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Berlin Marathon 2017
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I think Berlin is going to be out of the question now. Unless anyone's got some really good advice...
Berlin will be the 7th of 10 (and 8th in 9 months after running the Portsmouth Coastal a few days before Christmas). May add one more in Nottingham in December, so that I can say that I have also ran 12 in 12 months, but need to see how my legs feel after Berlin, Budapest, NYC and Uganda.
I'm looking forward to getting my second and last in the done pile!
Yeah I did, but don't know what the acronym means? Which forum?
-60 percent mileage this week; 40 percent next.
-Run all your workouts, even the more intensive sessions, with plenty in reserve and rest longer between.
-Rest
-Eat well (enough water and the right carbohydrates, like oats, rice, beans, potatoes and pasta, and good fats—those with monounsaturated fatty acids like olive oil, avocadoes, nuts and seeds and those with omega-3 fatty acids)
-Plan your race - choose a time goal built around how you felt running the times during peak mileage and taper.
-Listen to your body
https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/news-and-media/news/2017/09/11/a-relaxing-final-uta-pippig-tapering-advice.html
And as far as I remember the B in BCRC, stands for Bristol (as in the Bristol Stool Chart: https://www.continence.org.au/pages/bristol-stool-chart.html) after a long discussion on the forum in the distant past, and the C for the Convocation document that you have to take to the Paris Expo to pick up your bib.
I've worn my BCRC running vest to a few races since Paris and it's always a good conversation starter... although it probably gives the impression I'm a more experienced runner than I really am...
Holiday Weather.com is showing 16 degrees and rain
BBC showing high of 17degrees, cloudy and 8mph wind
Accuweather shows high of 16 with some brightening.
Wetter.Com says 18 and sunny with no chance of rain....
Hoping for cooler weather so I can dump the camelbak.
Nothing at least quite as warm as Paris:)
Jimbob's started a Paris Marathon 2018 forum here: https://forums.runnersworld.co.uk/discussion/346196/paris-marathon-2018/p2 so that's where the BCRC is now keeping in touch. Even if you're not running Paris next year it's a great source of advice, support, and occasional discussions about stools.
> Hi guys, I'm in for Berlin too. Just need to clarify - wearing of headphones? I've had two emails from them, one saying "yes" ok to wear them, and today got another sayig they'd rather I did NOT wear them. SO......if I do wear them, will I get a time/medal? I've emailed again asking for clarification. It's a tad confusing.
On the participants info page, they say using headphones is prohibited, you could get disqualified. Better not to risk!!
https://www.bmw-berlin-marathon.com/en/race-week/participants-info.html#page/18
thought I would write this review to help any other newbies who run Berlin as their first race, or experienced runners considering running it.
Signing up - I ran for Cancer Research UK and registered with them, so cannot comment re the actual race website.
the expo - easy to get to and find. I arrived at 8.30am Saturday as did not get to Berlin until Friday evening. A queue had formed already but not many people but it did start to grow towards 9am, obtaining race kit was pretty easy. I found it very odd that so many people turned up in their running kit, and were warming up simply to collect their race bib... it was a little fancy dress!
race kit / merchandise - have to say the race kit was really disappointing, mainly flyers and a coffee flavoured energy gel - who wants that!
also there were no finisher t-shirts left at all, and no size medium in the event t-shirts. I managed to buy an event Tshirt from the Adidas shop near kadewe, and they did have some finisher t-shirts at the merchandise stall on event day, but the shirt was awful - khaki brown and red and really plain so didn’t bother buying it.
race day - easy to find start entrance. I didn’t bother with bad drop as my wife was with me but it looked easy to make sure you get to the right tent which corresponds with your race number.
considering there were 45k entrants the number of portaloos was woeful, most people went to pee in the bushes.
as this was my first marathon I was in block H at the back. I managed to get near the front, but the clever people waited at the side of the metal gates, walked down when everyone started moving and joined nearer the front.
block H is the last wave to set off, 25 mins behind the previous wave.
i was concerned about congestion at the start but I was able to run to 5min km’s to about 25/30k however that was just impossible after that point, as the faster runners from my block caught up with the slower runners from the previous wave.
