Berlin Marathon 2006

Thought I'd get in early and ask if there was anyone out there doing the Berlin Marathon on the 24th September 2006?

Anybody who has already done it, and can recommend the best airport, what train to catch, where to get a cheap hotel near(ish) to the finish line, what to do, where to do it etc. etc.
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Comments

  • Hi Mark

    I've been a bit ludicrously organized and got registered for this about a month or so ago.

    Not done the marathon here before but visited last October - it's a really good place to go, like walking around a 20th century history lesson.

    Will be flying into Tegel with Air Berlin this time. Schonefeld's pretty basic and a little way out (30 minute or so train ride). As for hotels, the nearest ones will be next to the Brandenburg Gate/Reichstag and tend to be the priciest in town.

    I'll be staying in Mitte at the Arcotel Velvet - it's a little further out but still within walking distance of the start (as are most places near the centre of town - Friedrichstrasse, Potsdamer Platz etc.)

    The course itself is renowned for being flat and fast so I'm hoping to do a pretty decent time with any luck. Can't wait to finish and sink a weisse or ten.
  • This will be my 4th, and hopefully my fastest. I am aiming for a sub 4:30, but hopefully nearer to 4 than 4:30. Had a very bad experience at Blackpool last year, which set me back quite a bit, but I am doing Lochaber in 3 weeks, so that should give me an indication of how much I will need to do to achieve my goal.

    I will by flying in the Schonfeld from Liverpool and staying at the A&O Mitte, which I assume is in Mitte. It was only £155 for return flights, b&b, which is considerably cheaper than the £540 that SportTours wanted.
  • We did it last year and had a ball. Flew in to Tegel from Manchester with Lufthansa I think. Can't remember the exact price but under £100 I think?

    Stayed out at an Ibis in the suburbs. It's so easy to get around on the tube system (can't remember it's official name) and the trains seemed to run like clockwork. Typical German efficiency. People were friendly and the sun never stopped shining (perhaps a bit too much on race day so take precautions). Breakfast run on the saturday was worth doing, lots of grub at the end of that and the saturday rollerblade marathon was also fun to watch. They put on loads of market stalls and food places etc by the end of the course (the marathon and the rollerblade more or less the same course and the same finish) so there's a real festival atmosphere. Oh and I got a pb!

    Wish I was coming now but we decided to try Budapest this year instead...
  • The U-bahn is the Berlin tube...doh!
  • I'm doing it, it will be my first marathon. I'm flying into Schonefeld from Liverpool too, I decided to splash out on a more expensive hotel near the start/finish as the flights were nice and cheap. I'm not too scared about it yet, although I'm sure I will be soon!
  • Raymond Thwaites 2 come on down
  • HI Mark, I have booked our flights and we are staying at the Generator Hostel, it's only 25euo a night. Going out on the Thursday and coming back on the monday, so should get some sight seeing in. If you are looking at a 4.30 then we might have to meet up in Berlin prior to the walk, oops run. Went out there many moons ago b4 the wall came down and loved it, can't wait. As I said I have just started using a heart rate monitor and it seems to be working for me. Any thoughts?
  • I have just come back from Berlin, as I was due to run the half last weekend, but missed it due to injury.

    I stayed at the Quality Hotel, Berlin Tegel which is a 10 minute walk from the U-Bahn but has the airport bus from tegel stopping right outside.

    It's a 3 star hotel and we paid £123 for two of us for three nights via lastminute.com. The hotel was good and the staff really friendly.

    I am thinking about entering the marathon in September, but not decided yet
  • fi fifi fi ✭✭✭
    Seriously considering this one.

    Just back from Rotterdam,got a PB,but not the time i wanted....so i want to go back for more to get that sub4!!

    Just got to check out flight and hotel prices.
  • Just finished Paris and looking for an Autumn mara...this was recomended by one of the other Paris runners....mmmmmm
  • Hi - was supposed to do this last year but fell over a few weeks before and injured my knee. I still went for a weekend away and would recommend it. Great crowds and great organisation.
    We flew from Schoenfeld (or however you spell it) and it is quite a way from the centre so would go from Tegel to make the journey easier.
    Just back from Rotterdam marathon where I did 3.33 so may give this a go in an attempt to get under 3.30!
  • fi fifi fi ✭✭✭
    Go on Jayne,be good fun:)
  • RT2, I found my HRM really useful when I started out, and when I wanted to up my pace. Your MAX heartrate should be 220 minus your age, e.g. 220-21 = 199. If you get to within a few beats and stay there for too long you will probably collapse in a heap. So the idea of using a HRM is to help pace yourself to keep as low as possible.

    I found that once I'd established a pace i didn't need the monitor. At the moment I am getting over a virus and my attempts to do a 4.30 at Lochaber in a couple of weeks have been severly dented.

