Berlin Marathon: Race report (or better: Rave report?)

Date: 25 September 2022
Goal: below 4min/km pace (2:48:40h)
Finish: 2:48:29h (3’59.76 pace 😎)
Rank: 946 (AG: 147)
Shoes: Adidas adios pro 3
Detailed training: Link

One week later, I’m still flashed and digesting the #berlinmarathon2022; what a wonderful and fun run!

Many of us marathon runners put a lot of work and sweat (and sometimes blood) into our training. We spend a lot of (lonely?) hours out there in the city, the woods, on the trails, and on the roads. Rather often than not, friends and family have to sacrifice time, while the stubborn and idealistic runner is (unrealistically?) aiming for perfection.

And despite everything, there’re only so many controllable parameters towards D-day:
health, injuries, fuelling, weather, lock-downs, and and and…

But sometimes, everything just clicks into place.
Feeling great, ideal weather, a strong Kipchoge, a really incredible crowd and a super organisation (for the faster and the slower). I am very grateful for how this race went, to all the people along the course, to the amazing volunteers, and especially to those of you who donated for supporting the grannies in Africa (Jede Oma zählt and Helpage), making all this possible. Some of them (and their orphaned grandchildren) will have secured rent thanks to you!

Above all, infinite kisses to Marina and the kids, who supported me all along .
It was a 2h48 party (and longer), and I savoured every second (almost) while flying through Berlin …

My master plan was to run below 4 min/km. I reached 3’59.76s, mission accomplished.

Race report (see plot below)

START:
I was in start block B (in front of that is A, logically, in front of that are the Pros, and in front of that the Elite runners!), and it was already incredibly busy at that point. But the Berlin marathon music gets you pumped pretty good!
I went out on the course quite conservative and was running at around 4’03/km, I probably should’ve targeted a bit closer to 4’00. But I learned from previous runs and held back my resources – I waited for km17 to throttle up a little. But already from the start, I was overtaking runners non-stop. This was basically the warm-up.

15-30KM:
Time to start pushing! Get into race mode and celebrate the feelings. Don’t forget the fuelling and throw in a gel every 5k plus some water and iso/drinks (Maurten). I dropped the pace to 3’50-3’55 and felt just great. My average pace dropped to goal pace of 4’00. I was on a high, the crowds were amazing, passed the HM mark thinking “whoop whoop, really? Half-time already?”.

This continued until above 30km where again I thought “oh wow, just 10k left, it’s a walk in the park”. The multiple 35k training runs, including marathon pace in five of them, clearly paid off. Nevertheless, twice I pulled myself behind a guy with a good pace (3’45-3’50), each of which I could follow around 6-7k but then had to let go. My feeling told me I’m getting too close to threshold pace (lactate building up too fast), and so did my heart rate.

But it was an amazing state of mind. Especially pulling into the last 10k with a good feeling and the certainty that there are still reserves to dig into. This was also when I made a little bet with myself if I manage to keep this pace (not disclosed), let’s see if I redeem it.

33-42.195KM:
Now the crucial part of the race started, the one that counts the most, the one that clearly can tell you “you went out too fast” and when everything can crumble into pieces. Of course, I felt some nagging here and there, and my hamstrings started to tighten up. But overall I felt good, realised at 35km, there wasn’t much I can lose anymore.

I went for it. Fastest km in the whole race, 3’40 pace, and the following 2-3k still below 3’50. Oops 😬, little too fast, battery status suddenly on red alert. A little lightheadedness (typical when dipping into the red zone) and the scary realisation “no way? I’m not gonna break down at 39k 😱”.
Remove speed, relax for one km, swallow one last gel and 2 more power jellies…

🏃‍♂️💥🔥💨 IT WORKED!

Was it the sugar, the finish line in the air, the increasing crowd on the last 2k: I don’t know, but pace back to 3’49 (km 41) and 3’40 (km 42), no time to spare, throw it all in, lactate alarm blinking again. But once you see the Brandenburg gate, half a km to go. Flying through the crowds, all pain is gone, smiling for the cameras, yelling at the people (who happily yell back).

Finish line. Geil geil geil! May I go for another round?

Nutrition:

• Evening before: my typical mashed potatoes, best race food ever! (full of carbs and very digestible)
• Breakfast: orange juice and one white bread roll, water and coffee
• Before starting: 0.5L Aquarius (stopped 15’ before gun) and one hydrogel just before gun
• Caffein powergels at 5, 12 and 20k
• Maurten drink mix 160 at 16, 25, 30, 35k (basically whenever I could get one, ~75ml each), they don’t taste to much (like the gel) but seem to provide quite a good boost of carbs
• Maurten gel at 27 and 33k
• Last powergel at 38k
• Powerbar jellies one each at 36, 37, 38, 39, 40k (hop and swallow, no chewing, no water)
• Conclusion: start eating early (already before the start) and eat consistently, even a few km out of the finish line. In total, the above should sum to around 220-250 grams of carbs, i.e., close to 100 gr/h.

I’ve done 7 marathons by now, one as a pacer (3h15), but Berlin was my first major. The atmosphere was so ecstatic and incredible (if that’s not clear by now 😅). No surprise it is famous for what it is. The organization was perfect and the chillout at the Finish-Line-Village just beside the Brandenburg gate (which seemed like a little Oktoberfest once I got there) is ideal for meeting friends, other people, and cheering the later runners on their last meters.
Now I need a comparison 😜!

Final comment:
Besides all those good things, I can also hear all the criticism and also understand it: is such a mass event necessary? All the related travel, all the money, all the waste and resources?
But then again: Where else do you see people from nearly all nations, all genders, all ethnicities and religions, hugging each other and crying, strangers in love with them and the world, embraced by their friends and families, bringing back those feelings all around the globe?
In days of fascists becoming again stronger than ever and tyrannic dictators with the most useless wars.
Isn’t it now that we need those sentiments the most?

The detailed training is listed here:
https://funrundad.com/2022/07/24/road-to-berlin/

Race video:
https://youtu.be/xq0HpUS-X74
Strava link:
Strava – Berlin Marathon

FunRun song
Die Toten Hosen – Tage wie diese