Berlin Marathon

Berlin Marathon

Berlin Marathon

( 37 reviews )
100% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Berlin,
    Germany
  • September
  • 26.2 miles/Marathon
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Jessica Murphy

Portland, Oregon, United States
176 62
2017
"A PR course!"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Jessica Murphy's thoughts:

I'm honored to run any major and Berlin was not any different. I was gunning for a PR and despite wet, rainy, humid conditions I was able to pull it out!

It had all of the energy and excitement of the other majors i've run (Chi, Boston, London), but a few things that made the race different.

Expo - A unique space but VERY tight quarters. Be prepared for the crowds

Swag - I loved the option to not get a shirt. Race shirts don't always fit me great so it gave me the option to use that money to buy other race swag. BUT...the official race gear this year seemed like a small collection and not the best pieces.

Race Start/Finish - Location is great and accessible by nearby hotels or train so that was great. In the morning though, the gear check locations were not properly labeled so it led to a lot of wandering. There was also unnecessary crowding because porta-pottie lines were flowing into the sidewalk. The start felt chaotic to me...and then the corrals were 100% full....literally people on all sides with zero room to move at all. I have never experienced crowding like that in a corral before so it was a bit claustrophobic

Course - Loved running through the city. You really get to see some different neighborhoods. The aid stations were def different from the US majors. Plastic cups for water (not ideal) and often water before their electrolyte drinks (which was served in paper cups). They also had stations with tea, and a red bull station! But I didn't partake in those :). You run over a number of train tracks so watch out for those. I was particularly nervous because it was rainy.

Finish - Make sure you look at the map because there are a lot of turns the last 2 miles and false finishes. You also run through the Brandenburg gate which is awesome, you want to feel like that's the finish, but it's not - keep going!! :)

Post-race you do move through pretty fast. They had shower stations which was nice if people wanted to hang out for a while at the post-race party, but I just bundled up and head back to my hotel via the train. Medal was nice this year (bigger than the one I saw last year!).

Overall, it's a major so it's a must. It was definitely interesting to see different race traditions in other countries!

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