I ran the 2018 Berlin Marathon on September 16th.  It was my 13th marathon overall and 5th World Major Marathon.  The journey to the start line was unlike any other. I had to take over two and a half months off of running due to injury.  But I did it! Read on for my 2018 Berlin Marathon race recap!

Training

For those following the blog for a while, you know I injured my hamstring and adductor at the beginning of July.  It was really hard for me to deal with at first (read here).  However, after a major perspective shift, the injury became an opportunity to grow instead of a challenge that defeated me.  With that, I began cross training.  From pool running, to treadmill hiking, to biking, to strength classes, I did very little running for three months leading up to the race.  You can read more on how I trained for the marathon with an injury here.

At the start of the summer, my goal was to run a PR and get closer to the 3:00 barrier.  But then I got injured.  After taking two months completely off of running, and only building up to three days a week with my longest run as 10 miles, I had to change my goal for Berlin.  My goal became just finish and run another World Major.  

Travel

My younger brother, Jon, and I left Wednesday afternoon.  We flew Aer Lingus with a stopover in Dublin.  We landed in Frankfurt on Thursday and then took a train from Frankfurt to Berlin.  It saved us about $250, but in hindsight next time I would just try to fly straight into Berlin.  The train added an extra 5 hours to our trip, and we both just wanted to arrive already.

In Berlin, 9 of us stayed in an Air BnB. I knew the others from Chicago November Project or other running groups.  Our house was conveniently located in the Mitte neighborhood. We were able to easily travel around the city and to the Expo and race.  Plus, staying in an Air Bnb gave us a kitchen. That way we could make our pre-race meals without having to worry.

2018 Berlin Marathon Expo

I planned to arrive on Thursday in order to go to the Expo first thing on Friday.  I had heard it was kind of a cluster.  Was it ever!  The check in process was inefficient and created bottlenecks and very long lines.  At the first checkpoint, participants showed the confirmation email.  Then 20 yards later, we showed our confirmation email AND IDs.  Then in another 20 yards, we waited to receive participant bracelets.  That was just to ENTER the Expo!

Once we had the bracelet, we could enter the Expo.  Of course, our packets were at the very end.  And of course there was another long line.  When I saw the massive crowd waiting to enter the packet pickup area, I decided to head to the Adidas booth to buy gear first. I’m glad I did because it was a madhouse!  No race shirt is included with registration. You can purchase one during registration, or wait until the Expo.  Apparently, most people waited until the Expo.  Most of the jacket sizes were already sold out as well as T-shirts.

Pro Tip: I did not know this at the time, but there was a booth selling official gear at the Brandenburg Gate.  They had plenty of sizes and zero lines.

My favorite highlight from the expo was Adidas commitment to the environment.  They debuted reusable silicone cups.  The cups were collapsible and had a thumb hole to carry them easily.  Along the course, there were stations to refill.  The idea was for runners to carry the cups with them and refill along the course in order to save on cups.  In theory, it worked better than in reality, as I will describe later.  But I LOVED the idea and I hope that more marathons move in this direction!

Berlin Marathon Breakfast Run

The Saturday before the Berlin Marathon is the 6k Generali Breakfast Run.  It’s a shakeout run that starts at Schloss Charlottenburg and ends with a lap around the track at the Olympic Stadium.  Thousands of people participate.

Since it’s a fun run, we ran slowly and even waked occasionally because of the crowd. I found it more crowded than the actual marathon! However, it’s a blast and I would recommend doing it! There’s so much energy and most people dress in crazy costumes.  One guy even ran with a LIT Olympic Torch!  We asked for a picture with him and he handed me the torch instead.

After running the lap around the stadium, runner climb the stairs to an open field.  There are dozens of tents set up offering breakfast.  Apples, bananas, donuts, pastries, granola bars, yogurt, coffee, tea and water.  There were vegan granola bars, plus I grabbed a few bananas and water bottles.  We hung around for a while, soaking in the pre-race atmosphere, before heading home for more substantial meals.  Later, we all took a boat tour to sightsee and save the legs.

Race Day

Like the Boston Marathon, New York Marathon, and Tokyo Marathon, participants for the Berlin Marathon wait in a large field before the race.  After a quick train ride from the Air Bnb, we arrived around 7:45am and found a nice grassy area in front of the Reichstag to relax.  There were many running groups; one group brought a flag and metal stake to hammer into the ground… so much for security?

