A Hot Time at the Berlin Marathon

Pre-trip

For the umpteenth year in a row, I entered a bunch of running lotteries and promptly forgot about half of them. Most of the ones I'm entering have a pretty low percentage of getting in so it feels like a fool's errand to even check sometimes. But this past December, I got an email telling me that I got into the Berlin Marathon for 2025.

Except, uh oh. I was already going to Europe in summer of 2025 to run Eiger 250. And Eiger was a commitment I'd made with friends so it definitely took priority. Somewhere in the back of mind, I hoped I could make both work so I paid the registration fee and put it on the backburner.

I didn't want to make a decision about it until after Eiger because I wasn't sure if I'd still like running. Okay, maybe not really, but it was a big transition of TYPE of running. To be honest, my body was a WRECK after that race. I felt like a bag of bones for weeks. My feet were peeling for over a month. But eventually, I started to feel like myself again and while I knew I wasn't going to be running a marathon PR, I felt confident I could finish in a reasonable time.

But the more difficult part was finding a way to get away for 5 nights and get help for Adam again so soon. Luckily, Jeff came to our rescue and graciously was able to fill-in for the entire trip. Phew! Now I just had to book my overpriced flight and Airbnb.

Everything came together and all of sudden, I was like, shit, I'm racing a world major in a few weeks!

Pre-race travel

I left on a Wednesday afternoon and arrived in Berlin late Thursday morning. I debated on taking an Uber or taxi from the airport, but I had a ton of time to kill before my host could meet me at the Airbnb so I decided to take the train. The marathon gives all runners a voucher to use the trains/subway/trams for Thursday- Sunday within the city so this was also the far less expensive option.

I found my way to the apartment with no issue and then went in search of lunch. I ended up at an Italian restaurant on the corner and had a pizza and a beer. There was a park nearby and so I people-watched for about an hour and then the host texted me that the apartment was ready. We met up so he could hand me the keys and show me how they worked in the very old locks. I don't know the age of the building, but it was certainly older than many buildings in America.

 
I took a shower because I felt gross from traveling and then rode the train out to the expo to pick up my bib. I followed a bunch of people towards the wrong building because they looked like they knew where they were going and laughed when someone told me they followed me because I looked like I knew where I was going. That snafu allowed me to make a friend while we found the correct building who was running her first marathon!

Bib pickup was pretty smooth. They scanned your QR code from an email, put a cloth wristband on your wrist, and then actually printed out your bib right there. Finisher shirts are not included with the registration, but you could opt to buy one with your registration and I did. I also picked up my 5k bib because I decided at the very last minute to do that on this trip too! From there, I went to the Adidas shop and bought a hoodie and arm warmers for myself and a t-shirt for Adam.

 
I was determined to stay up as late as I could so I went to Brandenburg Gate after that which was cool in the evening light. And then onto Checkpoint Charlie for my last bit of touristing for the day.

I went to a grocery store to buy myself dinner and a few snacks. Then I was properly exhausted and fell asleep quite easily.

The next morning, I got up and did a short run from the apartment in a nearby park. There were lots of people out walking their dogs, running, taking their kids to school, etc. One of the many things I love about running is how it lets me see so much of a city.

Back at the apartment I had this somewhat crazy idea to go to Poland for the day. I did a little research and found that the town of Szczechin was only 2 hours away on a bus. So I could go there, spend a few hours in the town, and come back all in the same day. I tried to get my life together to get to the bus depot by 10am so I could take that one, but I ended up taking the tram in the wrong direction and had to wait until the 12:20pm bus departure.

The bad news is that I had less time in Szczechin, but the good news is that I had time to confidently figure out where the bus pickup was, get a cappuccino and a few croissants, and explore a church from the 1200s. I bought a few emotional support soft pretzels for my border crossing and then boarded a $19 ($38 roundtrip) bus to Poland.

Once I arrived I decided to walk a big loop into the town center. And maybe grab lunch if something caught my eye. It was a gorgeous day and I snapped pictures of cool old buildings and sat on a park bench watching the city around me. 

I passed a restaurant called “Best Restaurant” that looked like it might serve pierogis and beer so I retracted my steps back to it and lo and behold, I was right.

It was here that I realized that Poland does not use the Euro. They took credit cards, but I laughed at myself when I saw the menu prices had a “z” next to them instead of a “€”. I literally was Googling “does Poland use the Euro?” in this restaurant. There was a lot of pointing and smiling in this experience, but I got the pierogis and beer and managed to pay for them successfully. 

Then it was time to do a little souvenir shopping and back on the bus to Berlin. I thought about going out to eat when I got back, but I decided to just get grocery dinner again and ate some of it on my walk back.

