33. real,- berlin marathon, berlin

dear sgrunners

berlin marathon was held in two days. firstly on saturday, for the inline skaters and sunday, for the wheelchair competitors, handbikers, power walkers and of course the runners.

on a personal note :
for the first time in my life (here in germany), i met some fellow singaporeans - 7 in all within 2 days. where have they been all these years?

the first 3 i met while walking down the "unter den linden" near hotel adlon and waiting at the traffic light, i overheard a lady asking her german tourguide about singapore embassy's location. the guide had no idea and i turned around and ask them (the young lady & two guys) if they were from singapore. yes, she answered. she is on attachment in hanover, one of the guy doing his in mannheim & the other one i didn't hear properly. her "tourguide" is actually a friend of hers.

the other 4 singaporeans i met was after the finishing line. saw a lady, three guys (one is the french guy - according to "do" and "dreamrunner") and talking in english. approached them and asked them the same questions - are they from singapore and they answered yes. the animiles.



here's my FR....

saturday, 23rd september - inline-skating marathon.

just a short report on the first event :
the inline skater berlin marathon started on saturday at 4:30 pm. the organisers hoped that the inline skaters can break the 1 hour barrier and have been reporting live from the situation around the route. to make the story short, two skaters managed to skate away from the rest of the field. i stood at the 190m mark from finishing line and saw the two guys skating away. within 2 seconds, suddenly came a whole horde of other skaters (about 15 - 20) sprinting past them. just imagine that these skaters are travelling at 50 - 60 km/h. wow, i couldn't describe the words. that was the most exciting thing i'd ever seen from these inline skaters. by the way, they didn't achieve to break the 1 hr barrier cos the inline skater teams were just going for the win but not for the time, how unfortunate. the winning time was 1:02 hours. the inline marathon has a cut-off time limit of 2:30 hr - so if you are too slow, you'll be picked up by the sweeper bus!

some crazy people did the double marathon, saturday inline marathon and sunday the marathon. but then, who's not crazy enough to do a marathon?



sunday, 24th september - the marathon.


the start
it was 8 a.m. as i left home to conquer the day. my target for today is to run sub 4 hours. personal best is impossible due to lack of intensive training. the weather was sunny with slight wind and a temperature of about 16 degrees. luckily for me i stayed not far away from the tiergarten - the starting point. a friend drove me to the starting area but unfortunately some of the roads were already closed. we were lucky cos somehow my friend got a little lost (trying to avoid the road closure) and we ended up getting a short cut. i got a lift direct to the starting area near the chancellor office building.

thousands of runners with their friends and families gathered outside the runner's area. some runners started to change here while others did their warm up. me - i just enjoyed the atmosphere and busy taking photos. and yes, i too tried to get ready for the 42.195 km by placing my earphones correctly. hopefully my battery would hold on during my run cos i hate running without my mp3. i placed my backpack in the plastic bag with the startnumber - i called it bib bag - which was issued during the bib collection.

the runner's area was surrounded with fences so that only runners with startnumbers are allowed to enter this area. all in all there were 5 entry points guarded from men in uniform and security guards. i walked through the gate and looking for my barang-barang truck number and at the same time clicking all the way. it was 8:30 am. through the loudspeaker, the mc was commentating something about the hectic from the runners once they heard the helicopter flying above. it's going to start very soon. some runners were getting nervous and running "wildly" around the area. firstly they had to give up the bib bag and then turned around to go to the starting point. with thousand of runners all trying to get to the starting point, i found it amusing to see this chaos!

i finally found my barang-barang truck. i gave it to the girls in the truck and started to walk slowly to my starting block - block f (for sub-4 hrs runners). due to nature call, i decided to do it at the bushes cos waiting in line in front of the portable toilets can be very nerving. out of 20 men "doing the bushes", there was always at least a woman squatting down in the bushes. yes, women doing it in public places too. well, if you are really in need to do it, then just do it. i couldn't be bothered anyway.

the starting point was at the "strasse der 17. juni" and behind us was the finish line.

