The Berlin Marathon on 29 September 2014 was certainly the most organised event that we have ever done. From the minute we walked into the Expo which covered 5 hangers of the old Berlin Airport, right up until the finish.
The whole weekend in Berlin was a festivity of sport. The Saturday Breakfast Run; the children race in the afternoon and the popular “in-line-skating” competition which had 40 000 skaters speed through the 42km run course: with a New World Record of 58min. The Finish was at the Brandenburg Gate, where it had rows and rows of spectator stands and massive screens, for all to watch.
Arriving at the race venue on Sunday morning was an experience and a half – signposts everywhere directing 42 000 people all in the right directions. All participants were given a transparent plastic bag, with your race number on; which could be handed in at bag holding stalls. No personal tog-bags allowed, in true German precision, it had to be the same! The start had two waves : 8h45 & 8h55; with the comfort that the race was : mat-to-mat and not like SA where all Marathons are gun-to-gun – so taking 15 minutes to pass the starting mat was relaxing and exciting. With the daunting fact that 42,000 athletes participate, it was a relief to see that not once were there any bottlenecks on the road. The course was flat, fast and lined with spectators: all 900,000 of them. Add to this the 80-odd bands playing – it was a festive event!!
Amongst the runners – was a man running barefoot, linen-wrap shorts, a thorn crown on his head and a wooden cross on his back, with the sign: “Pray for world peace”. He finished in sub- 7 hours.
At the finish: Marshalls with info bibs on their chests were directing finishers to drop off our race chip, collect our certificate which had all the splits, positions etc … printed right there and then.
Finally of course: at the end of the day, it was an absolute thrill to have participated in a marathon where the New World Record was set: by Kenyan D.Kimetto in 2:02:57 !
