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Apr 27, 2024

Berlin Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 4.7

Organization 4.2

Spectators 4.6

Number of comments: 120 [displaying comments 41 to 51]

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K. D. from Nassau, Bahamas (9/25/2011) "Just finished the 2011 Berlin marathon" (about: 2011) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I just finished running the Berlin marathon, and even though the world record was broken, my personal record was not! 72F was a bit too warm, and with water every 3K and power bar drink every 5k, the fluid stations were really crowded. In general the course was extremely crowded as well, and I found myself having to do a great deal of weaving around people. There were 4waves, but you were placed in corrals based on your anticipated finish time, and many people severely overestimated their abilities! As mentioned in previous year 's reviews, there is a huge bottleneck right after the finish to get your medal. I finished in 3:45, so I am sure this increased as the day wore on. The water is probably 200m after the medal table, and everyone was anxious to get their hands on some fluids. The course was nice, basically flat with some minimal gradual ups and downs. Not much organized cheering as you see in us marathons- very little music except drumming. There were many people out watching, but they were not very vocal. The portapotty situation was infinitely better than in the Paris marathon, but if you run this race in 2012, don't forget to bring your own TP as none of them seemed to have any! Bag drop off was very easy,and the walk to the starting corrals was well marked. The corrals were not to overstuffed, so it wasn't too uncomfortable waiting for the start. I do speak a little German which helped, but many Germans speak English. All race announcements were in German only, as you would expect, so buddy up to an English speaking German in the starting corral so you know what is being announced! I think if the weather had been cooler, and the corrals were based on previous results, not anticipated times, I would have given the marathon a more robust review.
A. S. from Berlin, Germany (6/27/2011) "Great organization but too many people" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I loved everything about this marathon in terms of organization, water stations, etc. I live at the halfway point on the marathon (but am from the U.S.) and found the course to be a good choice - flat, and you get to see everything along the way. The spectators are AWESOME. I've only seen one place that beats it - Boston - and that says quite a bit. My one big con is the number of people. At 41,000+ signed up I'm not sure how keen I am to do it if they can't control the starting areas better. It was raining and wet and while they did provide fantastic plastic rain ponchos for everyone (which I wore until about 30K), I found it annoying having to literally climb through holes in fences around men peeing in bushes near me... just to get to my corral. To the race organizers: please please consider cutting back to 30,000 or fewer, or make it a lottery system!
J. C. from Boston, MA (5/4/2011) "Great crowds on a fast course." (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 The weather in 2010 was rainy and cool, which makes for a bad combination; however, even with poor conditions, the people of Berlin were fantastic in their support. People with their umbrellas lined the streets from start to finish. The course was well marked, and they had ample water, Gatorade and clocks. The organization at the start and finish was awful at best. The entrances to the staging area were very narrow and in certain areas conflicted with the bag drop-off tents. Imagine a one-way street with cars coming en masse from both directions and you have a sense of how chaotic it was. Runners couldn't move getting in or dropping off their bags in certain areas. The finish wasn't much better. You had to walk a long way to get a medal and again their were long lines. To compound the problem everyone was cold from the rain and the blankets were farther up the line and you had to fight the lines again. Once you were able to get you bag, things began looking up, with beer stands (non-alcoholic), and plenty of food and drinks. So if the organizers could get their act together for the start and finish, it would be five stars all around.
Y. O. from NY, USA (10/12/2010) "Great race, but could be better" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Pros: -Expo was huge and in a great festive mood. -Although it was rainy, the spectators were nice and supportive. -Totally flat course - good for PB (if the course is not overcrowded). -Passing through the Brandenburg Gate was great! Cons: -Bib pick-up area was crowded with few volunteers. -The start area was chaotic, to say the least. -The course was overcrowded especially for first 5 miles. I am glad to have run this marathon, but I don't think I am going to run it again....
C. S. from Germany (10/6/2010) "Best marathon I've run!" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 This race was a lot of fun. Flat course, and great sites throughout the course. Finishing under the Brandenburg Gate was really cool! There were people from all over the world cheering along the entire course. The expo was huge and well organized, although they DEFINITELY need to better mark where you are supposed to park for the expo. We asked 3 different workers there and got 3 different answers (none of which were right). I can't wait to run this again next year!!