It it was very congested from around 28k to 38k and some of the streets were very narrow, it wasted too much energy and mental strength concentrating to try and overtake so I just accepted 3.30 was not possible and concentrated on my form, breathing keeping hydrated etc.
i had to overtake an awful lot and tried to be as accommodating as possible, but it is difficult for some people to run in a straight line! which meant you could not help but have to put a hand out. Some people were not so cautious and would run straight in front, you have to be very observant which is hard towards the end when you feel very fatigued.
I felt like was overtaking people the whole way around, a lot of runners in higher blocks must have been having a bad day, or exaggerated their estimated time, and that scuppered my chances of running faster.
The water stations were complete carnage, due to the narrow streets they were only on one side, and you had to stop to pick up the cups and drink from them. I took a small bottle of water with me which lasted me to around 25k. I understand that cups are used because they crush as opposed to half full bottles, and they were not too bad to run over, but you have to watch your footing whilst also watching people crossing over you trying to get to the water table. It was really hazardous.
Also people trying to cross the roads came as a bit of a shock!
support along the course was great, loads of people watching from their balconies playing music and shouting, it was a great atmosphere. It is a very international marathon with many nations represented.
the course really is pancake flat, I only really remember a couple of short inclines and a few bridges, but apart from that it was flat all the way, though it is quite twisty particularly at the end.
i actually found the course a little dull, I did not spot many famous landmarks, but I wasn’t doing it from a tourist point of view!
there were plenty of medical help along the way with doctors on bikes.
the finish - straight after the finish line we had to queue to get a medal and poncho and walk toward the family reunion area. All I wanted to do was stretch my legs but there was no space!
i didn’t shower at the showers provided, but I did walk past the showers and changing tent, i did think I was seeing things when I saw men walking around in the street fully naked getting dressed, but hey when it Europe!!
chip hand in was easy, although bending down to untie my laces was a challenge.
found the reunion area and my wife easily and transport back to hotel was easily navigated.
all in all I am so pleased I chose and ran Berlin. The city is amazing, people are friendly and I liked the international feel. The startline had great entertainment and a really positive atmosphere. Anyone looking to run Berlin don’t be put off by the negative things, I think that really is just to be expected in a marathon major, and nothing which I hadn’t considered likely before the race due to reviews I have read.
All the admin around the expo and arrival was good and efficient. The marathon offered people, who did not want to use bag drop facilities, a poncho. What did you think of it?
I know what you say about congestion, it is frustrating but it seemed less severe than Paris where the crowds frequently encroached onto the track itself a la TdF. There were only a couple points i really noticed that in Berlin. Whether due to diligently following the blue line, better crowd management or running in a slightly advanced block, I halved the distance my phone tracked me as running beyond 42km.
I too found the scenery a little less interesting than Paris. My recommendation to Paris was to do more to showcase the sites as you go around and there was none of that in Berlin.
As Sweety60 identified ahead, there was ambiguity of whether you could wear headphones of not. A minority of runners did so but the clear prohibition in (some of) the rules rang in my ears.
In the pen at Paris, they had urinals (I think there were some for women too). In Berlin, there are woods and some portaloos running along the pens and we could move in and out fairly easily, particularly once the elite athletes started off.
The water stops were on both sides at 5 and 10k and thereafter go to one side only. There were too few signs ahead of the water stops so people did suddenly change pace and direction. I had not heard / or thought of the point about the cups being less dangerous than half full water bottles but that makes a lot of sense now.
I thought the crossings were well organised.
From 25k onwards, there were also volunteers offering massages which I've not seen before.
