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BERLIN Marathon 2012
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this is too good to be true...
Baljc - thanks, I'll see what I can find. Geo bars just upset my stomach. I love the Nature Valley granola bars, although I suspect they're just making me fat. Mumbai marathon? Sounds incredible.
Johnas - good to hear you'll be in Brighton too. Enjoyed it last year although am going to try and get there earlier. I was held back a fair bit by how narrow it got at the first 180 degree turn (I started near the back).
baljc - Checked our Rotterdam and looks good too
I've also entered Comrades next year so not sure how that will fit with standard marathons
Anybody got experience of Vienna as a VLM alternative?
Meant to be a very pretty city and I've never been.
Mumbai - have no idea what to expect. I'm there on business the week its on so seemed rude not to! £29 for an entry - bargain. Looks like it was won in 2:10 this year so clearly a decent field. Tempted to start a thread and see what it throws up!
Johnas - the 3 maras are part of the plan towards my first Comrades in June (also have Thames Trot 50 in Feb) so no shortage of miles!!
only got Brighton Marathon down for next year so far - usual false hope of VLM - really want to do New York but heard some say its not as good as you might think. Then I saw the Miami marathon - sun, sea, Miami Dolphins and a good run
- anyone ever done it or know much about it?
ditto brighton mara and false hope for VLM!
Leisa H - not sure why I posted that message again!
Fancy breakfast run but flying from Gatwick at 630am so not sure I'd get there on time
Ally - thanks for tracking tip
Oh and Amsterdam Half, Beachy Head Marathon (jogging), Cross country, Brighton 10k
Am I the only other one with no further plans at the moment? Let my injury heel up is first on the cards after Berlin...
i can't end a marathon without knowing where the next one is. The main ones on my list of dream races are NYC, Miami and Boston - all in the US and all bloody expensive!! Finding it hard to justify them considering i am in Disney for two weeks after Berlin. Still dropping big hints for my 40th in two years time
I'm thinking of Chicago at some point in the future too, and would also fancy an Asian marathon. London doesn't interest me. Rumour has it that the Glasgow Marathon might be resurrected for the Commonwealth Games, would be a fan of that. Will be in Kiev in the spring and see they have a marathon in April, but it's a thoroughly uninspiring course, even if the entry fee is only 20 Euros (or 7 Euros for the 10k!).
Thanks all. Here is the revised list:
Future marathon thoughts for me: If I don't get into London (5th attempt) then Chicago. That is if I feel like doing another marathon.
Long term goal: To do Boston.
BigDipz - Well, I know Virgin trains won't get you there, so that's one difference. Vienna is a pretty city but I've never marked it down as unforgettably beautiful either. It's quite a small place so you either do laps round the nice bits, or you spend ages out and about in very ordinary places.
Cologne is a fantastic local marathon (15,000 runners) and a great 'local' atmosphere. Cologne is the party city of Germany (they hardly even think of themselves as Germans!!). Very cheap to enter, easy to travel to by car or plane, perfect organisation. Early October normally. And they serve proper beer at the end and the recovery food is an 'all you can eat, help yourself buffet'. Never seen anything like it since.
Andy - I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again to counteract the hype. NYC mara is such a let down. It's the Brooklyn Dunkin Donuts mara with a noisy finish in a big park. You don't go anywhere near anything recognisably Manhattan.
Strunner - I don't really have any running plans as such. I've got a GFA place in VLM (which as I'm something of a Johnny Foreigner these days, it always feels super-special going back to London), but apart from that, I shall mainly be pondering next week where on earth I can go with my running? Can I run distances at all, do I have any hope of being able to train with enough intensity that I can go faster, do i go for shorter efforts, do i switch to triathlons or forget it and just put myself wholeheartedley into cycling? In that sense, Berlin is a big experiment for me. Goal number 1 - learn something, goal #2, have fun doing it.
Found a great burrito place near Alexanderplatz that will be ideal for carb intensive lunches. They even do beat root juice - which I hear is the new endurance super food!
Hi all,
Apologies, I'm new so this question may have been asked before; I found a link a while ago to the timing band that you can print out, but can't find it now I need it. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Battling a fat pad injury in my knee, but fingers crossed it will be OK on Sunday (first marathon)!
Thanks
Another question:
I was thinking of taking a laxative on Saturday night as nerves etc mean that I usually cant empty my bowels until I start running. Do you think this would be ok if I perhaps took one tonight as a practice run? Sorry, but this is bothering me because if I have to stop and queue for the loo, going to lose precious minutes.
Also, where is the Sat evening pasta meet up? What time?
Regarding the loos, had a mare starting from the back last year. Really needed to go as soon as got onto the Strasse de 17 Juni - but the toilets were an absolute mess, no paper etc. Ran on to first portaloos at 10k - there were numerous, clean and still intact with accoutrements etc. There are many loos near the baggage dropoffs. If you have to nip into a portaloo rapidly at some point, relax - it ain't gonna kill your time.