the handbikers as well as the wheelchairs competitors had already started when i arrived at my starting block. it was 8:50 am. i did a little warm-up. i decided not to go behind the starting fence as it was totally "overcrowded" with runners. i've decided to stay at the walkway in the tiergarten near the bushes. the music from the loudspeakers created a super atmosphere, whereby the runners were clapping, synchronizing with the music. i liked it. meanwhile more runners were getting hectic - some of them sprinted to their starting point and others trying hard to get into the "crowd". i stayed calm. steadylah!

it was 8:59 am. the countdown began. 10, 9, 8 .... 3, 2, 1.... bang. at exactly 9 a.m. the start was initialised by klaus wowereit, the very popular berlin gay mayor (elected again since last sunday for second term). thousands of yellow helium balloons were released from the runners in the sky. the elite runners started their run as well as those sub 3 hr runners i guessed (i don't know cos i'm just another slow runner at the back).



my run
the second wave of start began at 9:05 am. slowly and steadily the whole horde of sub 4 hr runners moving/jogging to the starting line. now then i've decided to walk right to the end of my starting block. i'm one of the last few from this starting block and behind us were the 4 hr+ runners being human barricaded from the officials. as i moved towards the starting line, the human barricades moved forward too, hands in hands. the scene was cute i thought, and it was confirmed too by fellow runners near me and we laughed.

tit... tit... tit... as i stepped over the mat and started my journey. after a few hundres meters, we were separated by a huge roundabout, the grosse stern - roads leading to all directions from this roundabout and here was the first tourist attraction - the siegessäule, a victory monument with a golden angel looking down at us. next we passed through the technical university of berlin. (un)lucky for the runners, at night other people "running" around this stretch of dark road - ladies in extremely tight and short attire looking for customers - you know what i mean.

my plan was to run slow at the beginning cos i didn't really prepare well for the marathon - did only one pathetic 3 hr run. sorry sifus - i know bad habits and damn lazy to train. my strategy this year was to run shorter distances - from 10 km to halfmarathon, so this marathon is just another long run - lsd with a little bit of speed. at 4km mark, i saw my friend and gave him a high five and continued my run. the first time control was at the 5 km mark, where i did it in about 27 mins. the first water point was few hundred meters behind the control point. every 2.5 km there would be a water point.

1.5 km later, we passed through the road where i came this morning, at the chancellor office building in the regierungsviertel or the government's quarters. to the left was the swiss embassy. at the 7 km mark, a small elevated road gave me the opportunity to look to front and back - wow, fully crowded with runners all the way as far as the eye can see. i almost fell near the 8 km mark cos it was a 90 degrees sharp left turn and everyone had to slow down immediately after the turn. damn lucky nothing happened. this area has a wide variety of restaurants, especially asian restaurants along the oranienburgerstrasse. have you guys heard of amrit restaurant? is there one in singapore? they were supposed to be selling singapore gourmets but what i found out from the menu was mostly thai or indonesian food - no nasi lemak, no chao kway teow or whatever. worst no cheese prata or prata plaster at all and you can totally just forget about mamak teh or kopi tarik. they were making use of singapore multiculti image only. but the indian food is still not bad though.

anyway, back to the run. at the 10 km control point, i realised that i've been running steadily with another 27 min for the last 5 km. i was happy but this was also the slowest ever 10 km timing of 55 mins in any event i ever ran before. should i increase my speed or just do it slowly, i asked myself. well, since i'm not really well prepared for this marathon, run slowly i said to myself. so i did. by now, we were running directly under the sun, no more buildings to give us a bit of shade.

at the 14 km mark, my mp3 music was interrupted by a band playing loud turkish music. ahhh.... we were in neukölln, a district also known as little istanbul. there is a huge mixture of foreigners living here with turkish community making the largest ethnic group. after passing through the 15 km control point, my timex watch showed that i've been running in 26 min for the last 5 km. not bad i thought to myself. then i got my first isotonic drink. the sunny weather with increasing temperature made me extremely thirsty and for the first time in marathon, i've been drinking a lot compared to other previous marathon (how am i going to survive the scsm?)!

