At the end of September I dragged my husband off on a running ‘themed’ long weekend away (everyone’s favourite, no?) to Germany. Ok ok, I say themed as though running didn’t take over the whole trip and as though it was for the both of us, but let’s be real it absolutely did take over as I was off to run the Berlin Marathon!
My third marathon, second world major marathon and first race abroad, this was a general bundle of excitement and nerves, but overall it was an amazing experience so here is my personal race recap as well as my top tips for anyone else heading off to run the Berlin Marathon in future!
For context – Berlin Marathon is one of the Abbot World Marathon Majors and whilst there are several ways to secure a spot, as per all the world majors there is no easy way to just register yourself a place. I entered the ballot (or lottery as they call it) and was very lucky to get a place in my first one. The ballot for 2025 places has just closed. It’s typically open in Oct/Nov each year (after the race in Sept) so pop it in your diary if you’re keen to put your name in the hat for future years!
Race recap
Firstly, W-O-W! What an amazing marathon experience. 50,000 runners, a flat and smooth course, fantastic spectators, music and bands, and generally just a GREAT route to run 26.2 miles! Berlin itself is a cool city but not necessarily a ‘beautiful’ city in the traditional sense and I would say that it doesn’t have that many sights to see. So, in my personal opinion, the route isn’t particularly pretty but it’s definitely a good city route which allows you to get a decent feel for Berlin. It’s also not like the route distracts you from the race, so definitely some perks.
Going into the race I knew I was as prepared as I’d ever be. I’d followed a Runna training plan for 18 weeks. I’d stayed injury free, I’d been at the gym regularly and this had been my goal race for the year. I had my A, B and C goals, I’d loaded up on my carbs, stayed hydrated and I had everything ready to go the evening before. We’d been to the expo, taken lots of photos, got excitable, picked up my race bits, eaten pasta for dinner. On the morning of the race I was up, dressed, fed and headed to the starting area. It’s right by the Brandenburg Gate – great vibes for envisioning the finish line in a few hours time! We also stayed very close to the start/finish line (just a few stops on the metro) which we probably paid for in the cost of the accommodation but it was super helpful. It was a sunny day, cool with blue skies – marathon running perfection!
The starting area was probably the worst part of the day to be honest – we were stuck in the starting pen for ages with horrendous queues for the toilets and no organisation to them at all. I probably queued for a portaloo for 30 mins after which our pen started moving and people started PANICKING that we were going to miss our start time. One American guy started banging on the toilet doors telling people to hurry up! Of course, as it takes so long for everyone to shuffle along and for the organisers to handle the different waves, we didn’t actually get to the start line area for another 15-20 mins. It also turned out there were more toilets outside of the starting pens before the starting line, but nobody had known that! I definitely think the organisers could deal with the starting pens better and at least have marshalls there to help communicate and organise people. People are nervous enough before running a marathon, so this mess definitely didn’t help.
I did a very quick warm up as we walked towards the start line (admittedly a bit of a panic one after the toilet/starting pen chaos!) and started to enjoy the hype atmosphere at the starting line. I must admit I felt they kept us there for a bit too long, I was raring to go and just wanted to get moving. I know they have timings and waves to stick to and all that, but you get so nervous waiting at start lines!
Finally we crossed the start line as they played ‘Intoxicated’ by Martin Solveig and we were off! I settled into a steady pace and knew I wanted to keep it easy for a while, so no rushing off in excitement, lots of watch checking to make sure I wasn’t going too fast, and just settling in to a comfortable speed. You always want to speed up a bit in the early stages but remember there’s a long way to go yet! I also wanted to enjoy the atmosphere and had to keep telling myself ‘I’m doing it!’ – it’s really easy to get swept up in the moment and forget that this is what you’ve been training for for months! It’s so important to absorb and acknowledge all your hard work that’s got you to that point in the first place.