Pasta Saturday night? I'm game. No plans yet as I recall... I thought most people were doing their own thing...
I've well and truly got 'the bug' with Abingdon, Nice-Cannes and then Lisbon already booked for this year and then London and Comrades booked for next, plus Manchester and Milton Keynes in mind to try and teach my body to cope with more milage before June. I might squeeze something in in February and/or March if I feel like my body could take it (which I'll know when I return from the Riviera).
On NYC. I agree partially with TD about it not being great or anywhere near worth the price. What they are doing this year with charging people extra just to take a baggage, like a low cost airline, is laughable. Certainly, one way to attempt to deal with their terrible post-race support could be to price discriminate it away. (Thanks to whoever brought the excellent podcast 'marathon talk' - where this was discussed - to my attention, I've been trying to catch up with all the previous episodes this week). Something I would like from NYC is the weather from last year, which would be great for Sunday. Cool, still, dry, warming up a little.
I'm off in the morning so will look out for everyone at the breakfast run, around the 3hr pacers, or underneath piles of pig at Georg's. I'll have my union flag and st george cross tattoos on as well as that red stripey vest from the photo.
Bon Voyage and good luck to all.
just had this for lunch, don't think I'll eat again all week
Is that at the we are meeting after the race? You are having a really good recce! As I said pages ago, I'm not too sure about it either after 26.2 + gels + sports drink could be recipe for disaster.
I did New York a few years ago and loved it, apart from the early (4.30am) bus to the start which meant a lot of sitting around in the cold. I loved the occasional glimpses you get of the Manhattan skyline in the earlier miles and just generally there was always something to look at or something going on along the entire route. Americans are also very loud! Did VLM this year and it didn't even compare. So congested for most of the route and lots of shoving from other runners made for a really frustrating run. I've got in again next year and hoping my boyfriend gets a ballot place so we can run it together otherwise I'm not too fussed about doing it again.
Would love to do Boston and Florence next but have got Brighton and Hastings halfs lined up for next year so far.
Leisa- you could try espresso on marathon morning. Usually gets things moving!
Leisa, Cookie - coffee works for me too!
David, Leisa - ok, what are your staying arrangements? I'm in Kreuzberg (probably not far from Tempelhof itself) and only arrive Saturday at about 2pm. I'm dumping stuff at my 'pension' and should be at Tempelhof by 4.
I can look out a place for pasta and try and book ahead somewhere central - or anywhere with a metro near by really... Let me know where and if you're interested?
Others - any recommendations? I've never eaten Italian in Berlin!
Iain
Anyone have any views on out-and-backs versus point-to-point? When thinking about future races if I see a course is out-and-back I usually just cross it out and move onto the next one. Don't like the idea of running down the road with fast ones coming down the other side already. For this reason I'll never run Edinburgh even though I'm 15 minutes walking distance from the start line.
Leisa - don't try this if you haven't before, but another alternative is to take something that stops you going to the toilet during the race. I have the problem of badly needing to empty my stomach every time I run without exception, so I'm afraid bowel bunger upper pills are a routine part of my running effort... I don't like taking medication of any sort but it's either that or not running at all.
ADG - think you might need said pills after that!
leisa I get nervous as hell as well. don't take anything, apart from the dehydration issues it's all part of the fun...just find a toilet you can use and when you start it'll all sort itself. if not there'll be plenty of toilets on the way, or just jump behind a bush...no one will see you again and you won't care, so don't worry...
strunner...protein is good 3 days before,,,now for carbs...not pasta though...
heavy rain again today, but i think it did calm down and looks like pb weather on Sunday!!!!
I'm only 180 miles away...I'll be in Berlin Friday...watched spirit of the marathon all I can say is wow
!!!!!!!!!!!COME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Iain - Gorgonzola Club is an Italian in Kreuzberg and the food there is excellent. You might have to book on Saturday night though, and while the portions are good, they may not be pre-marathon size.
My 2 cents on New York - have done it twice, the schlepp to the start is a pain, as is getting your bag at the end. The actual run though I think is superb and I personally love the route. Crowd-wise I'd say 1st Avenue and Central Park are about as noisy as Tower Bridge and the Embankment.
gigantic
Good packing list by the way
Anyone else sew their number on? Still undecided re compression top and vest or just vest.... Decisions decisions
Have decided to take weetabix as my pre race brekkie, i always used to do porridge before races if available but a few times recently tried weetabix instead and worked well for me.
Googled weetabix and running tonight and seems like I'm not the only one
Easy to take along and sort in morning too.
NYC - I did it in 2009 and loved every minute of it, even getting to start was fine even though train, ferry, bus sounds complicated at 5am it really wasnt but maybe I was lucky.