Comparing to Paris again, I would've welcomed more drink, instant foods, a bit closer to the finish line and where the medals were being given out, and perhaps a few more volunteers at that point to direct, congratulate and help fuzzy-headed exhausted runners. Being given a medal, big bit of plastic sheeting to balance precariously over the shoulders and later a bag of stuff is great but you don't have any hands leftover (or space) to get anything from the bag into your mouth. The big bit of plastic we were given was useful as a bit of cover before arriving at the bag pick up, but more so I could lie down on it when arriving at the green space.
I thought the 3:30 pacers in block F were quite inconsistent in their times and they seemed to speed up substantially between 30-40k - or was it just me going the other way? Would be useful too if pacers didn't just run next to each other, perhaps 30-50 metres behind or opposite sides of the course, to help reduce the wall of people surrounding them which was a definite cause of congestion and argy bargy among runners.
There was music and crowds most the way around - though a fellow runner told me London's support was better. After German support, the Mexicans were brilliant, there was barely a km it seemed without calls of 'Mehico'.
Despite an election, referendum and beer festival over the same weekend, there was a buzz around the marathon (partly because of all the runners being permanently in sponsored gear or their running clothes).
It was inspiring to know that at the front of the women and men's races were top athletes with suggestions of WR attempts. Berlin was a great city for it and there was history all around. Very glad I could be a part of it.
Positives
+ Fast, ran a PB of 2.40.56
+ Enjoyed a single start as opposed to multiple streams at London
+ Hot tea was actually surprisingly good, wish I'd drunk more on the way round
+ Plenty of bananas, prime running food
+ Berlin is a fantastic city to do some tourism in
Negatives
- Randomly locked portaloos on the course, had a pee in a bush instead
- Woeful merchandise store at expo... i ran on after the marathon straight to the merchandise shop at the finish to make sure my wife got a shirt
- Terrible admin as noted from my previous post, two completely wrong emails / startcard
- No mile markers, EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING. At London we accommodate metric and imperial, I don't see why they can't do vice versa. Watch does not help, despite sticking rigidly to the blue line I ended up running 26.3, I would have been sub 2.40 according to watch..
- Poncho was a shocker in comparison with NYC, piece of crap
- Random support BMW for elite pickup driving on the racing line, three of us had to tap her window to get her off
I'm sure I could have more negatives, but I'll stop there. Berlin is a great city, its a fast course, this is enough but its the worst major I've done from an organisational perspective.
Abbingdon in a month - that should bring me down to earth!!!
Congrats to everyone who finished it!
It only really dawned on me when I was running that if bottles had been handed out there would have been a mass pileup! I didn't find the cups difficult to run over, but the water stations were not advertised meaning they came all of a sudden!
I had to stop to drink from the cups as it was impossible to run and drink.
Also didn't realise in my weary state that I should have dunked my bottle in the water bowl and then I could have carried on drinking from that!!!
Nobody talks about how mentally exhausting a marathon is particularly when you have to concentrate so hard on the crowds around you making sure you don't run into people... I was mentally spent at 36k.
Congrats to everyone who finished
At the family reunion point I did tell my wife to be a 'proper wife' and not allow me to do anything so foolish ever again... however I am already consideing my next marathon next year ... Florence / Amsterdam / Yorkshire - anybody got any preferences??
The water comes in cups instead of bottles at Berlin because the event's water sponsor is Berliner Wasserbetriebe (Berlin Waterworks), the local water utility company. At the water stations they literally hose it up out from the pipes running under the pavements.
James - be glad you didn't dunk your bottle in the bowls at the water stations because that's where the runners are meant to dunk their sweaty sponges for a quick cool down. That's why there's always a sponge in the expo race pack.
My other tip is to wait until the weeks after the race to buy the event shirts, etc, as the unsold stock always gets put on sale for €10 or €20 less than they cost at the expo. Unless you really want or need it that weekend, or you want to be certain of getting an uncommon size, like XXS or something, be patient.
My event report - following my collarbone fracture, me and my back brace had a nice lie in and strolled five minutes down the road in the rain at 9.20am to see the frontrunners pass the nine km mark. And since then the doctor's told me no sport or exercises, bar arm stretches, until the end of October. Can't wait for Berlin 2018.