My plan was to keep my easy pace going until around 30k and then ideally to try to add some more energy into the pace for the next 5-6k before attempting to ‘send it to the end’ – it was always an ambitious plan from me given consistency and negative splits on a long distance haven’t ever really worked for me before! Not to mention even on a good day it is one hell of a way to run before trying to speed up. But I knew if I fell short of that but still kept under a 7:00/km average pace I’d be on for one of my goals, so I tried to stay positive but not put too much pressure on myself and just keep moving one foot in front of the other.
I am very proud of myself in that I kept up a pretty comfortable and steady easy pace until around 30k. I don’t think I slowed to walk at all in the first half, and it was only after half way that I chose to use some of the water stations as a brief walking break to hydrate and give my legs some short recovery. Before then I was trying to keep running with my water, which is definitely a skill I haven’t quite mastered yet! So far this was already stronger than my previous marathons and my training runs – I really think the momentum of race day keeps you moving along so much more than in a lonely training run.
Now, around half way I wanted to grab my electrolyte tablets which I’d popped in my secure zipped back pocket in my shorts. I reach back to take them out and lo and behold, were they there? Well I couldn’t for the life of me find them. I was fumbling around in the pocket for ages wondering where they were when I KNEW I had definitely put them in there that morning. Runners behind me were probably wondering what I was doing fumbling around in the pocket on my bum! The pocket wasn’t exactly big so it didn’t take very long to have to come to terms with the fact they weren’t in there. I just had to accept the confusion and accept there would be no electrolytes for me. Not ideal by any means in a marathon, but seemingly nothing I could do. Thankfully two of my gels had some electrolytes in so I would have to make do with those!
So back to the 30k mark and after going along nicely until then, I suddenly got a terrible stitch. As in, it sent me doubling over, as if someone had just prodded me deep into my side. It was SO weird for me at the time because I very rarely get stitches from running, so it seemed completely unusual and I couldn’t work out why it had happened. In hindsight it was most probably cramping due to the lack of aforementioned electrolytes!! But at the time it was such a shame because after a while I could barely run through it (I tried!) and so I had to slow down to a part walk, part jog in a effort to get rid of it. I used more walking through water stops in an attempt to get rid of it too and it would ease but then come back. To be honest I wasn’t sure what to do – whether to push through it in pain and risk ruining my race ending if it got worse/turned into something else (what if I just totally blew up before the end of the race?), or whether to take the hit then, walk for a bit and try to get rid of it in the hope that I could pick up for my race ending. I took the call to go with the latter as I knew if I could get rid of it then I could still try for a stronger finish. So this whole rigmarole lasted for about 5k, and is definitely the place where my pace drops in my splits.
It was a shame, but you just don’t know what’s going to happen in a marathon! Thankfully the decision I made seemed like the right one, as it did eventually ease off and I could get back on with my plan. I adjusted the original plan and kept up the steady pace rather than trying to speed up too soon, to be honest I was probably just scared the stitch would come back if I sped up early and I didn’t want to take that risk.
Anyway – as usual the late kilometres are tough and a real dig deep period. My husband Rupert who was diligently supporting me round the course called me to say he was at 40km which was very good motivation to get to that point looking good and then it really was a case of ‘see you at the end!’ – from there it was all about getting to that finish line, picking up the pace, putting the effort in and leaving everything I had left out on the course.
Turning the final few corners to see the Brandenburg Gate ahead of me was amazing, I almost don’t remember it now it feels like such a blur, but after four and a half hours I absolutely remember the relief at seeing the iconic gate which I had always known signified the race almost being over. It’s ahead of you for about 400m then you run underneath it (iconic) and then it’s a 400m final stretch to that finish line. Running over the blue ‘Abbot Marathon Majors’ mat in the final 50m was just the best feeling, absolute scenes of relief, joy and energy rushing over you!
Of course once you cross that finish line it’s like your body just goes ‘THANK GOD ITS OVER’ and all the aches and exhaustion pulsing through your muscles and joints suddenly intensifies, not to mention the mental exhaustion, the blur and the tears that fill your eyes knowing you’ve done it. I set my iPhone to video mode when the nice lady put my finishers medal over my head, just to remember that moment in future. It’s so easy to forget it in the blur of finishing.
