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Berlin Marathon 2011
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Posted yesterday but seems it didn't quite get on to the server. Loved the race, beautiful city, almost perfect conditions. Was a bit worried when I saw sweat dripping off my nose at the 2km mark. Kept holding myself back so as not to raise the HR too much over 162. Bumped into another forumite around km 25 but didn't quite catch your name. I think you stayed in front of me, so well done!
Was running a very even 4:15m/km all the way through to km28 but noticed with the temps my HR was climbing, which is normally also a good indicator that fatigue is on it's way. Well apart a bit and lost concentration, walked a drinks station with banana in hand, ran another km, whipped my shoe off to adjust my socks.
Then told myseld to stop p**sing around and none of this nonsense would ease the pain or get me to the end any quicker, so just stuck my head down and ploughed on. Finished with a fast km, 3:07:29 - 11½ mins short of a PB, but having only done 2/3s of my training, hardly any long runs and no speedwork, I'm very happy to have made it through.
I've got New York to look forward to in 6 weeks time and think I can get back under 3 again for that. Mrs TD forgot to give her chip in, so got a bonus extra mile loosen down jog and today my legs feel just fine.
Looking forward to hearing many more stories of your racing adventures in Berlin. Will definitely go back there again, such a beautiful place. Wunderbar!
Have to say I found the whole thing absolute torture!
30:40:48 for me, new PB.
Come on Chris - I'm sure you did better than that, otherwise you'd still be out there on the course now?!
Johnny B - yes, that's what's so special about marathons. It's not just physical fitness that matters, it's the ability to resist the mental anguish of knowing that if you just walk, all that pain will ease away. I think this is the first marathon I've done where I wasn't swearing at myself in my heasd, for not choosing fishing as a hobby. Mara #7, in the bag.
First marathon done, and although not in the same league as you guys I'm well happy!! Being from Orkney, my inability to suffer heat certainly shone through, as did inexperience and missing all water stops on first half!!!
Came through with a smile on my face and already planning the next so not all bad!!
Well done everybody!!
Berlin a truly amazing city and I've had the most wonderful experience!
Back home now sadly, would loved to have another couple of days in Berlin.
Race wise I had one of those days. Too hot, and almost from the get go I had tight hamstrings and thigh muscles which just wouldn't loosen up. I stopped at least five times during the race to try and stretch them outwith no luck. I came in on a slow 4:28:19, but despite that I enjoyed the event. My seventh marathon, but my first of the big city marathons.
Great city and a great event. It was good to meet up with Kaz, Simon and SwissBobby (where you wearing the pirate top on the day?) too. Hope everyone had a good time.
Hi Guys
Can't believe it's all done and dusted. Completed the course in 3:46:14 (New PB). Think the heat was a big factor yesterday as I found it tough.
Hope everyone is now enjoying a well deserved rest and I would like to thank everyone who has took part in this forum as it has kept me going over the last 4 months of training.
All the best
David
still stuck enjoying myself in berlin, what a bummer!
city is fantastic as was the race, if a little warm i had a good run and di 3:29:08 so well pleased with that but was just so impressed ith berlin itself, will come back again for sure and just to add, well done to everybody.
haha, yes thanks Tricky, should read 3:40:48..........
We have until Friday in Berlin, enjoying ourselves with feet up at the bar
This year I managed a slow plod 23onwards and managed to keep plodding, last year the corners to get to the straight never seemed to come . This year that straight is so long , but managed to plod.
Felt great to finish , took a few moments to recover then onward to find the beer.
Highlight of my trip was having my photo taken with running legend Hugh Jones at the airport. Just had my first ever sports massage - let's see if I'm in a good enough state to run 26.2 at Chester in 13 days time ?
TD - That was me you bumped into at 25K. Was good to see you in the flesh. I managed 3.02.51 which I was very pleased with considering I had not run more than 20 miles for 6 weeks and my training consisted of 40mpw max - a very depleted schedule. Was lucky that it was such an easy route really. Not much to look at, as in other major marathons, but couldn't ask for a better course.
Highlight for me was briefly running with Eitan Hermon, an ex Israeli soldier who lost half his right leg in the second Lebanon war and now runs with a carbon fiber prosthetic limb. Certainly put things into perspective (He finished with a 3.07!)
