Plan to shiver at the starting line. The Berlin Marathon is known as one of the flattest, fastest and, just as important—most consistent marathon weather conditions annually. That being the case, we can pretty much guarantee it’ll be a cool morning in the mid 40s having just rained a little the night before.Pack some layers when you head to the line, but don’t let the cool weather fool you into starting the race with those layers still on.
Metric system incoming... It’s likely some of us have trained the whole season using miles, mile repeats, long runs in miles, watch in miles, etc. However, as you maybe expect, the Berlin Marathon course markers are in kilometers. With that in mind, there are two things you should take action on before race day:
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Metric Translation: Overlay the strategic pace changing moments of your race plan and memorize the specific corresponding kilometer marks. For example,13.1 Miles is 21.08 kilometers.
- Metric Calculation: While your watch may be in miles and chime throughout the race, it’s worth the time to calculate your expected race pace into kilometers, and especially, what you’d like to be running for each 5k. It’s easy to be wildly confused during the race, so the more data touch-points the better to help triangulate your effort.
Rein it in. Berlin is fast. Like very fast. And again, I'm not talking just about the course. It's the weather, the energy, and your pace group all come together at the start to lure you into going out fast, which can feel amazing for a while. Do your best to rein in your early paces because just as the flat and fast feels good early, there’s nothing coming to save you late in the race.
The Berlin Community. Regardless of how the day goes on the course, the city of Berlin is an insanely vibrant place to be on marathon Sunday. And nothing delivers the electricity better than stacking 10-deep at the Berlin Braves cheer zone at the turn of 36.5k (22.6 miles) while the runners sprint through in celebration. Save some energy for this moment.
Cash it all in the last 10k. The course is flat and fast yes, but it’s lessor known that the last 10k of the Berlin Marathon course is a net downhill. So while it’s not exactly a “gimme” from there, if you’ve made good decisions early, the last 10k can be a magnificent charge toward a personal best. The race breaks late, so trust the process, stick to the plan, and enjoy the ride.
Enjoy and best of luck. We'll see you at the Berlin Braves afterparty.