I didn’t check my watch until I got out of the finishing area and met my husband who quickly announced I’d ‘done a good time’! I wanted to just absorb the atmosphere, the other runners around me and how I felt. Hobbling through the finish areas, being given my medal, my foil wrap, having my photograph taken, taking a post run beer (non alcoholic, good shout from the organisers!), desperately trying to call my husband amidst the chaotic no phone signal – it’s all part of the marathon experience and a total rite of passage.
I was so happy with my finish time of 4:49. I had ticked off my B and C goals (PB and sub 5 respectively) and whilst I just missed out on my A goal of sub 4:45 (blame the stitch situation!!) I instantly just thought that there was always time at the next marathon to go for that! Not only had I marathon PB’d, I done it over about 5 minutes. I’d run my strongest marathon yet, I’d had a strong finish, my last kilometre was my quickest and overall I just felt like I’d done myself and my training proud.
After eventually finding my husband, debriefing, changing into Birkenstocks, getting my photos and hobbling back to the metro, I had some serious rest at the hotel, before we headed out for some amazing post run pizza and wine. Berlin was full of marathoners in their t-shirts and medals and it’s such a lovely feeling to be a part of it too. Overall I just can’t believe I’m now a triple marathoner and I’m now on the lookout for the next one…
Tips and musings if you’re running the Berlin Marathon
If you’ve come for the tips I apologise that you’ve had to scroll through my entire race story to get to them! But having run Berlin as an international runner, here are my tips for other people to hopefully have just as an enjoyable race weekend as I did:
- Book your flights and hotel WELL in advance – prices are extortionately high for the whole weekend months in advance. You’ll probably spend a lot on travel and accommodation regardless so at least don’t wait until the last minute. I booked in Feb/March for the Sept weekend. As a participant you should get a discount at some hotels. Flights to Berlin from London were expensive. Like, too expensive/unreasonable. We chose to fly to Hamburg and make our own way to Berlin (we planned to get the train but ended up hiring a car in the end). Just do some research and work out what’s best for you.
- If you can, try to stay relatively close to the start and finish line. It’s at the same place, which makes logistics simpler. It’s much easier to not have a long journey to the start on race morning and similarly when you have to hobble back at the end!
- At the expo they give you a participant wrist band (as well as your race number etc) which you have to have on to take part on the day. So don’t skip the expo!!
- Give yourself more time than you think you need on the morning. As mentioned in my race recap, the starting pen experience was not great. Busy, disorganised, enormous toilet queues. Get there at least an hour before your wave time, it will help you be less stressed.
- The water stations are a mixture of water only or combined stations which have water, tea, bananas, etc – don’t try something new on race day if you haven’t trained with it and make sure you don’t pick up tea if you we’re hoping for water! Water stations are all on the right hand side of the course rather than both sides of the course, so you have to move over if you’re heading for a refreshment.
- The course is FLAT – enjoy it! There will be some tiny inclines as you go over some bridges etc, that’s all.
- The Brandenburg gate is NOT the finish line – keep going once you’ve run underneath the gate, there’s another 400m to go! Just remember to smile for the photographers…!
- The meeting points for friends and family are a little way away from the finish funnel. It probably took me 20 mins to get there. It’s pretty normal at a big city marathon, but just be prepared you have to keep walking quite a while until you can sit down!! Likewise the phone signal is terrible. You NEED to agree a meeting point in advance with any of your spectators (there are letters you can agree to meet them at) as it may be impossible to call or text them.
- Try to do some research and book yourself your favourite post run dinner for the evening. There is nothing worse than wandering around a different city trying to find something nice to eat when you’ve run 26.2 miles and are probably on something like 40,000 steps for the day. Get a plan! We booked a place called Standard Serious Pizza which was delicious and great vibes – 100% recommend.
- If you’re visiting Berlin for the first time, try to spare a bit of time to see the city. Whether it’s the days before or the morning after, it’s nice to take in some of the city you’ve travelled all the way to. Just don’t try to squeeze too much in, you’ll be tired!!!
Have you run Berlin Marathon before or are you in the ballot for next year? Let me know!
Ele x
chasingele.com 