I had a hard time falling asleep that night and not because I was nervous about the 5k lol. I think it was because I had a Coke in the afternoon and am annoyingly caffeine sensitive. Ugh.

Eventually I dozed off and woke up feeling pretty good for my intense prior 2 days. I got dressed, had some breakfast in the apartment (thanks to my grocery adventures), and then got on the train.

I got to check out the pieces of the Berlin wall in Potsdamer Platz which is where the 5k started.

I can translate kms to miles pretty easily, but paces are a different story. So the lazy American is Googling, “pace per km to mile conversion” to get myself in the correct corral.

 
The race itself was fun and I just did a nice jog since I was running a marathon the following day. It finishes just past the Brandenburg Gate like the marathon so I was extra excited to visualize my finish for the following day.

Among things like water and bananas, they gave out jelly donuts (!!) and non-alcoholic beer (!!) in the finish chute which was a fun surprise. I didn't stick around long though because I was ready to go into sloth mode. Re: get off my feet and eat and hydrate.

I went back to Airbnb and went to the grocery (again) for lunch and dinner provisions. Plus, I grabbed stuff for after the race. Re: beer and chips.

I spent the afternoon and evening doing a whole lot of nothing. Reading, playing games on my phone, listening to music, and lots of eating and hydrating. This was a vacation too. And while I was in a cool city, I needed to be off my feet so I totally enjoyed this half day of just putzing. I made pasta with pistachio pesto and burrata for dinner which is my absolute favorite and fell asleep pretty easily.

 
Race day

I slept really well and woke up feeling excited to go race. I knew it was going to be hot which I hate, but I also live in Atlanta so at least I'm used to hot. Doesn’t make it suck less, but I also knew what I needed to do. Adjust my pace/goal expectations, douse myself in water at every opportunity, and drink early and often.

I had a soft pretzel and a pre-made Starbucks drink for breakfast and donned my race outfit, hoping my new crop tank would be the least of my worries. Spoiler: it was perfect.

I lubed up my body with a pound of chamois butter and loaded my pockets with my gels, my hydration, my pre-race snacks, and my enormous Airbnb keys. I'm super glad Rhea told me in advance of the race to bring a handheld. I literally think this saved my race.

The train was a short ride to the start and it was easy to figure out where to go with the masses of runners all going in one direction. The signs were easy to follow as well and though it was a long walk, I eventually made it to the corral area. I was so early and didn't really need to pee, but got in line anyway because I'd heard stories about them being really crazy. 

Then it was time to go sit on the curb. I had flashbacks of Chicago 2022. People doing warmup jogs in the corral, a world major, and I was coming off a summer of mountain running.

I was able to use my Boston 2023 time to secure a spot in the B corral in which you had to have a verified 3:15 or faster. But I was nowhere near PR shape. A part of me had thought about going back a bit, but I wanted to take advantage of every ounce of cooler weather and less people. I was in the 2nd of 10 total corrals so it was only going to get more crowded the further back I went.

 
I ate a Snickers bar about 30 minutes before the start and then had Roctane GU with caffeine 15 minutes prior. I had some electrolytes in a separate bottle that I had been sipping on all morning and then tossed that bottle. My handheld had a full serving of Skratch electrolytes and I carried 4 Precision gels and 2 Torq gels. My plan was to take a gel every 30 minutes and I figured I was somewhere in 3:30-3:45 shape. The heat being the big question mark.

We watch the handcycles start, then the push chairs, and then the elites. Then it was our turn! They made a bunch of announcements and I got all weirdly emotional standing there. Like cutting onions, happy emotions. Thank goodness for sunglasses. Finish lines are still best, but there is also something so special about start lines too. All those training runs and hope and excitement. We're all just nervously twitching about trying to be cool, but we cannot wait to just go already.

And then it happened, I'm crossing the start line, running my 4th major and the Berlin freaking marathon!

There was zero chill in the beginning. I felt swallowed up by the crowd and I started in the very back of corral B. There were a few people that obviously were not in the correct place, but for the most part, people were hauling. Honestly, the first few kilometers were a blur. They went by so fast and I went through the first 5k waaaay faster than anticipated.

I pumped the brakes and got myself back in line. I had zero business running anything in the 7s that early in the heat. If, and only if, I felt good in the LAST 10k would I be okay with that pace. I never got back into the 7s so I guess it was good I calmed down!

So once I settled in and found a rhythm, I started to feel a little more relaxed. The water stops were a little more spread out in the early miles and even though I had my handheld, I stopped at all of them. First, for one cup to drink a little and pour over my head. And later, 2 cups, one for drinking and one for dousing myself. I filled up my handheld probably 4-5 times which took extra time, but I think staying hydrated was one of the reasons I felt so good in the second half.

