BMW Berlin Marathon 2013 race review

When I entered the 40th anniversary edition of the Berlin Marathon, I had high hopes that it was going to be a special event and it did not disappoint. Entering the race was easy and communication from the organisers prior to the race was very good.

Pros:

No ballot to enter, Super-fast, flat course, scenic route with fantastic support, great city to combine with a weekend break

Cons:

Chaotic start area, busy field leading to a slow start, water and energy drinks in plastic cups

The Expo:

Love them or loathe them, the expo is part of any big city marathon experience. I wouldn't say that I loathe them but I go to the expo principally to get my race number.

When I ran VLM, I remember being a bit underwhelmed by the London expo experience. Not so at Berlin. I could not help but be impressed by the scale of the expo. It was held at a disused airport and spanned over 6 hangers! The large retailers had stores to rival those on Oxford Street and you could have bought literally anything even remotely related to running. There were also games and plenty of stalls selling food and drinks. Pre-race pretzel and beer anyone?!

At the Expo. I managed to catch a glimpse of the great man Haile

One of the good things about the VLM expo, is that you can just go and collect your race number. This is particularly useful if you are pushed for time or if you just want to save your legs for race day. At Berlin you had to walk the full length of the 6 hangers, through huge crowds just to get to the race collection point. The queues for race numbers were rather lengthy too.

The start area:

I will preface what I am about to write by saying that I have read different blogs about the race which would suggest that not everyone had the same experience as me. Nick  (@nick_runs) had suggested that we meet prior to getting to the race area. My hotel was only about a 30 mins walk from the start and Nick was a short underground trip away. As it happened, we bumped into each other on the way to the monument we were due to meet at. Perfect timing! Nick's idea to meet outside proved to be a good one because the race start area was very chaotic. We arrived with an hour to spare, which should have been plenty.

                         In the shadow of the Reichstag. Not a bad place for a race start

When to arrive at the VLM start, it is very open. You can see the baggage trucks, the toilets, drinks and the route to the start pens. The start area at Berlin wasn't as open and, due to the sheer number of people, was a very difficult place to navigate. The baggage tents were in different parts of the start area and difficult to find amongst the throngs of people. By the time I had dropped off my bag and we had made the obligatory loo stop, we had less than 15 mins to get to our start pen (F). We were not alone, there were thousands of runners all trying to get to the start and we just hit a wall of people.

                                       Clearly Nick is more used to a selfie than me!

When the gun sounded for the start of the elite race, we were standing in some woods, still trying to edge our way to the start pen. When we emerged from the woods, it was apparent that it had turned into a free-for-all. Runners were jumping the barriers to get into the start pens and there was no control over who was going where. In the end, we had to wait for the runners already in the pen to move up to the start before there was enough room for us to climb the barrier and get into our pen. Not the model of German efficiency I was expecting!

                                      Finally! We are in the start pen and about to set off!

The Race:

Having been stood around for a while, both Nick and I commented that our legs felt heavy as we got into our rhythm. The start was very bunched and we were not able to run at our target pace of 8:00m/m. This is not uncommon at the start of major city marathons and I kept saying "don't panic, it will open up soon".

Both Nick and I had been dealing with niggles on the lead up to the race, so we were both encouraged by how good we were feeling in those early miles and how much we were enjoying the fantastic support and the sights the city had to offer. The weather was perfect and the running felt easy. We made a mental note to enjoy the experience, knowing we would probably not be feeling this good in the latter stages of the race!

                                              A wall of runners as far as you can see!

One of the reasons the pace felt easy, is because it was easy. Miles 1 - 9 were run at an average of 8:17m/m, with only miles 7 and 8 run anywhere close to our goal marathon pace. I was expecting the field to open out after a few miles but it just didn't. I don't know if this was because by the time we got to our pen we were surrounded by runners that had moved forward from a slower pen. That said, I also passed lot's of runners from pen E. It wasn't until about mile 9 that the road opened up a bit. By this time, we were 4 mins down on our target time. I calculated that if we could run consistent 7:45 m/m's then our sub 3:30 target was still a possibility. We both made a concerted effort to push on. The middle section of the race was our fastest, with miles 9 - 21 run at average 7:43m/m.

