Berlin Marathon race report
On 29th September a new world record number of 54,280 runners crossed the finish line of the 50th Berlin Marathon. Jose Rivas Gutierrez together with Caroline & David Robertson toed the line to fly the MAC flag amongst them. Not to forget cheerleading from Lottie!
Due to it being the 50th race there was much fanfare, starting on the Friday evening with an ‘opening ceremony’ event at the Brandenburg Gate with live music, motivational speeches from past winners and general razzmatazz. This also enabled you to walk the few hundred metres down to the already set up finish area to gather your thoughts ahead of race day. They had a pop up exhibition of memorabilia and history of the event too, which was quite interesting.
Chaos ensued at the event expo for the obligatory bib collection, which was the total opposite of anticipated German efficiency. Think of the worst queuing experience you’ve ever had and times it by 100!
Caroline and I booked our place on the start line with Sports Tours International as a running holiday to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary so were treated to some extra bells and whistles put on by sports tours. This included a post marathon Oktoberfest party with plenty of yodelling, thigh slapping and beer by the litre!
The race itself was all you would expect from a world marathon major. Huge crowds, entertainment and big atmosphere taking in many of the German capital’s sites. The extra 15,000 runners on top of the usual number did make the course crowded and water stations were a near death experience. The big finish striding under the Brandenburg Gate and the short distance to the gantry was pretty special.
It was a 2nd time attempt for Jose seeking vengeance after a very wet and cold 2019 race. After a great training block all was going well until a small injury hit during taper. As a result the PB he came for alluded him and it was mostly just painful! His words. Just means the sub 2.40 will have to wait, as well as another trip to Berlin in the future. Let’s hope it’s third times a charm! A 3.04 finish is still a seriously commendable achievement and he deserves huge congratulations for digging in and getting it done. Arguably even more impressively, he suffered a 2am delayed flight home following the race and still made it to work for 9am. Hopefully he’s now managed to get some sleep and we wish him a speedy recovery.
I ran with Caroline who was also seeking a PB after putting in some serious effort to get 3.50. Sadly a heavy cold hit her a few days out that got worse rather than better. When a 5k shake out run the day before had to be abandoned after less than a mile my hopes were not exactly high! An entire bottle of Powerade leaking and completely soaking her hydration vest an hour before the start put her spirits at an all time low. I pointed out that at least she was now cool and smelling of mango – which was not well received. She rallied though and comfortably ran even pace, showing the strength of her training. She crossed the line relaxed and reluctantly accepting of a 3.55 finish given her state of health. She’s aiming to go again in Yorkshire in 3 weeks to try and do her hard training more justice.
As is always the way with marathon running, lessons to learn and stories to tell!