Anyway, the race has a ton of turns which keeps it kind of interesting. I found it really easy to follow the 3 blue stripes painted on the road and at least make some attempt at running the tangents. It gave me something to concentrate on sometimes which is often necessary in the midst of voluntary suffering.

 
I remember thinking the 10k mark came up really fast and then 12k and I was like how is this a quarter over already? Which I guess is a good place to be! But then the 12k-20k section kind of drug on. The sun was out in full force and any section that wasn't shaded felt extra brutal. I made sure to run through every single hose spray aimed at the course.

Maurten had cups of their 160 drink mix out somewhere in this section and I downed a whole cup knowing that they didn't offer any other electrolyte drink on the course. I was very grateful for my handheld for that reason.

I watched the 2023 race from the 20k mark on YouTube a few weeks ago during a workout on the treadmill so I rallied my brain to get excited again. Hopefully I'd recognize some of the sights!

They had a flying wheelchair 400m sign in this section. I was expecting a downhill, but it sure felt oddly uphill. By all accounts this race is really flat. There are a few elevation changes, but I can totally see how people come here to PR (when it's not 80°F).

I was waiting for the carnage to begin shortly after the 21k mark. There were still plenty of people running by me, but as the race wore on, I started doing more passing.

Apparently the course went right by the street my Airbnb was on between the 23-24k markers, but I didn't know that until I finished.

I felt pretty even-keeled throughout the race, pushing a bit after I cooled off from a water dousing and relaxing when I needed to sip down a gel. I really think that getting in so many carbs and slowly sipping electrolytes and water throughout the race saved me.

Also, not putting any major pressure on myself helped. Like, if a bad day is “just” finishing a marathon, is that really a bad day? Sure, I'd love to BQ right out in the beginning of the qualifying period, but I'm also currently signed up for at least 2 more marathons and hopefully one will be cooler than 80°F. So I told myself just freaking run. Get right to that edge where you're pushing but knowing you still have to get to 26.2 miles. And whatever happens, happens.

Around 30k, I felt reasonably confident that I'd hit my aging up BQ time (3:45) as long as something disastrous didn't happen. That's when the shit-eating grin came out. I pointed at funny signs, high-fived kids, and pumped my arm in the air. It was still hard, but it was also so fun too. My legs felt fine, my feet felt fine, my cardio felt fine. It was just hot.

After 35k, the crowds started to thicken and got louder and louder as we approached the finish. There were a bunch of sponsored sections which had music and confetti cannons and were full of energy. I know it's not for everyone, but I love the chaos of the loud crowds of big city marathons. Especially if I'm feeling good and there are people to hype me up even more.

The course goes through Potsdamer Platz like the 5k and I was so giddy at that point of what it was going to feel like to see the Gate. The road really widened here and made for some cool photos. I knew once we started making left turns that we were headed for the finish.

I was blasting my own music the whole time and Lindsey Sterling's song Underground came on right as I made the final turn to see the Gate. Something about a violin piece made this extra perfect. 

Eventually, the crowds were too loud to hear my own music, but at that point, I was locked into soaking in the finish line moments.

How cool it is to experience something you've watched over and over again in film and other people's pictures and then to experience it yourself!?

And then I was crossing the long-awaited finish line. 3:37:35!

  

I was so happy and so relieved it went as well as it did. There were a few dark patches and a few miles I had to work through, but given my short training cycle and a hot day, I was stoked.

 I felt pretty nauseous in the first few minutes and nervously looked for a trash can, but I kept walking with as much purpose as I could muster and felt better the more I kept going.

They gave out a post-race bag with some food and then I went to get my unnecessary poncho and my necessary non-alcoholic beer. I slowly sipped the beer on the way to the train station and the sun actually felt good on my soaking wet clothes now that I was walking.

I never was cold enough to put the darn poncho on even on the train ride and the walk back to my hotel. I immediately showered and then became one with the Airbnb sofa, a bag of chips, and a bunch of water and juice.

After I talked to Adam, peed a couple times, and took a nap did I allow myself a proper beer while I made myself dinner. I thought about going out one last time to dinner, but I was so cozy in my Airbnb that I decided to just embrace fully relaxing.

Monday, I actually felt really good and was very happy I didn't have to hobble. I went to pick up a few souvenirs from my new favorite place, yes, the grocery store. I also had breakfast at their café and then went back to get all my stuff. I took one last walk through the beautiful little cemetery and hopped on the train to the airport feeling really happy the stars aligned (with the help of good people!) to make this one happen.