One of my minor gripes about the race (and another reason we took longer to cross the line), was the use of plastic cups to hold water, Powerbar drinks and tea (yes, really!) on the course. Not only does this make consuming the drink on the run nigh on impossible, it also meant that some runners were coming to a halt just so they could take a drink. On a couple of occasions I nearly ended up on the floor when a runner cut in from of me to get a drink or just stopped so they could drink without tipping it down their fronts! I know the use of cups in races is not uncommon but I expected bottled drinks for a race of this scale.

One of the downsides to pushing the pace so much was that both Nick and I were tiring by mile 21. Nicks legs were getting heavier and I could feel the dreaded calf cramps (the bane of some many of my marathon's!) coming on. I really wanted to finish the race with Nick but it was clear I had a bit more in my legs at this stage. Very graciously, Nick suggested that I should push on and with sub 3:30 a distant memory, try and hit our plan B time of sub 3:35. Now, I was definitely tiring by this stage but I was surprised by how (relatively) good my legs felt and also by my energy levels. I wanted to push on more but every time I tried to push the pace, the calf cramps started again. In the end, I settled for being able to finish strong and keep the cramps at bay. Those last 6 miles were run at an average of 8:04m/m and I finished in a time of 3:34.06 and had run (according to my Garmin) 26.7 miles. It was a PB by over 10 mins and it was fair to say, I was over the moon!

Proudly displaying my medal in the shadow of the Brandenburg gate

Summary:

Looking at my stats after the race, I ran the first half in 1:49.04 and the second half in 1:45.02, almost bang on target pace. I was placed 7794 out of 36,544 finishers and 1496 in my age group (M35). Despite the busy start area and bunched/slow early part if the race, I was still incredibly pleased with my time and performance. 

                       5k splits for the statto's

I am conscious that I have made some negative comments above. I wanted to give an honest appraisal of my whole experience. This doesn't detract from the fact that Berlin Marathon is an excellent race. It is the only race that, for me, has rivalled VLM for size, scale and support. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a fast, flat and well supported big marathon experience in a fantastic city. Finishing under the Brandenburg Gate in the bight Berlin sunshine is an experience that will live with me forever!

                 This will be one medal that I cherish for years to come!

Race review - Milton Keynes Marathon 2013

Pros: Good start area and stadium finish, well marshalled and supported, good hydration points, nice medal, good timing information

Cons: Poor info on parking and road closures, undulating and twisty route, poor goody bag

It is probably fair to say the one's opinion of a particular race is likely to be influenced by how well (or poorly!) they performed on the day. So, in the interests of fairness, I should declare that I had a shocker on Monday. If you haven't read about my marathon build up, you can do so here.

I mentioned the lack of info relating to places to park (and road closures) on the day. Even those who had pre-booked the VIP parking ran into road closures. For those (like me) who hadn't booked the VIP parking, some information in the pre-race pack on places to park in the vicinity (something like we received prior to the MK Half) would have been useful. An hour from the race start, you don't really want to be in gridlocked traffic, then find your planned route involved (un-advertised) road closures, then have to dump your car in an industrial estate and hope you don't get clamped!

Once parked up, the stadium was easy to find. There was plenty of space for runners and their supporters to congregate and I am sure the shelter would have been very welcome had the weather not been so good. I wasn't sure why the organisers had done away with portaloos. There seemed to be plenty of room for them in the car park and they would have helped with the (seemingly inevitable) toilet queues!

I had arranged to meet Rodrigo Freeman (@BrazilianGunner) who had popped down to offer some support to me and some of his team mates. Rod has been very supportive and has offered me some great advice through Twitter, so it was a real pleasure to finally meet him.

Rodrigo and I in Stadium MK, before the start
 

The race start was very close to the stadium and easy to find. The race announcers could have done with a better PA system. I was just over halfway back and couldn't hear a word of what was being said. I felt that having only 2 categories of start pens would lead to a slow start to the race and this, along with quite a narrow first few hundred metres did mean a slow start for most. Having more incremental pens (based on predicted times) might have helped.

The atmosphere at the start was very positive and the support in the early stages of the race was also good. The course was billed as being scenic and to be honest, I am struggling to come to a conclusion about it. There were some relatively pretty parts, such as the section around Willen Lake. Some parts were a bit soulless, like the early sections round the near deserted commercial centre. A lot of it went though housing estates or were run on the Red Routes and a lot of it was just a bit anonymous. This is not meant to be a criticism of the route (or Milton Keynes as a whole!) it's simply just my observation. There were some benefits to the route. Such as the fairly consistent support and the guy on about 7 miles misting us with his hose pipe!

