunch and dropped the bag for the following day and then set off to rest a while at the hotel. It was after 5pm at this stage so was glad of the rest for a couple of hours. As I was laying out my gear for the next morning I noticed that I was in Wave H (last wave) and was annoyed at myself for not noticing this when at the number collection. I had stated a target of sub 3:30 at registration and had expected to go in the second wave. I was considering a plan of asking a marshal to let me into wave 2 in the morning, but reconsidered having taken into account a less than ideal last 3 weeks of my programme and already accepting that 3:29xx wasn’t on the cards this time. Less stress, more success n all that , so I decided to plan to go in a little earlier the next morning and get as close as possible to the front of wave H. It was soon time to eat again and I set off for a short stroll to a place called ‘Patta’ – amazing baked spuds there, worth seeking out if you’re in that neck of the woods. Last of the carbs on board I turned in at about 11pm after a long day.

Race day – up at 7am, down for the porridge (which I brought) straight away and I added an bread roll and coffee from the hotel buffet to keep me going. I wasn’t starting until 10:10am but I had a banana for closer to the start and a Nakd Bar also. Once dressed etc I got the S Bahn into the city centre, a journey of about 10 minutes, and ambled along with the huge numbers of runners making their way to the start. Wristband checks were plentiful and it was through the barrier and do what warm-up I could muster as I dodged and weaved around other doing the same. Lots of not shy people taking a leak in the sparse bushes instead of queuing for the portaloos. Wave G & H were starting together, and as time grew closer to make my way to the start the atmosphere was really building. I shuffled in and hopped the barrier and was around 25 people deep or thereabouts from the front. Right beside a 4:15 pacer. As we walked towards the line, I moved up closer and was with the 4:00 pacer as the gun went.

The rain started at around mile 4 and was relentless until mile 25 or so, but in spite of the soaking it didn’t dampen the mood. The crowds were huge and I did find myself running around a good few people along the way. Plenty of high fives, bands along the route, nonstop support really made the atmosphere very positive. I passed the 3:45 pacer at about mile 20 and did my best to push on from there as I was feeling fresh enough. Even managed to kick on a bit for the last two miles under 8mins each which I was pleased with and crossed the line in 3:42 – I stopped for a pee at 14miles and that cost me a minute, but will aim for sub 3:40 in Dublin later this month.

After collecting the medal, I was glad to get the plastic waterproof sheet and then the decent Poncho. The Erdinger alcohol free was a welcome drink, although I couldn’t finish it. I walked back to the Hauptbahnhof and was so relieved to change into the dry gear. Lots of runners had done what I did and the multi-story car park adjacent to the locker area was filled with runners getting changed. I was back at my hotel an hour after finishing which is decent going. It was great to be able to relax that evening and eat and drink what I wanted (one pint with a delicious burger was enough to bring on the yawning). Off to bed and then home the following day again after a few hours in the city in the morning and lunchtime, flights back that evening were with Eurowings (tip - book the extra legroom if you can).

Over all a fantastic event, and my best marathon yet. I will go back but in a few years...I’ll look at one or two other races, Majors or otherwise before then.

Edit - Waterstations, the most challenging part of the course for sure. All on the right handside of the road and with already slippery conditions the cups made things, interesting. No major complaint though.

opus

robinph wrote: »

We got our blind runner round in a pb time for him. Despite the language barrier all went well and we managed to avoid any falls, even at the very crowded drinks stations. Was surprised how crowded the course was all the way round.

My neck hurts now from looking over my shoulders all the time, and think my voice has gone from all the shouting "blind runner".

Was great fun guiding.

Great work! Did you make the flight back ok afterwards?

Just under 3:22 for me, was hoping for a few mins faster but my lack of long runs since Comrades caught up with me after 32k. Still very enjoyable event although it was a long cold trek back to the hostel in my poncho afterwards.

Been a Brewdog shareholder for years so finally got my chance to use my 10% discount in one of their bars that evening.

robinph

opus wrote: »

Great work! Did you make the flight back ok afterwards?

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Yes, made the flight OK and had a can of BrewDog on the flight back as well.

I've also apparently just won my clubs "member of the month" award for having stepped up to do the guiding at the last minute so should be a few quid off my next pair of shoes from the local running shop.

It was a great run for us and despite barely seeing anything of Berlin due to not even being there for 24 hours really glad to have done it. Glad I did what under normal pre-marathon circumstances would have been stupid and went on a long walk around the centre the evening before so I could tick off having seen a few sights even for the briefest of moments.

The marathon required a lot of shouting, a lot of looking around, a lot of communicating with my co-guide, sprinting to fetch drinks, trying to figure out what the word for banana was in Spanish, trying to find the smoothest and straightest and least crowded route around and guarding our runner from getting tripped or bumped in anyway...so far more mentally taxing than expected. Didn't take in any of the course, couldn't tell you a thing about where it went, or sights along the way, or even the crowds on the side of the road...but absolutely loved the run.

The feeling of having made something impossible happen for someone can't be beaten. I just had to run what was for me a relatively simple pace, but without me doing that our blind runner just wouldn't have been even taking part let alone getting a 25+ minute PB. I wasn't feeling particularly interested in running for the last while, but think this run has re-motivated me to enjoy running again.

opus

Anybody enter the ballot for next year already or am I just too eager

ISOP

opus wrote: »

Anybody enter the ballot for next year already or am I just too eager

last Tuesday