Berlin still feels like it was a dream, so it helped to write out the below. I also included some random, quirky things about the race that I hope may help those who run it in the future. I’m hoping, after a year of frustrating races, that I can continue to have experiences like this one. However, the ups wouldn’t feel as sweet without the downs that come before them.
Pre-Race: The website said that the start area opened at 6:30am, so I decided I wanted to be there around 7:00 (race started at 9:15). I got up at 5am, got ready, ate my first coffee bean UCAN bar (these), then Steven and I started walking towards the start area. This was about 1.5 miles from our hotel, but I’ve never had an issue running a good race just because I walked a bit before (see NYC 2017 which was all of the walking, haha).
We got to the start area around 7:00 like I wanted and were informed (along with a bunch of other people) that the corrals didn’t open until 7:30. I hung out with Steven until then and once they opened I made my way to my corral, which was D, the last one in the first wave.
After a bit I spotted my friend Dorothy and we passed the time until about 15 mins before the start, chatting about all of the things. This was so nice and I think took both of our minds off of the race. We went to the porta potties a couple times (which were gender specific but it really didn’t matter) and then hugged goodbye before getting in the zone for our races. I ate another coffee bean UCAN bar right before the start.
It took me about two minutes to cross the start line after the race began….and then we were off.
The first 10k: I knew from talking to my coach a couple nights before the race that he felt I was ready to run around 3:00. I had told him I just wanted to PR – sub 3:18 – so we chatted about that and he suggested running even splits. Don’t worry about seeing some 7:00s, especially with the crowding of the course, just start out slow and try to stay consistent.
My first mile hit and it was a 7:08. Perfect. I felt good at that pace, in control, so I just stayed dialed in and kept moving. I had brought my Aftershokz just in case the on course entertainment/crowd support wasn’t enough and had a playlist cued up, which I turned on around mile 2 and didn’t shut off until mile 25. I could hear what was going on around me but the music really helped me get into a rhythm with my pace.
At the 5k mark was the first water stop, I took one of my Skratch chews (Green Tea and Lemon – these ones!) right before that, which wasn’t really part of my fueling plan, but I had put 20 of them in a bag in my shorts pocket, which made my shorts start falling down the first mile, so I was carrying the bag in my hand. It annoyed me (which is funny because it was something Dorothy said to me at the start – she carries her fuel to make herself take it) and made me want to not be carrying it, so I ate them in order to carry less of them.
Our next water stop was at the 9k mark. I’m realizing at this point that I really do feel good and my watch is clicking off 6:40-6:50s without issue. In my mind I was worried it was a mistake. How am I moving so quickly and feeling so good? Is this good feeling going to go away? All of the water stops were kind of a mess – I grabbed two cups each time and chugged one, put the empty cup under the other one and carried it for a bit to sip it.
15k: Steven was waiting for me here and I was so excited to see him. I felt so good and was so happy to be having a good race, but was also worried that it wouldn’t last.
20k: Okay Alissa. We’re almost halfway. What’s your half marathon split going to be?
21.1k timing mat: I look at my watch as I cross it – 1:31… my best half marathon this year. Oh my gosh. How is this happening? I keep moving, taking two chews each time I feel a bit thirsty and grabbing two cups of water at each stop. It doesn’t feel humid but the weather said it was around 88% that day so I knew the water was needed.
25k: I stopped to use the bathroom before I hit this timing mat so it was one of my slower splits. That was okay, I knew I just had to keep moving. I had finished my first 20 chews at this point so I got my second bag of them out of my crop and carried them again.
30k: More chews and in my mind I was thinking about how many timing mats I had left. Just two more! Two more 5ks and then 2.2k to go. We can do this.
35k: It’s pouring rain and my feet really hurt at this point. We’re running through puddles but I can also tell it’s close to the end because we’re running through blow up arches. I keep moving. Just get to 40k! Then there is only 2.2k to go. My watch is way off, at the end of the race it would say I ran 27 miles, so I watch KM markers and just monitor my pace on my watch.
40k: 2.2k to go. Less than two miles. Just keep moving and you have this, Alissa. The rain was really coming down, I was so cold and soaking wet, but I knew what was coming – the Brandenburg Gate, which was something I’d been dreaming of for months.
41k: 1.2k to go – you did 1k repeats in training – you can rock a 1k no problem.
42k: Brandenburg Gate. Smiles. Tears. The finish line was right there and I knew I had run my best time yet. I just didn’t know what it was.
42.2k: The finish line. The clock says 3:07 something but I know that’s not right because I didn’t start with the clock. I pull my phone out of my Koala Clip (this is the first marathon where I listened to music the entire time) and see texts from my husband and my friend Sarah. I text them back, Sarah gets a bunch of expletives. 😂
The Finisher Area: I walk through it, someone puts a medal around my neck, I’m smiling ear to ear. I get my heat sheet and somehow miss my poncho. I keep walking, someone hands me a cup of water and a bag of food. At the end of the finisher area was a place to hand in the timing chip I had to rent for my shoe (Berlin uses a shoe timing system and not a bib). Taking that off was painful because it required bending over.
My legs are cramping really bad and I hobble to the family reunion area to find Steven. I try to text him but it’s pouring rain and all my phone wants to type are the letters l and m, so my texts just look like mmmllllmmmmmmmm. I give up on texting and eventually Steven finds me. He brought my race jacket and my hat, which I put on ASAP. We try to walk back to the hotel but my legs didn’t want to work very well, so he ends up calling an Uber, which was the best thing ever.
It was quite a day. One I want to relive in my mind over and over again for sure. I still can’t believe that happened – the marathon is so fickle and it’s so hard to have a good one even if you have an amazing training cycle. I’m so proud and lucky that Berlin was my day.
3:05:20 ✅ – next up – that elusive sub 3:00!
Below are my splits for those who are curious. I slowed the second half, which is something to work on in the future, but am still very happy with the consistency.
A side note about Berlin – on course they only have a electrolyte drink called Beetster and Tea at the water stops. Some stops have fruit. There is a redbull station at mile 24 ish. You can give them water bottles to have at your own special stops, but I didn’t trust that so I just carried my chews with me and didn’t worry about an electrolyte drink.
I chose Skratch after trying a bunch of different things and figuring out that I could eat them slowly, which made them not “gut bomb” me and mess up my stomach. I have a really sensitive stomach so it was huge for me to find something that worked so well.
Alissa Kolarik 