I had seen Dwight Williams (@dwighty_boy) earlier in the race and I caught him on about 10 miles (I think). Again, I hadn't met Dwight before, so it was good to meet him and run with him for a bit. He was in the middle of about 4 back to back marathons, so was taking it a bit easier on the day.

Everyone knew it was going to be hot on the day. I had decided beforehand to stick to my plan of running a sub 3:30 marathon. With the benefit of hindsight, I should have probably adjusted my race goals to factor in the heat. Even early on, runners were aiming for the shade offered by the trees and office buildings. I had lost a minute or so in the first few miles, due to the slow start (and an early loo stop!) I wasn't particularly concerned about this and expected to be able to 'chip away' at this deficit over the course of the race, as I had done in Brighton last year. The undulating nature of the course, combined with some tight turns meant was I was struggling to keep the pace consistent. I managed to hold the pace and went through half way on 1:46, just one minute down on my plan. By this stage, I knew that sub 3:30 wasn't going to happen though. I had stuck to my pacing plan but it had taken far too much out of me. I should have still been feeling relatively fresh as this stage but the heat, along with the issues I referred to in my previous blog were starting to tell.

The undulations and tight turns increased in the second half of the race and included more underpasses and quite a few steep bridges going over the canal. There were also quite a few longer pulls, which were not steep but some of them were quite long. When you hear from the support that "it's all flat from here" the last thing you want to see is more hills! The timing of these, so late in the race made it feel particularly tough. I managed to hold pace until about 15 miles but I had started to slow. I thought, if I can just hold onto 8:30 m/m pace, then I would still be on for a huge PB. By 18 miles though I was struggling to hold onto 8:30 pace and it was all I could do to hold onto 9:00m/m.

I had some experience of running in such hot conditions. My first marathon (VLM in 2011) was similarly hot. On that day, leg cramps had started at about 17 miles and completely consumed my legs, to the point where I could barely control them (think John Cleese in the Ministry of Silly Walks!) I had since learnt a lot about hydration but the cramps I feared eventually hit at 20 miles. They were not as severe as London but I knew a run/walk strategy was all I could do to stop them getting worse. It is amazing how quickly things can change during a marathon. In the space of a few miles I'd had to revise my target from sub 3:30, to getting a PB (3:44:49), to just finishing the race and not getting a DNF!

I was starting to see runners drop out, collapsed in the shade or weaving around in various states of delirium. This is probably a good time to praise the marshalls and first aiders. Everyone that I saw that had got into trouble was quickly seen to. It did serve to put my own 'bad race' into perspective though.

The run/walk strategy allowed my legs to recover a bit. I managed to muster some energy and control over the cramps that allowed me to run the final section, which took you into the stadium. Seeing my Sister, her family and my Nan and Granddad gave me a huge boost and looking at the picture (above) I look a lot better than I felt at that stage. It was probably just the pure, unadulterated relief of having finished!

I enjoyed the stadium finish and it provided a positive end to a fairly torrid day. The race organisers processed us through the finish area efficiently, we were presented with a very nice medal and the stadium provided us with some welcome shelter from the sun. A quick note on the goody bag. I thought it was pretty poor, given the entry fee. A Mars Bar and a banana were welcome, as was the water. Given Gatorade were the official drink, it would have been nice (and good for recovery) to have a bottle at the end. As for the t-shirt, I defy anyone to tell me that they use cotton race t-shirts for anything other than gardening or lounging around the house in! Even much cheaper races (of £10 or £15) give you a technical tee. At least they can be used for running in and what's more, it's a way for the organisers to promote their event at other races etc.

In the end, I came in just a shade over 3:56 and having reflected on things I'm not too disappointed.  It is also interesting how different your perception of the race can differ from the reality. For instance, on 32k I was 508th male. Given that it was in the last 10k where I really struggled, I would have expected to have lost a lot of places. It certainly felt like a lot of people were coming past me! In fact, I only lost 13 (male) places, finishing as 521st male. Given I was in 585th position at 10k, I actually made up ground on other runners over the course of the race. It is perhaps an indication of how most people struggled on the day.

You learn something from every marathon and, for me, the big lesson I take away from this experience is to have a proper taper and revise my race plan if it is a hot day. As someone mentioned yesterday, no marathon is a waste and just to finish is an achievement that less than 1% of the population will experience.

