Dim Sum and Long Runs: My Berlin Marathon Race report

Support crew; pre-race

Pre-race family shot

As anyone who has known me for longer than, say, 3 seconds, you will know that it's long been a dream of mine to run a marathon under 3 hours. It's one of those things that while I believed possible, I wasn't sure I could ever achieve.

However yesterday in Berlin, I did it;

2.59.59!

Staying positive; pre-race

I wish I could say that it was a sprint to the finish, that I remembered to take off my sunnies for the photo and that I held my arms in a victory salute.

However, it was not like that. To be totally honest, by the end all I wanted to do was finish. I vomited about 700 metres from the finish line, and then could barely move in a straight line. By this stage, I did not care in the slightest about my time.

I was caught by a medical guy over the finishing line. After which, when he let go, I sat down in the gutter, until another medical person asked me if I was able to walk.

It's an experience I've never had before - when you finish in around 3 hours, the other finishers around you look absolutely destroyed. When you come in around 4hours (which I have done on more than one occasion) people look jubilant. They give high fives and hug and cry with happiness. At 3 hours, it's all about lying on the ground, looking miserable, trying not to spew.

Still, I did it, and now that the dust has settled, while I obviously would have liked to go faster, I'm really happy. (Perhaps I was a bit too optimistic when I did a 3 min pb for the first 21km! On my watch I did 84.44 - perhaps a little quick!)

My highlights:

The start was great - I'm usually really stressed about getting a good start, but because it was organised in corals (I was in the 2.40-2.50 starting block - next time I'll go for the 2.50-3.00), there was plenty of space and so I could concentrate on running, rather than dodging, right from the start.
Lots of cool bands on the course, and great crowd support.
Seeing Lachlan and Henry on the course.
I would like to say running through the amazing city of Berlin, but to be honest, I wasn't paying much attention and could not really tell you where I was.
Henry laying on top of me to keep me warm at the end, and later the kisses he gave me because I told him I was feeling sick.
Finding a rickshaw driver to take us from the "family meeting zone" back to the front door of the hotel (I was not walking anywhere after the race - I was thinking I was otherwise going to kick Henry out of the stroller.)
I came 47th overall (that's on the second page of results!), and 7th in my age group (30-35). And I think I was the first Australian woman to cross the line (to be fair, Berlin is a pretty long way from Australia - I don't imagine there were too many Aussies in it!)
The enthusiasm and excitement of the 40 000 participants. It's so inspiring to see so many people who've dedicated so much time and energy pursuing a dream. Finishing a marathon - whether it's your first or 50th, is not easy. In particular, one guy I saw who was starting, had obviously been seriously overweight in the past and lost a good 100kg or more. Though he was still a big guy, he was doing Berlin Marathon. What an amazing achievement! Totally inspiring to see people like this!
All the messages I got from friends and family post-race. I was really touched; it makes it all worth it. Thanks so much!

My lowlights:

Vomiting several times - I think I need to change my gels.
The cold; it was about 6 degrees I think - after Hong Kong, this felt freezing and my legs felt more and more cold as the race went on.
Waiting for around 35 minutes for the port-a-loo pre-race. Everyone in that line was getting mighty stressed. Next time I will know, there are loads of bushes right near where I started!
Getting overtaken by a dude in a mini-mouse costume at around 36km (Japanese, obviously.) He looked to be suffering, but still, getting overtaken by someone wearing mouse ears and a red, polka-dot dress, did nothing for my mental state!
German Dudes getting totally naked, out in the open, post-race - when there were change tents only 20metres away! I'd suffered enough by that stage without coping an eyeful.
The battle in my head that started, I'd say at around 2km - any suggestions how to deal with this running friends? The voices in my head are my biggest problem! How do I switch them off?

Post-race; Henry warming me up

Of course, the race was not all about me, anyone who has googled Berlin Marathon in the past 24 hours will see that a new world record was set by Kenyan Wilson Kipsang. How awesome!!!

It was definitely the day for the Kenyans with the top 3 men, and top 2 women, all from Kenya. Pretty great! A 41 year old German came 3rd in the women.