Editor’s Note: Hello everyone! Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving with your friends and family. The 2017 Berlin Marathon lottery results will be announced over the next two days, how exciting! I thought it would be a good time to share my 2016 Berlin Marathon Countdown post that I prepared before the marathon. I was planning on sharing it before our flight to Germany, but we all know what happened the night before. I have some fun posts lined up (foot update, bird camp, running plans, travel recaps, and tons of race recaps) over the next couple of weeks. Enjoy!
————————————————————————————————————-
Five days until the 43rd Berlin Marathon! The past two years I’ve written a series of countdown posts ahead of the 2014 New York City Marathon and 2015 Chicago Marathon specific to logistics, packing, motivation and the oh so important race day outfit. Since I had my unplanned (lengthy) blogging hiatus, I will be writing one super post for Berlin.
Image: BMW Berlin Marathon
Logistics
- Flights – I started researching prices early on. I referenced Kayak, downloaded Hopper, and searched flights using different arrival destinations in Germany. For example: Was it significantly less to book a roundtrip ticket to Munich and take the train to Berlin? Was the price differential worth the cost of a ticket and time? One of my friends found $500 RT tickets from California to Nuremberg in June. I booked our tickets in April from Washington Dulles and it was approximately $700 RT per person.
- Hotel – Lucky for me, this was all organized through Marathon Tours & Travel. We will be staying at the Grand Hyatt Berlin, which is about a 15-20 minute walk to the start. The Marathon Tour package includes the bib entry (if not through the lottery), lodging, welcome reception, breakfast, half day city tour ending at the expo, transportation to the Breakfast Run and a pasta dinner. I am looking forward to the stay, my friend JR highly recommended them.
- Expo – This year the expo will be held at the Station Berlin, with opening ours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We are going to pick up my bib and timing chip <–yes timing chip on Thursday afternoon after we arrive. Initially we were planning on going Friday afternoon after the tour, but I figured it would be more crowded then.
- Breakfast Run 6K – Is a free run held the day before the marathon. It starts at Schloss Charlottenburg and ends at the Olympic Stadium, where Jesse Owens won his gold medals! As the name suggests, a breakfast is available after the race. I imagine it will be light and easy fair such as bread and fruit. We will see.
- Post Berlin – The day after the marathon, we will leave Berlin for Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Fussen and Munich. I will post travel recaps once I return.
Packing
I tweaked my packing list a bit. Perishables are out – I plan on buying them in Berlin…or…snag a few extra bananas/bread from my hotel’s breakfast buffet 😉 My trusty foam roller did not make the list. We traveling for more than a week, so I needed extra space in my suitcase. I am packing my Roll Recovery instead.
Motivation
I love race recaps! There are a number of Berlin Marathon recaps on the web, but not as plentiful as Chicago and New York. Can’t wait to add mine to the interwebs soon 🙂 Here were the ones I found most informative/interesting:
- Mike @ Blisters, Cramps and Heaves
- Ashley @ A Healthy Happier Bear
- Victoria @ The Running Stylist
- Charlie @ The Runner Beans
- Susan @ Nurse on the Run
- Courtney @ Redefining Athlete
- Jessie @ The Rights Fits
- Oiselle Volee Berlin Facebook Group
Race Day Outfit
Five day forecast states it will be 73F, another warm up. Oh man!
This means I’m going to rule out my Oiselle singlet – I prefer wearing it in cooler weather for longer distances. I think I may wear it for the Breakfast Run though.
Here is the winner:
Oiselle Winona Tank | Black Joggings | Brooks Adrenalines GTS
I will also bring a visor, arm sleeves, poncho, throwaway clothes, and a gold headband. See what I did there? I wanted to coordinate with the Germany flag colors of red, yellow (gold is yellow’s sparkly older sister, right?) and black.
Did you enter the 2017 Berlin Marathon lottery?
Do you have any races left this year?
Mike S
November 30, 2016Thanks for the shout-out Jenny, and glad you found my Berlin Marathon recap helpful! You definitely have a much more thorough packing list than I did, I wish I’d had the benefit of seeing yours before the race. Unfortunately I won’t be running Berlin again for a while, but I did have the opportunity to run Boston in April, and I was denied (like most everyone else) by both London and Tokyo this year. So I’ll be reapplying next year… and the next… and the next… until they eventually let me in. 🙂
Best of luck with your training, and keep running strong! Look forward to following your adventures.
Mike S recently posted…Through the (crack’d) looking glass
Run Jenny Run
January 2, 2017Thanks Mike, your post was very useful! Good luck with all the lotteries this year.
Kristina
November 30, 2016I’m looking forward to hearing more about your experience with Marathon Tours & Travel. I’m very interested in running the london marathon in 2018 and am considering all my options for actually getting a spot. I saw that Marathon Tours offers several!
Kristina recently posted…Taking the Bad Runs in Stride
Run Jenny Run
January 2, 2017Marathon Tours & Travel is a good option for those hard to get bibs (London and Tokyo). Ohh London 2018 sounds like fun! I am taking that year off from the marathon (work on tris) but otherwise would have explored that with you!
Amy Lauren
November 30, 2016I think it’s neat there are groups like Marathon Tours out there to help with the logistics of an overseas/travel race. Planning for a marathon and training is hard enough without having to worry about hte travel details. I have a roll recovery too and that’s what I travel with!
Run Jenny Run
January 2, 2017Exactly! Especially in countries in which it may be difficult to plan on your own (ex. Cuba, Antarctica) or where bibs are difficult to come by (London, Tokyo etc etc). Happy New Year, Amy!
Wendy Hetherington
November 30, 2016Great post! I prob won’t try to get to Berlin for the next couple times, but do want to run it eventually. I would love to run London and I think using Marathon Tours may be the way to go.
Run Jenny Run
January 2, 2017London is on my list too!
Jennifer @ Dashing in style
December 1, 2016Were you able to defer you entry until 2017? I’ve never heard of Marathon Tours so need to keep them in mind if I ever consider an international race.
Jennifer @ Dashing in style recently posted…Planning Running Goals with the Hansons Method
Run Jenny Run
January 2, 2017Yup! I was able to defer 🙂 Happy New Year, Jennifer!