Also similar to the other World Major Marathons, the Berlin Marathon has a later start.  Elites and Wave 1 begins at 9:15am.  Wave 2 at 9:25, Wave 3 at 9:45 and Wave 4 at 10:05.  Participants are seeded based on their fastest time EVER.  As such I was in Wave 1, which worked to my benefit.  I figured I would start my warmup around 8:30 and make my way into the corral around 8:45/9am.  Pro Tip:  Get in line for the bathroom as early as you can.  I’ve never seen Porta-Potty lines that long!  I waited for 25 minutes in my line and immediately had to run to the start corral.

2018 Berlin Marathon Race Recap

Here are my highlights from the race:

PROS:

• There are jumbo screens in the start corrals so participants can see the start of the handbike, wheelchair and elite runner races.

• My race plan was to start out at 8:45 pace and gradually pick it up if I felt ok.  Luckily, I was seeded in the last corral of the first wave, the 3:00 – 3:15 pace. This meant most runners took off at closer to a 7:00 pace, leaving plenty of running room for me in the first few kilometers.

• The course is flat and fast.  It’s a really nice tour of the city. Kipchoge even ran a new world record, 2:01:39!

• It was really easy to see my brother and Kyle (Katie’s fiance) during the race.  They were cheering at the 8k, 20k and 36k.  The train system was superb and they easily got around the course.

• Around mile 16, the second wave started to catch up.  Liz, one of the athletes I was coaching, ran up by me and said hi.  She was struggling, thinking of a DNF, but kept going.  After, I found her among the post-race crowds, proud that she showed the mental strength to hang in there.

• I ran my most consistent race ever. My first half was 1:47:55 and the second half was 1:48:05.  Just a 10 second difference! Plus my hamstring felt TOTALLY FINE!

• Jon and I executed the PERFECT water bottle toss.  Good timing too because it started to get warm and I was out of fluids.  I didn’t want to deal with the water stations if I didn’t need to.  Such a good boost to see him and get new fuel.

• This was the LONGEST I ran on road since the Tokyo Marathon in 2017.  My quads were shredded by mile 20, which initially disappointed me (I thought it meant I lost more fitness than I imagined).  But when I realized my long run milestone around mile 22, it made the pain more manageable.

CONS:

• The Berlin Marathon uses PLASTIC cups. You can’t pinch and drink on the run!  Each water station was a big bottle neck as runners slowed down to drink.  Most walked.  The plastic cups also crunched under our feet and created pretty slick road conditions. Definitely among the worst water stops I’ve experienced in a marathon.  I avoided the first few which accelerated my fatigue later.  When I did stop, I had to walk through them all.

• The reusable water cup was better in theory than in practice.  First, the spouts were not well marked.  I would have almost run passed them before realizing I needed to stop.  Second, I was expecting a trough or something where I could scoop up water and keep running.  Instead, there were 4 small faucets, with continuously running water.  No possibility to run through and fill up with enough water.  Third, they were at hip level.  I tried refilling my handheld at one, but when I went to pick it up, I knocked it against the spout and it ricocheted out of my hands.  More stopping. 

• On the course, Beetster is the electrolyte drink.  It’s a combination of beetroot, ginger, lemon balm, grape peel and various other extracts.  It’s vegan (yay!) and I consume beets and ginger regularly.  However, it did not taste good, and was not something I wanted to drink in a race.

• I think I could have run faster and gotten into BQ territory had I not needed to stop so many times during the race.

Overall, the Berlin Marathon was ok.  I’m proud to have finished, especially with the way training went.  I have now completed 5 of the 6 World Major Marathons.  Only the London Marathon remains!  However, between the Expo and the race day organization and logistics, I was not very impressed.

On the other hand, I really enjoyed spending time in Berlin.  It’s the most vegan-friendly city I’ve ever visited.  I’ll recap vegan options in Berlin in a future post.  After the race, Jon and I traveled to Amsterdam.  The city completely stole my heart, and I can’t wait to go back one day.  Amsterdam does have a marathon…

Hope you enjoyed this Berlin Marathon race recap! Have you ever run Berlin?  Have you traveled to an international race?  Let me know in the comments below!  And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram @rabbitfoodruns or on Strava for more fitness related posts.  

Happy running,

Becca