One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to long-distance
runners’ motivations. The reasons we run vary as widely as our body shapes and
personality types. There are the Seven Continent Club members, the Abbott World
Marathon Major doers, the Runner’s Country Club enthusiasts, the elites, the
speedsters, the BQers, the enjoyers, the maniacs, the charity raisers, those
who run for new a PR/bling/dessert/stress relief/in memorandum/to prove they
can/who lost a bet, and the list goes on.
The great thing about our sport is that there’s space for
all.
The bad news is that the largest races don’t necessarily agree.
I fall somewhere between a Runner’s Country Club enthusiast and
a marathon enjoyer -- one
of my greatest motivators is packing my bags and traveling to see 26.2 miles of
a new place on foot. I’ve run 3 dozen marathons and ultramarathons in places as
close as my local trails in San Francisco, as quiet as the rainy streets of
Reykjavik, and as remote as the islands of Antarctica. I’ve even checked an Abbott World
Marathon Major and a BQ off my list when I qualified for the Boston Marathon in
Chicago.
And yet running on varied terrain at different paces around
the world left me unexpectant of what I was to experience at my most recent
international race.
What I found was a race that made room for everyone on a
joyous weekend of celebrating a storied city.
A race that said one size can fit all.
That race was the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON.
The pre-party
Marathon weekend began on a high note: A Saturday morning
breakfast run from the Charlottenburg Palace wound its way through the old
Westend neighborhood and finished with a victory lap in the 1936 Olympic
Stadium, where Jesse Owens forever changed the sport of running.
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| Olympiastadion |
That note kept ringing loudly when a mini-marathon (4.2
kilometer) footrace and an inline skating marathon screamed through the streets
of downtown Berlin in the evening, inviting everyone to glance at a course that
welcomed different activities and all abilities.
The big event
Then there was the marathon. The energy in Berlin was
palpable as hoards of individuals from around the world marched toward the great
Reichstag lawn -- the
front yard of Germany’s Parliament during the late 19th century.
This expanse of grass acted as a meeting spot for friends; allowed runners an
area to stretch; and offered efficient signage for drop bags, port-o-potties, a warm-up
area, and the walk into the lush Tiergarten to find our starting corrals.
As we lined up on Straße des 17
Juni, it was impossible to miss all the shirts representing various countries
and hear countless languages being spoken. Even though we weren’t from the same
area and we didn’t talk in the same tongue, the expanse of heads gazing toward Siegessäule, Germany’s victory tower, focused on the same
goal.
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| Siegessäule |
The sites
The marathon itself winds through 10
neighborhoods filled with jagged spires, old cathedrals, gothic architecture, patina
statues, tree-lined streets, and a million cheering faces. History buffs can’t
ignore passing through Potsdamer Platz (a former gate on the Berlin Wall), the
Berliner Dom, the Symphonic Konzerthaus, the German Chancellery, and an emotional
finish through the Brandenburg Gate.
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| Brandenburg Gate |
The sounds
There’s no shortness of creativity bursting
from Berlin’s seams, from artists to architects to designers to chefs to
musicians. In true form, each block had no less than one band playing. I’m not
talking commissioned bands performing in a quiet corner of a race -- I’m talking corner
after corner of folk bands, punk bands, boy’s choirs, marching bands, mini
orchestras, jazz bands, solo trumpets, solo drums, solo accordions, solo
alpenhorns, and of course the beautiful song of human voices cheering on their
loved ones. The audio presence of the race was enough to amp anyone up.
The scoop
The BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is the third largest
marathon in the world, and it earns every bit of its deserved fame. Unlike
other large marathons, anyone can run it. You don’t have to run a qualifying
time to enter and you don’t have to be fast to toe the start line, even though
this course attracts the fastest runners year after year.
It’s one of the only
races where you can run with the greatest athletes in the world, sightsee your
way through hundreds of years of history, watch world records being set, and
join your fellow friends in a celebration of unity and peace.
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| Finishing the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON |
Alyssa Yell is an avid
ultramarathoner, adventure enthusiast, & lady of athleisure. When punching
the clock, she plays with words & fights with grammar.
