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September 2023
I am writing this 48 hours post-marathon. Stairs are my enemy, I am eating like a horse and 8pm is looking like it might be a stretch target for bedtime, but the runner’s high remains strong!
This was my fifth trip to Berlin (I love it!), but my first pass at the notoriously oversubscribed marathon – I sincerely hope it won’t be the last.
Running Berlin made me wish I were the kind of runner that gets their phone out mid-race for photos – there was just so much to see (I’m not by the way – I’m the kind of runner that tells herself that three hours is an acceptable wait for a loo break).
The route passes city highlights, including many of the places the Node team visited last year for our fantastic 10th anniversary trip, from the start line in the beautiful Tiergarten, skirting past the Reichstag, Kurfürstendamm, Potsdamer Platz, Gendarmenmarkt, before eventually turning onto the magnificent Unter den Linden, passing under the Brandenburg Gate (spine tingling!) and crossing the most phenomenal finishing line I’ve ever experienced.
Any time I found my mind wandering, I looked out for the Ampelmännchen, the distinctive traffic light men that let pedestrians know when to ‘stop’ and ‘go’, and provide surviving vestiges of the former east Germany. Thankfully for me, I didn’t have to keep stopping!
The virtually permanent accompaniment of drums and the odd blast of techno definitely helped propelled me to the finish – along with memories of my own Oma (my German grandmother who sadly passed away earlier this year aged 99), who had been stationed in Berlin during part of the war and was the ultimate inspiration in resilience. I wondered how much of today’s transformed Berlin she would recognise.
The marathon entry gave four days of free public transport to runners, making it incredibly easy to travel around sustainably. The city seemed virtually devoid of traffic on marathon day, which was fantastic for runners and spectators alike, adding to how privileged it felt to be running down the middle of Berlin’s wide streets, able to fully take in the framing of vistas, rather than being relegated to the pavement.
In short, the marathon was a celebration of the city at its best: thousands of people out together celebrating human achievement, in an environment which is in itself a reminder and testament to human experience (good and bad), creativity and innovation. I loved it. Now, how can I get to do it again…
