The Berlin Marathon: My Third Abbott Star





Thanks to a bad hamstring pull/tear, I entered this race with a month of physical therapy and very little marathon training. Eight weeks ago I was eyeing a BQ attempt – but at the start I was hopeful for a sub-5 and, if my leg really acted up, just for a finish. Add that cherry on top….my daughter who was traveling with me and my wife gave me her cold two days before the race. But….I was in Berlin so I was going to race.

We actually landed in Berlin a week before the race. My mother-in-law is originally from Berlin (she lives in San Francisco now) so she met us there and was our tour guide. We checked into our AirBnB (that is a whole other story) and spent the night in the city but the next day drove up to Friedland to meet other family (who I, my wife and our daughter had never met). I got in some nice 4 mile training runs around a small lake there…my leg actually felt OK….tight, but OK.

We also drove about an hour and crossed into Poland – our first visit there (think that was my 31st country I have visited).

We also visited Potsdam in Germany and toured an old palace. Back in Berlin, we saw the old Berlin Wall and other historic sites.

I had brought a lock with me and added a love lock to a gate on the Berlin Wall (my wife and me on the front, kids and pets on the back).


I have to be honest, not sure I would recommend site seeing on one’s feet the days before a marathon, but our schedule didn’t allow us to do it in the other order.



The athlete expo was nice. Crowded, but nice. Very efficient and I soon had my race bib in hand. We ventured through the stands and actually spent very little money there (made up for it at an Addidas shop near the finish line later).


The race gave out a race t-shirt and a finisher's t-shirt (which I think is a bit weird....that should be given after a race IMHO, but that's just me).


Fast forward to race day. I was in Group G (so my bib actually said “Alan G” which worked out for my name and placement). Our group’s start time was 9:33. The gun went off and I believe it took me about 9 minutes 40 seconds to actually cross the start line (thank goodness for chip times). The race was crowded….I believe about 56,000 runners that weekend. There were areas were road construction really narrowed the running lane and I was forced (like others) to weave, slow, stop, re-start, etc. But my pace was pretty good…I was within sight of the 3:45 pacers (granted…they were about a block or so ahead of me, but I could see them at times…so I was around a 3:50 pace).

My leg was basically pain free, but I could feel a pull in the ham so I knew I better not push it too much. I hit the 1/2 marathon in 1:54:56 and was quite pleased. But I did something very rare for me…I played it smart. I eased up and slowed my pace and went easy on my leg (plus, with that cold I was fighting, my body didn’t seem to mind my slowing it down).

The race sites were great – we passed a lot of historical parts. I saw some real old churches and many pieces of public art. I would say around mile 15 the temps were picking up….not Death Valley heat…or even Houston, but definitely warmer than the morning. But the race had plenty of water tables available and I used them.

Soon we were approaching the 20 mile mark and my watch told me that I probably had that sub-5 hour goal in my sights (I wasn’t 100% sure of the delta between my gun time and bib time but turns out I was pretty close).

Soon, I saw the Brandenburg Gate in the distance and headed towards it. I have to say, running the end of the marathon through the gate really is something. The actual finish line is shortly past that….can’t recall for sure, but maybe 1/4 mile more.



I crossed the finish line with an official time of 4:52:02 and grabbed my finisher’s medal. It is a real nice one – classic looking. I got my third Abbott Star (to add with my Bostons and my NYC).




Overall, I rate this marathon as one of my favorites. Not because of my time (certainly not) but because of the whole experience, atmosphere, history, and race production.

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