Despite good advice on previous posts regarding distance, I made a schoolboy error in relying too much on my Garmin and not taking any heed of the Km markers. My target was 3'49 and when my Garmin showed 26.2 miles I had hit my target exactly. Problem was I still hadn't even reached the Brandenburg Gate!
Lesson learned...
Great event and enjoyed every minute of it (apart from the last, unplanned 5!)
As it was my first marathon it is also a PB. Next year (if can ever walk again) I intend to beat it by at least 10 minutes....
Not a great one for me guys as the stomach cramps won the day.
Managed to PB at 10 miles and halfway in 1:16 but the cramps meant that I had to breathe very shallow with the obvious consequences. I stopped at 28km to be sick but couldn't get anything out so I struggled around the rest of the route and finished in 2:47:35 which I know is good but not where all the hard work had put me.
Really enjoyed Berlin again and tempted to come back and get it right at least once in my life.
Well done to everyone else!
Just wondering, were they given out t-shirts at the end, as the rest of the day seen loads of people in a black Adidas Berlin marathon t-shirt? Just wondering if I missed out on the freebie or did those people buy them, thought they looked quite smart. http://shop.scc-events.com/catalog/product/gallery/id/1491/image/543/
Also, any one know how many run the event?
4.21.58 Third and slowest marathon for me but enjoyed it far more than London in 2007 (which was hotter!). Felt incredibly strong up until 33K and my split times were steady as a rock knocking out each 5K in 30 mins. Then I did that thing that Tricky referred to "It's not just physical fitness that matters, it's the ability to resist the mental anguish of knowing that if you just walk, all that pain will ease away" except I didn't resist and the pain did ease...so I walk/ran the remainder... something to work on next time I guess.
Congratulations to everybody for some astonishing times and achievements on the day. What a great city Berlin is.
Oh yeah, the system with the t-shirts. Can't help thinking that selling the 'marathon finisher' t-shirts at the expo was a bit against the spirit of the thing. And those wearing it for the race felt like it was tempting fate. That said, thought the atmosphere was great and organisation pretty slick.
MC Dave - that sounded horrible but knowing you got to the half in such good time must be some mental reward that the training has been worth it. A phenomenal improvement in speed since last year, yes?
Simon - it's a golden rule with gps devices to always check your registered accumulated distance against the mm markers so you can factor in how much drift you get during a race. My wife was telling someone "only 3.5pm to go and then a minute later coming to the 38km marker. It becomes a huge discouraged, so best manage the expectation all the way round. It's something that becomes real after you've made the mistake for yourself I guess.
Darell - well done for soldiering around, very determined of you.
Arf - had the same feeling about the 'finishers' T- shirts
Congratulations to everyone. Sounds like most people had good days at the office.
MC Dave that must have been really tough battling on with stomach cramps - a real display of guts & will power.
I made my own target but found the last couple of miles very hard. I cramped at about 800m from the Brandenberg Tor. I couldn`t believe it. Cramping within sight of the finish line. Had to stop, stretch & massage for a minute or two and then hobble on. The crowd were fantastic - really encouraging.
All-in-all, it was a really good weekend. Berlin is a brilliant city. There`s a real vibe to the place. It`s cheap, interesting and unlike London, doesn`t seem to be dominated by money.. Everyone seemed very friendly.
Not sure what next mara should be. Quite tempted by Rotterdam. Anyone done it ?
mc dave - despite stomach cramps you still ran an awesome time.
trickyd- i am so glad you got there after all your trials.... hooray!
I thought the expo was fab, picked up one of the ladies grey berlin tshirts, and no i didnt go for the finishers one AS IF. Did the breakfast run, loved being on the blue track in the olympic stadium!
Had to laugh at the start on sunday, when the guy on the pa said section h was for the marathon beginners & powerwalkers, well it was my first! was bang on target for my 5h 15m time up to mile 17 and then a mixture of injuries, heat and lack of mental strength got to me and i powerwalked (i was in the right section then) to 20m and had a run/jog/walk system going on till the corner by the gate! finished in 5h 34m 06s (58 mins slower than bf).
loads of positives to take home, no negatives at all. lots of homework though. must lose weight, seriously. must make warm up/cool down the same instant habit as teeth cleaning. must make core stronger.
and lastly to all the bl**dy pessimists out there who said "ooo, i have run a marathon, it was flippin horrendous and i am glad it was my first and last". not a word of what you said bothered me you eejits, i cant wait to get out there and do it ALL OVER AGAIN.