everything went fine as i stepped over the mat at the 20 km point - another 26 mins for the last 5 km. soon i passed through the halfmarathon point in 1 hr 54 mins. not that bad i guess. by now, my motor started to function properly and without any problem i ran steadily to the next 5 km control point. surprisingly (or not) i clocked about 25 mins for this and the next 5 km, totalling to about 51 mins for this third 10 km. i was damn happy. (i realised later that my timing was very constant for the 15 km from km 20 - 35 at exactly 25:31 min or thereabout). the loudest music came at the 28 km mark aka der wilde eber or the wild boar. on the stage were brazilian ladies in skimpily clad swimsuits doing their sambas accompanied with a percussion band and cheerleaders 'cheerleading' on the the other side of the road. too bad i had to ignore all that and couldn't enjoy the music! the next stretch onwards was filled with people cheering their love ones. it was the ku'damm stretch also known as the shopping miles for all those shoppers. but it was sunday, the shops were closed! too bad.



the agony
how i wish that marathon is only 35 km in total. after the 35 km control point, i saw few army beds at the side of the road - a massage for the runners with stiff legs. i continued my run. few hundred meters away, my calves began to twitch and shit i thought, cos i know this twitch means cramps for me. i had to slow down. it got worse as i moved further. the hot temperature (i guessed it was about 26 degrees) didn't help either. even though i drank and eat (yes, bananas and apples) and took some pinch of salt, the pain was unbearable. i walked and then stopped totally at the next water point and gave myself a short rest. this was so terrible and i even thought of giving up. luckily it was only a thought. no way, i was going to give up. what should i write in the the forum then, 35 km and bye-bye? hmmm... no and never.

i started running slowly again and passed the 38 km mark. my watch showed that 3 hours 30 mins had passed since i crossed the starting line. come on, you can do it in 30 mins for the last 4.2 km. i tried to motivate myself. yes, i know that. all i need to do is to run slowly. don't stop and don't walk, just run. just do it. it was so difficult to start a run again after stopping. the 40 km control point i passed with difficulty and saw that for the last 5 km (36 - 40 km) i did it in an amazing 37 mins - what a record! the last 2 km we ran along the unter den linden where lots of tourist attractions you could see to the left and right. my focus was only straight ahead to the brandenburg gate, cos behind that gate is the finish line. another twitch occured again in my right calf and i was swearing like hell hoping that no more cramp attacks - please just let me run for the next 1.5 km. finally i passed through the brandenburg gate - only about 220 m from finishing line. this time i smiled and glad that finish line was not that far away. as i crossed the finishing line, i stopped my watch and saw that i've did it in 3:55 hr. it was well into my target of running sub-4 hr. i was super damn §!"@€ happy. i forgot the pain for the moment.


here was my km time for the last 10 km :
33 km - 05:04,83
34 km - 05:09,48
35 km - 05:14,06
36 km - 06:48,83
37 km - 07:20,27
38 km - 11:20,52
39 km - 06:11,59
40 km - 05:49,50
41 km - 05:24,70
42 km - 05:25,00


i've read later that haile gebrselassie also had problem between km 35 till the end but with a personal best from 2:05:56 hours. so i was not the only one who had a problem. my first idea was actually to be a pacemaker for haile gebrselassie, but decided to change it at last minute cos i urgently need to go to the bushes (to pee).



after the run
we had to walk about 50 meters after the finish line to receive our medals. ladies received a small plastic sunflower as well (i'm not so sure about the plastic & the sunflower, just the small part). my legs were like jelly. if i were to stop walking i believed that i could never move anymore and stucked there for eternity. a helper laid a yellow adidas plastic sheet on my shoulder so that i could keep myself warm. i took a red bull drink but had to throw away half of it cos i really had no appetite at all anymore. drink, i said to myself or i'll get worse. so i drank tea. the way to the truck to get my barang-barang was quite far, so i decided to walk slowly. as i walked through the runner's area i saw 3 chinese and an ang moh talking. in english with lah! ahhh.... must be singaporeans. i approached them and asked if they were singaporeans. and yes they said. animiles? yes, they were happy especially the lady. we gave each other a hug and i told them i read about it in sgrunners forum that some singaporeans are running the berlin marathon as well (thanks "do" for the info). unfortunately, i don't know who's who cos my eyes were a bit blurred with stars. from the excitement i could tell that maybe all of them did a personal best. i told them that it was a perfect weather for them to run but too hot for me. at 27 degrees in shade is definitely the hottest marathon i've ever run (okay, scsm would break that record). i told them i would be running the scsm in december and hope to see them again.