J. L. from London, United Kingdom (9/29/2010) "Berlin: The Real World Major Marathon for a PB!" (about: 2010) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 How to describe the 37th Real Berlin Marathon? Vital Expo: Where to pick up your bib other than the old East Berlin Tempelhof Airport? You're assured to step back in time as soon as you walk in and enjoy the experience. However, the pasta bowls could be slightly bigger and served with drinks and fruit too. The Race: No wonder why it is the world's fastest marathon. Great, flat course for a PB, with fantastic atmosphere amongst runners and amazing supporters along the route, despite the rain this year. (How different from the heatwave in 2009.) Every station (located at about every 3K) was very well supplied with water, energy drinks, banana and apples with volunteers cheering you on with kind words and constantly smiling at runners. How refreshing! Watch out for the finish! This is the best bit!! Running up the "Unter den Linden" to the finish can be demoralizing when you see the Brandenburg Gate in the far distance, but BE STRONG and don't let that sight spoil the end of your race (less than 2K to go!). The crowd will carry you to the finishing line, not to forget Berlino Bear too. The organization from the time you arrive to leave your bag to the time you collect it is SECOND TO NONE. You'll find your medal, goody bag, finisher's picture stands, non-alcoholic beers, showers, massages, etc., etc., within 5 or 10 minutes of finishing your marathon. BERLIN MARATHON!!! WHAT AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO NOVICES AND EXPERIENCED RUNNERS.
T. R. from Columbus, OH (9/29/2010) "Fantastic destination race!" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I've had a few days to think about the race now and I can say that I had a great time at a great event! This was marathon #20 for me and the backdrop of this one was fantastic! The expo: It wasn't as big as I thought it would be and that's not a bad thing! Getting there was an easy train ride (a little more signage would have been appreciated, though). Plenty of stuff to buy and the Berlin Adidas gear was pretty plentiful. I would recommend reserving your shirt when you register, though (it's not required). The race: I was lucky enough to get a decent starting corral (my time was on the slow end of the corral so I started with faster people!). It was pretty crowded throughout the day but only in a few spots did I think about it and feel cramped. The course is as flat as they say and I don't remember any elevation changes at all (some subtle ones I guess). There is plenty of stuff to see and even if you usually wear headphones, I wouldn't bother. The crowd support and views are more than enough to keep you occupied as you're running through the city. We ran in the rain all day and I think that really impacted the crowd as there definitely weren't as many spectators as you'd find in Boston or London (NY and Chicago too, I'd guess). You could definitely hear them, though! Running under Brandenburg Gate to the finish definitely rivals the left on Boylston in Boston and is the perfect way to finish this race! Great planning!! My only criticism really (and this is minor) would be to have a few more aid stations. The first one was at 5K, which is the latest I'd seen the first stop at any larger race I'd done. Again, no biggie but my preference would have been a bit sooner! Other: We stayed in the Potzdamer Platz area and I'd recommend it. It's about a half-mile (or almost 1K) from the start/finish and extremely convenient for accessing everything. We did our final easy workouts in Tiergarten as well and it was perfect! Expect to spend a bit more on accommodations if you stay there but if you choose other places, both the S and U train stops are nearby! All in all a great race and city. I'd recommend anyone doing an international race to add this one. I'd say it's a little better than London and almost as good as Boston (all three races are fantastic, by the way!). Run Big!
G. M. from Milan, Italy (9/29/2010) "Berlin Marathon, what a great experience" (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Despite being a rainy day, the 2010 edition has been a great success. The organization is humongous; they deal with these 33,000 people and manage to provide all of them with an excellent service (pre- and post-race). The course is fast, with just minimal up/downhills due to road facilities. There are so many people that the race is a continuous stream of runners, groups formed just around 35-37K. My only concern is the corral start: anybody can declare he's going to finish in 2:30 and therefore enter corral B. In any case, no one checks whether runners enter their correct sector... that's why you find people from the very beginning of the race running at 5 minutes/K despite starting 10 meters behind top runners. That's annoying. Anyway, organizers have done a great job with food and drinks (every 2-3K) even though water supplies rely on plastic cups, not the best idea for drinking while running. Spectators are really warm, there are a lot of people all along the route, and you'll never run without being cheered. In a nutshell, Berlin is worth every penny of the 80-euro entering fee... no question.
