calendar icon Apr 27, 2024

Berlin Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Berlin Marathon Information & Reviews

Course Rating Course 4.7 
 
Oranization Rating Organization 4.2 
 
Spectator Rating Spectators 4.6 
 
 
Number of comments: 120 [displaying comments 21 to 31]
More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 12 > ]

 

S. S. from Washington, DC (10/5/2014)
"Better than New York" (about: 2014)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Berlin Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 5


Fast, flat, shady course. Great crowd support. Huge expo. Only complaint is that it was hard to find the post-race refreshments.
 

S. C. from Portland Oregon, USA (10/1/2014)
"We're we're the crowds?" (about: 2014)

50+ previous marathons | 1 Berlin Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 2


Go to the Expo on FRIDAY. Saturday is a zoo!
Get a finisher's shirt before you leave the finish area! I wish someone had told us there was a finishers' shirt!
For a 'major', there sure weren't many people along the route. Even by the 3km mark it was nearly empty.

Course is fantastic. Tree lined or building shaded most of the way.
 

Vegar Solnordal from Oslo, Norway (10/1/2014)
"Amazing marathon" (about: 2014)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Berlin Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


This was my eight marathon and I have to say it was the best organised one I have ran. The course is really fast and there's a lot of spectators all over the course. The finish on Unter den Linden and through Brandenburger Tor is spectacular!
 

g. j. from London (10/1/2014)
"Very boring" (about: 2014)

4-5 previous marathons | 1 Berlin Marathon
COURSE: 2  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 5


Boring route. Nothing to see.

False finish line about 250m short - they put a big 'Erdinger' beer advertising arch over the course. Why? Many amateur runners made a sprint finish to find they had not actually got to the end. They still had to run through the Brandenburg Gate and into the park. Really cruel. The finish line is very difficult to see as there are many corners in the last mile.

This is all good if you are an experienced runner, but the size of the field here (in the 40000+ right?) will have many amateurs, and is very slow unless you are right at the front of your group. Don't pretend you'll get a PB on this course, it is many bends and narrow turns where you will get bogged down and pushed off the shortest route.

Distance markers are only in KM.

Would not do this course again.
 

J. v. from Caribbean (9/29/2014)
"Great course and spectators!" (about: 2014)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Berlin Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 5


The course is great and the crowd superb. I have run all my marathons in different cities and I believe the course is great. The roads are in a good condition almost everywhere and there are no boring parts. It's of course flat, fast and no bridges or anything else uphill in the end.

The crowd is superb, even better than Chicago. Big crowd, I've found only a bigger crowd in Tokyo.

The organisation was ok. Expo was great however on saturday afternoon there is a skate marathon and they close the city. Difficult to get to the expo and impossible to get to the hotels downtown. And I was not prepared while arriving Saturday afternoon. I expected at least an email to warn everybody.

It took me 1 hour to get to the start corral from my hotel. After the finish it took me 15 minutes and I could barely walk. Entrances were on one side only. Everything else was ok.

I am not sure if all the waterstops as designed on the map were there but I only remember one waterpost on both sides on the road. I saw people that went down at these waterstops.

Medal is very nice. After race drinks and foods also. And the people are amazing friendly.
 

M. E. from Copenhagen, Denmark (11/6/2013)
"Fantastic spectators." (about: 2013)

1 previous marathon | 1 Berlin Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


What I 1st Marathon race. Wanted it to be Berlin, cause of the status, close to home and the reputation. Everything was really good also the expo and the Iphone App before the race and for the spectators to follow.
However, with all the great things to see in Berlin - the course was disapointing. Yes Brandenburg Torr was amnazing to run under - butt, what about Checkpoint Charlie or the Church. The course could have been better.
 

C. Y. from Shanghai, China (10/16/2013)
"My best marathon experience" (about: 2013)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Berlin Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


The course was great with the best supporting crowd and music bands. No dead corner. Easy transportation, I guess from anywhere in the city, just follow the Runners that flocking to the Hbf/Brandenburg Gate in the morning. The hot tea was a nice treat since it was a windy/cold run. Sufficient drink,apple and banana to fuel you up even if you were slow. This was really sweet!!The warm up session at the starting block was quite amusing to follow. The music played at the starting block was great. It really helped to boost my spirit. Especially the one that started the race that had the strong drum beat. Anybody knows the name of it please tell me!
I ran my PR. Berlin is a nice city and I would definitely do this race again in the future.
 

G. L. from London, U.K. (10/16/2013)
"Fourth Time, perhaps last" (about: 2013)

11-50 previous marathons | 4-5 Berlin Marathons
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 4


I have run Berlin four times, but perhaps the last time. The course is excellent, fast and flat. However, the race is becoming too crowded, even despite Berlin's wide roads. I am running at 3:15 pace so I can imagine it's even worse behind. The water stations are problematic as they are only on one side of the road, forcing a crush of runners weaving off to one side; every other large major marathon puts water stations on both sides of the road.
 

S. G. from USA (10/14/2013)
"Poorly organizes" (about: 2013)

6-10 previous marathons | 1 Berlin Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 2  FANS: 3


Positives: Beatiful city & great course.
Negatives: 1.Too many runners.
2. Too few water stations & only on one side of the course.
3. Not enough toilets along the course. Runners were urinating on side of course.
4. Expo was a complete disaster. Poor organization.
5. No water or goody bags at the finish line.
My goal is to run all the major marathons & I have run Boston, Chicago & Berlin. In my experience Boston is the BEST in all aspects.
I wouldn't run the Berlin marathon again.
 

S. c. from Canada (10/10/2013)
"One of the Best" (about: 2013)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 Berlin Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


Thank you Berlin Marathon for a great event. I thoroughly enjoyed myself running this marathon. The logistics were so easy which was amazing considering 40,000+ runners. I was in corral H where there were friendly people and never more than 4 people in line for the portajohns. I had fun trying to run directly on the blue line. Lots of aid stations with cheerful volunteers who addressed me by name. Flat, fast course which got slower around 27km with all the people starting to slow and walk.
This is definitely a male-dominated race so I was happy to see a separate packet pickup area for women. What I was disappointed in was the selection of official race clothing for women. Very little and not very attractive. I had hoped to buy a jacket but the purple/pink hoodie seemed poor quality. The mens jackets were green and quite nice but even XS was too large.Interesting that the colours of the official clothing line did not follow a colour theme such as German colours, blue line by Adidas, anything to unite.
All in all, a great day and I am happy to have had the chance to run in such an interesting city.
 

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