I am interested to hear how you got on and whether my impressions of the race match your own. Please feel free to leave your comments below.

Race Review - Milton Keynes Half Marathon 2013

Pros: Relatively quick course, good organisation, plenty of toilets at start/finish, plenty of parking, the ability to shelter in the Xscape centre.

Cons: Not particularly scenic, some traffic on course, killer hill in the last mile, no goody-bag.

This was my first time running the Milton Half Marathon. It is part of the Milton Keynes Festival of running, which also includes a 5k and 10k race (which started slightly earlier).

We were able to get parked very close to the start/finish area at the Xscape centre and lucked upon a multi-storey which happened to be free. It was absolutely freezing when we arrived at 9:30am. The car was showing 1c but I reckon it was about -7c with the wind chill! We were able to shelter in the Xscape centre and even managed to get a seat in the Costa Coffee there. With about 20 mins to go, we headed out to use the loos and head to the start line. I think this was the first race I have attended, where there were no queues for the toilets (perhaps everyone was just sheltering inside and using the facilities inside!) The start was well signposted and we got away on time.

Runners huddling in the Xscape Centre pre-race
 

I read that they had introduced a wave start (splitting sub 2 hours and over 2 hours, I believe) and this seemed to work well. In fact the first 2 miles were very quick. This is where I need to apologise to #TeamColwick. I had planned to run this race as a pacing exercise for the Milton Keynes Marathon (on 6th May). I had put down 1:44:45 for my #Marchvellous prediction and was planning to tap out metronomic 8 minute miles throughout. A combination of those first couple of miles being downhill and the fact I was keen to keep warm and just get the race done, made me change my race plan and try for a PB. This did mean that my Marchvellous score was going to get blown out of the water though (sorry Helen et al!) My current PB was 1:37:04, gained at the Worksop Half last October. I didn't particularly feel in PB shape going into the race but felt pretty good on day and just wanted to get back into the warm!

The race is run on roads and cycleways. Following the first couple of miles, there were some small undulations as you passed under the many underpasses but otherwise it was pretty flat. We passed through some bland housing estates but also through some nice parks and around Willen Lake. Support was sparse, which is unsurprising, given the conditions. In fact, the only real surprise was that people were out to cheer us on at all! Thanks to all those supporting and to the marshalls on the day, who were in good voice and very supportive.

Asked afterwards what I thought of the route, I struggled to describe it and a day on, I am still struggling for words. Some bits were quite interesting but some were pretty uninspiring. I suspect it could look very different without the blizzards though!

The early parts of the route were shared with those runners (and walkers) doing the 5k and 10k races. There was some passing required, some of which was a bit tight on some of the cycleways but overall the integration of the 3 races worked well. The race was well signposted and there were plenty of water stations. The race did cover some side roads which were not closed to traffic. There were marshalls at some points controlling the traffic but not at others, where cars were idling and waiting for the runners to pass. I didn't see any problems as a result but I thought there was potential if a driver became frustrated at waiting.

I had felt good for the majority of the race but in the final couple of miles I started to tire and the cold started to get to me. I had been warned about the killer hill at the end and I really had to steel myself to try to stay on target for a PB. Looking at my mile splits today, I didn't actually slow as much as I thought. My actual mile pace for mile 13 was 7:37 but my GAP (Gradient Adjusted Pace) was 6:58, the quickest mile of the race. No wonder my glutes are hurting today!


Although I started out planning to run at 8 m/m my 'goal creep' had led me to believe that sub 1:35 might have been on the cards but that final hill put paid to that. Still, I finished in 1:35:56, which was an unexpected PB in tough conditions.

The organisation on finishing was good. The finish funnel worked well. I was passed a medal and grabbed a sports drink and a foil blanket, which was most welcome as I had finished 10 mins earlier than I told my wife and had to pace around shivering until she arrived with my change of clothes! The lack of a goody bag was slightly disappointing and I could have done with a Mars bar (or similar) at that point.

Reflecting on the race, I think the decision to run it hard was more beneficial than my original plan. I still had to watch my pace closely and holding it was a real challenge towards the end. It also showed me that I have built a good level of endurance on my longer runs and a bit more speed than I realised. I am also hoping that it will make the 8 minute miles feel a bit slower now!

Now, I've just got to apologise to my Team Colwick chums for screwing up my Marchvellous predictions!