here are the animiles unofficial result (without names)
total rank (according to gender) - age group rank - nett time

male :
m30 : 7507 - 1018 - 3:48:27
m35 : 9253 - 1938 - 3:55:50
m40 : 3927 - 971 - 3:29:49

female :
wh : 229 - 48 - 3:29:55
w35 : 22 - 3 - 2:58:42
w35 : 2597 - 523 - 4:27:20
w40 : 452 - 108 - 3:41:45


i made my way slowly to the massaging area under the trees. approximately 200 army beds were there with masseurs from the massage schools around berlin doing their part to help those with stiff legs. i waited in line and laid my yellow plastic sheet on the ground and sat down. oh god - how difficult it was to sit down. around me others were doing the same and some had their cramp attacks while waiting. his or her neighbour would immediately help that cramp victim. after about 15 mins wait - a wait worthwhile - i laid down on the massage bed. the girl asked me where was my problem areas. everywhere i wanted to say. the calves i told her and the innerside of my right knee. while she was massaging my left calf, i was grimacing and told her that hurt. not that she did it wrongly, it was just the stiffness in my calf and she did slowly trying to "soften" it. ahh......... heaven.

i walked through the park towards the trucks. here and there runners talking about their run, some were lying down taking a break while others were changing into their fresh clothing in open. yes, they just get naked in open, whether you're a man or woman. no problem about that. after that i saw a long queue. ahh... the beer queue. i waited in line and got myself a berliner pilsner. it sucked. i don't like the taste. i hate it. i prefer a non-alcoholic erdinger weissbeer to quench my thirst. i poured away the rest in the bushes. i then made my way to the barang-barang truck to pick up my bib bag. then i went straight to the shower tents to refresh myself. oh god, how hot and stuffy it was in there. so many people. someone commented that this was the last chance to get a heat stroke. i laughed. we had warm water to shower! even though there were separated shower tents for ladies, a woman joined us in the shower. i guessed she was too lazy to walk back to the ladies shower tents cos it was quite far away from our tents. nobody was bothered about it and neither was she. i guess the other way round was not possible!

after getting my shower and into new attire, i walked out of the runner's area towards the family reunion area. there was a biergarten next to it as well as cafés. this family reunion area was divided into alphabets so that families could wait for their heroes under each big letters of the first alphabet from their surnames. of course it didn't always go the way the organisers would want it to be. through the loudspeaker, i heard announcement telling the called families to wait under a certain alphabet, cos the runner is waiting for them there or vice versa. the best thing is that it was multilingual. though mostly in german, the announcement made was also in spanish, english, french and in japanese too. how nice...

as i came out from this area, i went straight to the barricades where the spectators were cheering the rest of the runners for the final 200 meters. the older competitors always got a huge applause and cheers from the spectators as they ran through. i heard a woman shouting "come on, only 200 m more to the beer", some japanese chanting frantically and others just clapping away giving the moral support to the runners. i turned back and made my way to pick up my immediate certificate - an unofficial result with all the timings. once again i smiled as i took the printed paper as it showed that my nett time is 3 hours 55 mins. i did conquer the day!


i called my friend to pick me up and we ate first (i was hungry) before we left for hamburg at 5 pm. a 2 1/2 hours journey back home. today, i had a bit of stiff back but no problems whatsoever in my legs.


some statistics for you :
39 636 registered runners
31 472 runners completed the race
360 masseurs from 6 berlin schools for physiotheraphy (with it 250 liter massaging oil)
105 nations took part (1 from nepal)
898 michael(s)
144 sabine(s)
21% women

oldie but goldie :
runners
female : ruth helfenstein (1931)
male : gilbert lions (1921)

skaters
female : eva cambert (1939)
male : göran magnusson (1926)


here are the photos for you :

berlin, berlin
berlin i
berlin ii
berlin iii
berlin iv


okaylah, that's all.

OP - will be running again in berlin next year!


alsteration (week 38) : 53.195 km
alstering : 11.0 km (1.5 rounds)
non-alstering : 42.195 km

total running (september) : 162.578 km
davon
alstering : 62.9 km (8.5 rounds)
38.69% gehört zu alsteration