It’s possible that after 15 marathons, I’ve become a little too relaxed and am making some interesting decisions…like wearing new shoes on race day or testing our load of beets for the first time.
One of those things turned out to be a good decision.
The others didn’t do it.
I’m planning to do a full review of the Adidas Adizero EVO SL sneakers I wore on race day but spoiler alert, I really liked them (even if they didn’t have much wet grip) . And the beet/nitrate loading (spoiler alert, don’t do what I did and make sure you test them before race day!)
Listen to the Cook Eat Run podcast debrief with Lillie Bleasdale
I was running the Berlin Marathon with Westin and I’m very happy to be on the course this year after cheering last year. I already ran in Berlin once in 2014 and my personal best was 3.49 for a long time. I honestly don’t remember much about that race because I was so focused on a sub-4 finish, so my main goals this year were to look up, enjoy and have fun.
Race morning started with coffee and a square of Rice Krispie in bed (if you’ve ever stayed in a Westin before you know it’s hard to get out of heavenly beds!) before borrowing bikes from the hotel and ride my bike to drop off my bottles. Each Berlin Marathon runner is entitled to their own bottles on the course, all you need to do is have them labeled with your name, your bib number and the KM marker where you wish to place them. These must be placed in a special van. race morning between 7 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. Check out my reel for how this worked in reality.
Luckily, staying at the Westin Grand Berlin so close to the start line made it easy for me to drop off my bottles and bike back for breakfast.
Maybe I was a little too relaxed and didn’t expect the starting area to be as chaotic as it was (the expo was also carnage with crazy queues to get in and buy your racing products – too bad for German efficiency because everyone kept just kidding!) The queues for the toilets in the racing village lasted over an hour (after re-reading my recap of 2014 race, I realize that I probably should have read it before race day and anticipated this!) and so I didn’t have a chance to make my usual pit stop with two toilets before the race . I also almost missed my start wave because the gap to reach the corrals was so small that it caused significant delays and people trying to jump the fence (I actually did that in 2014, but this year , race volunteers threatened to be disqualified for those who jump the barriers to avoid taking risks!)
The gun went off and I planned to run for touch and try to find Thomas and Aubrey from Believe in the Run who I had seen leaving in front of me. I knew their goal was to arrive at around 4:30 so depending on my pace I could catch up with them (spoiler alert – I didn’t find them and ended up running the whole race solo but they had a great day for Aubrey’s first marathon!
About a mile later, I stepped off to the side to adjust my sock, already feeling a pressure point in my shoes and wondering if I had made a huge mistake by wearing new shoes. Luckily, remaking my sock seemed to fix the problem and I didn’t think about my shoes again during the race!
The first kilometers go by quite quickly, I feel like I have spent the most. some of them were telling me to slow down when I saw a 9.XX pace, thinking maybe I should run longer than 10 minutes based on my easy runs in training. I knew my friend Tash (who had come to help me with the content) would be 7 miles away – apparently my tracker wasn’t working, so it was a bit of a surprise to her when I walked past shouting her name.
I strongly recommend that you agree in advance with your spectators where they will be and on which side of the road. This makes your job much easier. to find your way. My mother usually brings a helium balloon with her when she can and wears a bright pink coat.
Before starting the race, I knew that I would probably need to use the restroom on the course. Remember those really long queues in the starting village – well, think about how many people were using them and imagine the smell (sorry if you’re eating!) The toilets I went into didn’t have no toilet and my eyes started watering/I started gagging as soon as I closed the door, so I peed as quickly as I could and immediately jumped out . A combination of no last-minute bathroom stops and nitrate loading meant that an 11-mile bathroom break was absolutely necessary.
KM 20 was my first hydration bottle on the course and I planned to see Tash again. The personal drink stops were actually pretty easy to navigate, usually with 3 tables of bottles in no particular order. I wasn’t running fast enough to miss mine, but I know people have completely missed theirs before. It’s worth getting a very distinctive bottle and decorating it with a flag or something obvious if you want to use them for a PB attempt.
My splits were pretty even at each 5k checkpoint and I tried to focus on those following me home to get little updates on my performance. This is one of the first races I’ve done solo, without close friends or my mother (who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer) and rather than thinking about how sad I was that she wasn’t not there, I focused on how lucky I am that she supported me through so many races. When things got difficult, I thought about the strength she had shown during the last six months of grueling treatment.
I found my bottles at KM 25 and 30 as well as took water from most of the water points along the route. Aside from the chaos of the race village and expo, the race itself is incredibly well organized and I found the water points easy to navigate with plenty of recycling bins. your plastic cups (unfortunately they are more difficult to fold and drink on the go than paper cups).
The race calculations told me I might be able to squeak under 4.10 if I picked up the pace in the final miles. Even though I didn’t have any close friends on the course, I knew I would see the Westin team at KM 41 and I saw a number of other running companions on the course, which made me really boosted morale. I also thought at times about how some of them. my fast friends had already finished and were probably on their way to Tracksmith to pick up a poster!
I think I got a little too excited to see friends coming in quick succession at km 40-41 and almost gave myself a chance by sprinting towards Olympia just before the Brandenburg Gate! She and I met at a Westin run on World Running Day in 2022 and have since seen each other again in Berlin and Barcelona. I love the connections you make through running and IG.
The final push felt like an all-out sprint and the Stava data tells me it was my fastest mile of the race, but my mental math was just wrong and I crossed in 4.11.04.
And burst into tears.
Oh, and I’m not talking about a few tears glistening down my cheeks.
Good sobs for getting through the race, the training, the hardest six months of my life because of what was happening to those around me.
Thanks to the runner who asked me if I was okay, suggested we go get our beers and kindly walked me back to the hotel (plus the many photos I asked him to take! Well done @stevenqpr, here is your photo credit!)
I texted Tash ahead of time to ask her to order me some chips and a Diet Coke (my post-marathon favorites) at the Westin Grand. Berlin before heading to the post-race celebrations on the roof terrace. Unfortunately my stomach wasn’t big enough for a few sips of fizz, but by chance a pumpkin spice latte looked amazing. After a shower and some time in the recovery area, we returned to the Brandenburg Gate for some medal photos. and the all-important Starbucks decaf.
Many thanks to Westin for the bib and for the chance to participate in the Berlin Marathon weekend with them. I became friends with the team there and it makes such a difference to be surrounded by people who support you personally and professionally. And thank you to everyone who has sent me a DM, commented on a post, or just read my blogs over the years!
What I wore
- Shoes – Adidas Adizero EVO SL (release end of October – full review to come)
- Shorts – old Lululemon Fast & Free
- Tank top – Nike
- Bra – Triumph Triaction Hybrid Lite
- Sunglasses – Goodr
How I Fueled Up for the Berlin Marathon
New customers can use code THERUNNERBEANS to save 10% on Xmiles my race fuel
