Friday

Anh and I landed Friday afternoon at the Berlin airport. Contrary to our earlier decision to take a taxi to the marathon expo we opted to take local transit. Upon arriving at the expo it must have been the busiest time since the expo opened. There were massive crowds everywhere. There were about three lines we had to queue up before we finally got our bibs. To note there weren’t any race shirts provided by the race organizers.

Post expo we took local transit to our hotel. We stayed at Best Western Kantstrasse in Charlottenburg. For dinner, we went to a local restaurant called La Batea (Adamos Tapasbar). I had the Spanish fish pot and Anh had the Schnitzel.

Saturday

This was our sightseeing day. We started the morning by having a walk in the neighborhood in search of a breakfast spot. We came across a place called, Long story short. Anh had the egg bowl and I had the shakshuka. Due to street closures bus tour stops were very limited so instead we took the local transit to the East side of Berlin.

Upon arriving there we had lunch at Sheer Schnitzel. Due to my pescatarian diet, I ordered the plant-based schnitzel and Anh had the schnitzel burger.

Here are the following sites we visited:

• Berlin Wall Memorial
• East Side Gallery
• Memorial for the murdered Jews of Europe

When were arrived back at the hotel we decided to stay local for dinner. We went to Thoma Eck for dinner.

Sunday

The weather was perfect for running in Berlin. The race went as well as my body was prepared and was in shape for on the day.

Sightseeing yesterday which was the only day we had definitely added some fatigue in my legs and hips (not recommended 🙈). With the limited time we had in Berlin, this was the best scenario. There were some miles when all felt great and others where I had to manage hip fatigue and a left knee issue I need to evaluate during this offseason.

Great race venue, course, and crowds. Logistics from organizers could be improved. I do give them a pass as this may have been the largest Berlin marathon ever as it’s the 50th anniversary 🎉 🥳

Beautiful medal 🏅

Also, no shirt was given at the expo packet pickup or post-race. A nice memorable 50th race-provided shirt would be nice. However, I did purchase one at the expo. XL jackets were all gone by the time we landed and headed to the expo.

This could be a very fast course if well prepared and one body responds on the day. I witnessed lots of PR bells ringing post-race by runners achieving the best marathon times 🙌🏾

Huge congratulations to all the finishers. 🇩🇪