    Depending on how I do (hopefully finish!), I will set my pace for Berlin. If I do go for a faster pace (which I intend too), I will use my HRM to pace my Fartlek runs. Sprint until HR goes high, walk until it drops, jog keeping it steady. This , for me, is it's 'killer app' as they say.
  • hi fi fi!! There's no hiding is there!

    Are you doing it too?
  • fi fifi fi ✭✭✭
    Jayne,
    It was between this one or Amsterdam,other half wants to go to Berlin,so depending on cost of it all,this is most likely.
  • Given the cost of accommodation in Amsterdam, I would have thought Berlin would be the better bet economically.
  • fi fifi fi ✭✭✭
    Probably right Dynamokev.Need to start booking to get the better deals.
  • Philip RPhilip R ✭✭✭
    Does anyone know if you have to collect your number and if so when is the latest that this can be done?

    Or do they post numbers out in advance?

    I am thinking of flying on the Saturday before the race.
  • Philip, you need to collect your number from the Expo.
  • Hi All,
    Berlin was my first marathon last year and I had a pretty terrible time :(
    Nothing to do with the course or the atmosphere (both superb) but I came down with some kind of cold/flu a couple of days before. It was my own stupid fault, I shouldn't have run, but my colleague was running and we had trained together and ...
    Anyway he's already registered for this year and I'm still not certain, however seeing as I'm searching for this years thread I guess I'm nearly decided...

  • i would like to make this my first over 26.2miles but very nervous about taking the plunge as it were. the furthest i've ever done is 1/2 maras and thats on race day and never done the far even in training. what to do, what to do??? i'm so chicken!! i'll give it another week and if there is still place i'll go for it... pls fill up, pls fill up!!!!
  • Funny this thread has popped up, last night I asked my wife if she fancied a weekend in Berlin with the our 2 children flying out on the 23rd Sept. She knew right away something was not quite right and asked if there was a marathon on!

    I would love to run the course Tergat set the world record on, pity my time will be twice as much.

    I am going to give it a couple of weeks then register. I guess I will be flying from Edinburgh to Heathrow then out to Berlin.
  • kev,

    you should be able to fly fron Edinburgh.

    I know you can definitely fly from Newcastle with easyjet
  • How the hell do I register for this without either booking a sports tour or going through a charity place? I can't find any kind of ballot entry on the 'official' website.
  • Slowboy:

    Try: http://www.davengo.com/e.php/en/B66E181A/pro

    or try to spot the "Resister Now" button off the main www. Just right an up a little from the centre of the home page.
  • Hello everyone.

    I registered for this as soon as registration opened and am happy to see a thread on it already.

    I can't wait to start my training properly and keep in touch with you all as we support each other through those pleasant summer runs! Ah, the bliss of the Autumn marathon.

    Based on my recent 5 and 10K times I am "supposed" to be able to do 3:29 by now. P.B. to date is only 3:56, but a) Berlin is flat, b) I joined an awesome running club and c)I now have 3 marathons under my belt in the last 12 months. d) I do much better with my running in the summer months!

    So I'll do my best. This'll be my fourth marathon, but only the second I'll have trained for seriously. Hopefully I'm still improving.

    See you all later.


  • Hi everyone,

    My trainings going well at the moment, I'm doing the Kirkbymoorside 10k next weekend. I've got my times down to 7.45 a mile over 10k. That might sound slow to some of you but to me it's a milestone. Watched the London today, wish I was there, 5 times and they keep turning me down, according to their entry rules I should get in next year, mind you I hate running in the winter.

    Hi Left foot, I have 2 of them, the Berlin will be my 4th, I'm not as fit as you, I hope to do 4 to 4.30.
  • Raymond -- 7.45 a mile over 10K is very good, I think.

    I'm fit for short stuff, but "not as good as I should be" with my long distance stuff yet. I think I am slightly more predisposed to speed rather than endurance. Problem is, I'm not very patient with keeping the steady 8.5-9 minute mile pace required for a solid 3:30-4 marathon and always seem to hare off and suffer later. So my tack now is going to be stay fast for the first half because I like it, but practice keeping up that pace after the 19 mile point!

    I went out to watch the finish line of London today and saw everyone who finished around the 4-4:50 mark. Really inspiring!!

  • Funny that cause Im the same, I drift big style in the latter stages. At the moment i'm trying to extend my training runs, i'm doing a couple of miles more than I should which gives me a boost. I did a 13 miler the other day, nice and steady and it took me 2h03m. I'm using that as a target, if I can get that down to 1.45 I will be well happy.

    If your looking at around the 4hr mark for the Berlin it sounds like there will be a load of us aiming for that time, it might be worth running as the "Runners World masive".
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