Berlin Marathon 2011 - Race Report

It's great to be a part of history, and on my third Berlin outing this race has provided that in threes.

• A new men's world record was set.
• Haile Gebrselassie and Paula Radcliffe, the men's and women's world record holders were both there.
• I set a new PB, and for the first time I broke the 3:20:00 barrier.

I won't go too much into my training for Berlin as all of it is published on my dailymile page. What I'd like to mention is that in my hardest training weeks, I managed to log 30 consecutive training days, averaging over 90 km a week in that month. I've never done that sort of volume and frequency before and I was quite surprised to get through that without feeling the least bit tired, injured or sick. Though I have to put that down to being extra careful, eating healthy and getting plenty of sleep.

Knowing that improvements were going to be hard to come by and considering the lousy start I had to my running year, I aimed for a target of sub 3:20:00, a target not too far off my PB, and a target I knew I could get if I had a good race. And on a warm day (where surprisingly a new world record was set), I ran a smart, controlled race.

The sun was out and there was not a single cloud in the sky. I was getting a bit concerned as earlier in training I experienced first hand what heat exhaustion felt like after running in the sun for over two hours. Fortunately there was plenty of shade provided by the tall buildings and the tree-lined streets, and it was just a matter of using it to my benefit. It was also a matter of running at an even pace for as long as I could.

The first half was a controlled 1:39:57, just within the 1:40:00 half way split. I was outside my required split times at 5 km and 10 km and had to speed up in the 2nd quarter just to claw back the deficit. But I still felt comfortable, and I was just hoping that the second half wouldn't bring an abrupt slowdown in pace.

The second half was also quite controlled. but unlike previous years this one felt different. Around the 25-30 km mark, instead of fading like I did at Berlin twice before, I still felt strong, and managed to pick up the pace a little, putting a little time in the bank in case things went south later on. It was only around the 37 km mark that the wheels nearly fell off and I really felt myself working harder just to keep up. The legs were nearly gone by then so I had to rely on the arms. For a minute I was afraid that I wasn't going to make 3:20:00, but I remembered all the short stuff, the reps and intervals, that I did week after week at club night and surged when I could.

Finally, after crossing the Brandenburg Gate, I knew I had the PB in the bag. A minute later, and fortunately not succumbing to cramp on the final 350m, I finished Berlin for the third time setting yet another PB in this great city. What was remarkable was that I managed to run a negative split, which I've never done before in a big marathon. In a way, the journey of running felt sweeter than reaching the end. 

I was still pumped after the race that once I got cleaned up I didn't even go for a long nap or call it a day. Instead I went to the after-party that evening where I managed to get a glimpse of the elites, including the winners and Paula Radclfiffe. It ended up being such a long day that I didn't sleep till 1 a.m.

Patrick Makau being interviewed about the world record at the marathon after-party.

At the after-party, Patrick Makau was asked whether he'll be back at Berlin next year, considering that he'll be running at the London Olympics over a month before. To which he, rather diplomatically, answered "yes" because ever since he started racing at Berlin in both the marathon and half marathon events, he has won every single time. 

As for me, Berlin is also a happy hunting ground so there's a very good chance that I'll be back in 2012 where I'll aim for yet another PB. 

To conclude, I'm really interested in collecting figures, times and splits, so here's a table of times and splits (5k, 10k and half) from my 3 Berlin outings so far. It's great to see that I can keep the effort going for longer without the fatigue setting in so early.

	2009		2010		2011
5km	00:23:43		00:23:45		00:24:25
10km	00:47:11		00:47:07		00:48:14
15km	01:10:19		01:10:17		01:11:39
20km	01:32:57		01:33:30		01:34:49
Half	01:37:56		01:38:32		01:39:57
25km	01:56:14		01:56:56		01:58:13
30km	02:19:55		02:21:01		02:21:25
35km	02:44:59		02:45:45		02:44:58
40km	03:11:26		03:10:51		03:09:05
Finish	03:22:45		03:21:25		03:19:20
5km	00:23:43		00:23:45		00:24:25
10km	00:23:28		00:23:22		00:23:49
15km	00:23:07		00:23:10		00:23:25
20km	00:22:38		00:23:13		00:23:10
Half	00:04:59		00:05:02		00:05:08
25km	00:23:17		00:23:26		00:23:24
30km	00:23:41		00:24:05		00:23:12
35km	00:25:04		00:24:44		00:23:33
40km	00:26:27		00:25:06		00:24:07
Finish	00:11:19		00:10:34		00:10:15
10km	00:47:11		00:47:07		00:48:14
20km	00:45:46		00:46:23		00:46:35
30km	00:46:58		00:47:31		00:46:36
40km	00:51:31		00:49:50		00:47:40
Half 1	01:37:56		01:38:32		01:39:57
Half 2	01:44:49		01:42:53		01:39:23