Frankfurt Marathon 2014

Big Bertie

Flying Fri evening 19:25 from Heathrow (BA)



Hope everyone's taper has gone well, although by the sounds of it there's a lot of very unlucky people out there!



Quick question... Did we receive any registration card, or can we just turn up with ID to collect our number..??



Cheers

andyc209

we received an email with registration stuff (8th august for me) which you can print off - but it also says you can just bring ID.

Dean N

Good luck everyone tomorrow

SlokeyJoe

How did everybody get on?

andyc209

Bad!! Was really not happy with my shoes before the race - you know the thing where you keep lacing and re-lacing them. Had been out for about 50 miles in them before so they were not totally new. Found the first half too tight and twisty so could not get going for ages then about 7 miles in was in agony with my left foot. Knew i was blistering already with my shoes rubbing (Adidas have put a plastic cage around the midfoot on the new boosts which is a mistake). Then my little toe started going numb. Anyway after 19 miles of pure agony i got in with a 3:19, which meant i had only 40 minutes to get through the finish and back to my hotel for a 2pm checkout so i just kept running (well jogging at this point) - about a mile and a half later i got to the hotel and could finally check the feet - my right foot had two huge blood blisters on the inside, the little toe had the nail hanging off and blistered. Left foot was also a mess but not on that scale. Anyway - three toe nails lost already i am just managing to be able to walk properly. 

Views on the race in general - city OK, some places where a little dodgy. Organisation was good, the course was a lot tighter and more twisty than it thought for such a fast course really could not get going when i like to get away quick in the first half. I always gauge a course by if i come away thinking i would like to run again but sadly for this one its a no, just ticking it off as done.

SlokeyJoe

Ouch! Sounds painful - hope you got some gruesome foot photos to scare your friends with.

Interesting feedback on the course - have you run Berlin? That had some lovely long straights and feels very fast.

Dean N

Hi 

Andy  sorry to hear about your shoe problems, it sound like it was very painful , I had some horrendous blisters last year in Amsterdam and was limping around for a few days so have some idea how you felt but I think your situation sounds worst ,

must have been a horrible journey home!

i had my trusted ds trainers in a larger size this year and had no problems,

as far as the race went 

The weather was perfect about 12 c and not a breath of wind ,

I got to the starter pen a good 20 mins or so before the start and it was filling up quickly , I was reasonably close to the start and passed the start mat after about 20 secs , 

i immediately realised for some reason my garmin wasn't picking up the satalite , not sure if it was the high buildings causing the probs I slowed down and reset my watch , 

once going again garmin still seemed way out so I  had to run on feel and try and do the math in my head , I then found another runner who was running at 4.10 pace and ran with him until halfway when checking the time realised I was a bit off the pace , 

immediately I picked up the pace running on feel again and was running very strongly,

, Finished in 2.56:07 which at the start I would have been pleased with but I felt great at the end which shouldn't be the case and felt I could have gone faster especially the first half , (the second half I went about a minuet faster)

All in all. I would say it's a top autumn marathon 

easy to enter even a couple of weeks before 

 

lots of cheap flights from uk , 

hotels cheap and plenty within walking distance from start so so need to drop off bags and Que.for toilets , 

Expo / number pick up was busy but ok ,

pasta do ok , also plenty of italian restaurants around, 

start ok if you get there early 

course flat , a couple of tiny slopes but didn't really worry me , a couple of cobble sections but over before you know it, yes as Andy says a few tight twisty sections which obviously becomes more crowded the slower you run , I found the standard of runners high and at my pace it was busy the whole race but not enough to concern me , 

water in paper cups , not  as good as bottles but better than plastic cups ,

crowd support  reasonably good 

finish in the disco hall good and plenty of water , fruit , alcohol free beer at the end ,

Loads of places to get a sausage and a beer after, 

done Amsterdam last year and would not do again , 

done Berlin but in 2004 which I would say is better but apparently it's changed and is a lot busier now , and a ballot entry ,

if your after a pb in Autumn I would recommend this race  , unless I can find a better one I think I will be back next year to have a dig at sub 2.55