Berlin Marathon - English version

There are 6 “world major marathons”: New York London, Tokyo, Boston, Chicago and Berlin.  For my parents and the 2018 Berlin Marathon was our first major.

Last year we celebrated my dad´s 50th birthday running the Venice marathon, during which trip we felt so motivated that we sent our application for the Berlin Marathon in celebration of my 30th birthday.

Eleven months later, it was race day.  Flying in from Houston and Lima, we arrived to the famous Berlin Marathon, along with athletes from other 142 countries.

Start

With around forty-seven thousand runners and a cheerful vibe, we started running from the Tiergarten.

During the first kilometers, we were forced to start at a moderate pace since we were too much runners and its was not possible to go at a faster pace.  As we went on it became possible to gain speed, making me feel like in a runners’ ad: hearing the steps against the street in an almost musical sound.  Completely engaged, this is our time to do our best, this is what we prepared and travelled for.

 As always I enjoy reading the card boards the crowd holds up, some of my favorites read as follows: “Chuck Norris never ran a Marathon”; “Worst parade ever”; “Bier in 25 kms”; “It is seeming impossible until its done”; y “Pain is momentary but the result on the internet are forever.”

At certain points during the route there was live music cheering up the race, we had a bit of everything! From the typical large German trumpets, rock bands, up to Brazilian drummers.

The course was amazing; Berlin is a beautiful city and the weather was nice and sunny.

Lesson learned

Months prior to the marathon I had an ankle/foot injury and I had just moved countries, reasons that worried would influence my performance.

Moments before the race, thanks to the support of different key people, I changed the stories I repeated in my head and the result was good. I enjoyed the run and finished strong.

Marathons besides being a physical challenge they are very mental, choosing thoughts make a difference in the result.