It brought it home to me today when I was watching the BBC coverage on iplayer. I went through on the camera about 55 seconds down on Radcliffe and about 40 down on Mikitenko and that was about 7k in!
Thinking about next Autumn and possibly Amsterdam - Anyone ever done it?
I met my husband just after the half and he told me I was looking strong, I told him the race wouldn't really be starting till 30K and to keep praying for me. I maintained a fairly consistent pace throughout but the sheer number of runners and the water stations really slowed me down and by about 30K I knew 3.39 might not happen for me but I decided to stay as strong as I could. My husband met me at 35K with my small bottle of flat Coke which was all I needed to get me to the finish line, he ran alongside me for a bit and I told him there would be no PB for me; stay strong and dig deep was his answer.... That really helped and I did indeed stay relatively strong and I had to dig very deep for the last 7K. It REALLY helped having read before that the last 1K was a long drag. With the finish line in sight I was looking way past it trying to stay strong but I also wanted to soak up the atmosphere, as I looked to my left into the stand I noticed three red balloons and my husband screaming at the top of his lungs, what a perfect way to finish.
It turns out we were sitting right beside Kaz! at dinner that night!!! (She figured this out today on Facebook) I'm so annoyed I didn't do as I usually do; interrupt the meal and start chatting! I'm happy to report she was looking great and having a good time. I had thought I would be too tired to go to the pub but I was feeling great so went to the Oscar Wilde Pub where most of the Irish runners were meeting up. As my husband has signed up for Dublin (less than 5 weeks, me too) he was thrilled to get lots of advice from everyone. The plan was to have one or two pints.... We had a lot more than that, not exactly good recovery strategy but it was great craic and it would have been a shame to leave early. Highlight of the night was when "We are the Champions" was played... all the hard work over the last few months was well worth it. We got back to the hotel about 2am, ate all of the chocolate we had bought to bring home as presents (it's just lucky we didn't pass a kebab shop on the way home).
And up bright and early on Monday for the flight home to Dublin. I was shattered that night but had a great swim at the in the sea yesterday and this morning so next stop Dublin on October 31st....
hope to see some of you there
Amsterdam is a good marathon.
Much much smaller than Berlin.
Very flat - apart from an underpass at 38 km (not much of a slope - but you feel it at that stage).
You do a small loop within the city and then a long stretch out and back along the River Amstel before returning to the town centre via what looks like some kind of industrial estate. The river section is ok unless there`s a breeze blowing.
Start/finish in the Olympic (?) Stadium.
Support levels not on a par with Berlin/London/NY.
Basically it`s a fast course. I`d say not quite as quick as Berlin but possibly a bit quicker than London.
I`d certainly do it again.
Great city generally. Everyone very friendly and everyone speaks embarassingly good English.
i'm also thinking Amsterdam next autumn - if the other half will let me escape again, think he had a more tiring experience than me!!!
Like you Oii, my first marathon and I can't wait to do it all over again!! The sheer feeling of achievement certainly made all the injuries, tiredness etc worthwhile!! And like yourself came home with a few points I want to improve and starting on that next week.
Tried my first recovery run this morning and must say it was HELL!! Quads didn't like it at all...
Always tomorrow.... Its cold here today but it was a joy to be out in normal temps again!!
Well done to everyone again.
kaz - i am so glad you had a top time too!
ooo amsterdam ey? i've got a few mates based there....
Well, I'm sure Kaz was looking just as good as Oii and had as much fun!
Amsterdam sounds very tempting...
Hey guys
Many congratulations to you all for so many cracking performances on Sunday. Given the conditions on the day (it was very pleasant for watching so connot have been ideal for running) and the number of you running off interupted training you should all be very proud.
And it is really great to see people already planning the next marathon, particularly those that just completed their first.
Well done all.