Miguel Paramo Calderon from Mexico City (4/26/2010) "Extraordinary marathon" (about: 2009) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is one of the best marathons I've ever done. My only disappointment was the warm weather from mile 14 to the finish line. I expected a high temperature, but the humidity was a little high. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the course and the magnificent view it offered. I definitely recommend this flat and fast race; you'll have fun and you'll be encouraged to get your personal best.
Mattias Murhagen from New York (12/23/2009) "Great overall experience; could still be better..." (about: 2009) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Berlin Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I love Berlin. It's a fantastic city with great people and a really interesting history. Choosing the Berlin Marathon was a pretty easy decision. Pre-Race (1) registration, expo and stuff: Registration and information was easy and good. In fact, I think I got perhaps a bit too much information. I wish they had been a bit more clear in separating what was essential information and information that is simply "useful." One thing I missed was printing out some piece of information before number pickup at the expo, meaning I had to wait in a really long line (faster than expected) before getting to the other long lines.... The expo also had the mandatory pasta "party," which was ok, but more importantly they also had a health exam free! Awesome! Americans, hear this as your senate gets ready to vote on health care: It was cheaper for me to fly to Berlin and run the marathon and get a free echocardiogram than paying for it in New York!!! Oh, and I got my cholesterol and blood pressure values taken too! The shirt you could opt to order beforehand. If you don't, you risk not getting one in your size. Great expo in general with lots of vendors and other stuff.... and beer... delicious beer.... The race is located in the middle of Berlin and is relatively easy to get to. I ended up walking a fair distance though to get to the bag-drop so make sure you're clear on how to get there in case you mind walking before the race. Pre-Race (2), bag-drop, etc.: The bag drop was well organized in a typically efficient German fashion. We also received stuff to keep us warm as the morning was quite cool. Very good. Two pre-race items they could improve however: 1) Potties. Unfortunately not enough of them I think. We usually see long lines, but I thought they seemed a bit too long at this one. Also, when I finally got to one, it was out of paper. Sure, it's impossible to guess which ones will get the most use, but you'd think that toilet paper is so cheap compared to everything else that you could just get a lot of paper to be safe. 2) Getting into the designated start area (corral). I thought it was easy enough to find where the corral was, but not how to get into it in a proper way. Where I got in there were a bunch of people trying to get through a tiny opening in a fence. Very crowded and very irritating. Start and race: The start took awhile. I really think they should consider staggered starts to spread out the field a bit more. I spent a good 45 minutes to an hour trying to get past people a lot slower than me. I was aiming for 3:30 or better, and it was quite frustrating to be a good 15-30 seconds per mile slower than expected for such a long time. Fixing the start would help this a lot. Someone mentioned having water stations on both sides of the road. I think this is a VERY bad idea. At one point they had a station on the left side where the road narrowed - same problem as having a station on both sides. It slows down every person who doesn't want water and may be carrying his or her own bottles. So not only did I have to slalom between slower runners in general, but also play "dodge-ball" at a bunch of water stations. Very annoying. I think it's better to spread them out instead, and at wide sections of the course. I should mention that the weather was great for running in the morning, but warmed up significantly during the race. And the course is flat. Period. Just flat. The course was fantastic. Berlin is so interesting to see, and it was really great. The crowd surprised me. It was awesome. Lots of people in lots of places. Lots of cheering and happiness. The end stretch was lined with people, which was really nice. Major thumbs up to the people of Berlin!!! Finish and post-race: I got quite annoyed at the finish because there was no water to be found anywhere close to where you stopped running. They could also have put a couple of water showers since it was really warm by the time I finished (3:44). However, the non-alcoholic beer made me VERY happy!!! One of the best beers I've ever had (though I was dehydrated at the time). Also easy to get your bag back and get pictures taken. Also a nice little booklet is sent out to you after the race along with official certificate. Conclusion: A great race with a fantastic audience in a great city. It's a great opportunity to set a personal best time as it's virtually ruler-flat. The organization could be a bit better, and if they just do that it'll turn a great marathon into a perfect one. Recommended!

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