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Berlin 100 - race report

Despite having read a couple of lukewarm reports from the 2013 edition of the Berlin 100 'Mauerweglauf' I had signed up to this race quite early on in the year for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Sarah's parents live in Berlin and in the summer she normally takes the kids over there for a month or so to see them; as this coincided with when the race was to take place we thought it would make a nice trip to go over there, run the race and then take a week off relaxing with the whole family in the suburbs of Berlin. Secondly, one of my main aims for 2014 had been to run a sub-16 hour 100 miler, and having decided not to run the Thames Path 100 earlier in the year this had seemed to be a good fallback option, thanks to it being predominantly flat with a mix of tarmac and easy dirt trail underfoot. As it turned out I achieved my goal of sub-16 earlier than planned at the SDW100 where I surprised myself by running 14:03 - so Berlin became suddenly more about trying to shave off those pesky 3 minutes to get a 100 mile PB that started with a 13!

The complaints that I had read about the race largely centered around the fact that the long pre-race briefing starts at 7pm the evening before the race, and that when you finish you are not given your medal (and buckle, if you go sub-24); instead there is an award ceremony on Sunday at 2pm, a couple of hours after the race cutoff time, when everyone is called up individually to receive their hard-earned silverware. Neither of these are particularly a problem if you are a resident in Berlin or are staying at the 'official' race hotel, but for those looking to do a quick weekend trip to run the race the timing of these could make things difficult. However I had plenty of time scheduled around the race (and had managed to get a pretty cheap Airbnb apartment close to the start/race briefing) so these issues didn't concern me too much.

The race itself was set up in memory of all the people who died trying to escape from East Berlin into West Berlin during the time when the city was carved in two by the infamous Berlin Wall. The route follows what is now known as the 'Mauerweg' - the path that the wall used to trace through the center of Berlin and then all around the western perimeter of the city. And the historical aspect of this race is not just there to be used as a selling point for the race organisers - they really are passionate about it and each edition of the race is dedicated to another person who died trying to cross the border. The historical and cultural side of this event did really make it feel quite different from the races which I had done before, and the organisers' passion for it definitely shone through, I thought.

So, on to the race itself. The rough plan was to set off at about 4:45min/km pace, providing that felt comfortable on the day, and then slow down as little as possible, aiming for no slower than about 5:15min/km towards the end. By my rough guesstimate (and taking quick aid station stops into account) this would get me in just under 14 hours, my primary aim for the day. However I was very conscious of the fact that I had a really great day in the SDW100, and I was not at all sure that I would ever be able to run anything like that time again! So I promised myself that I would ignore the other people in the race, try to go on feel and just see how things shook out later on in the day.

I knew that a very fast Japanese runner, Tsutomu Nagata, had been invited over to run the race, and with a 6:44 100km PB he was definitely the pre-race favourite. However, I knew he had blown up in his first 100 mile race earlier in the year after setting off at a crazy pace, which gave me hope - 100 miles is very different from 100km and it's not necessarily the fastest person on paper who will win, there are a lot of things that have to go right on the day and so much of it is about how you manage yourself both effort and nutrition-wise over the course of the whole race. I felt like (more by luck than by judgement!) I got the 'self-management' bit pretty spot on at SDW100 and I was determined to look after myself as best I could from the start, as I knew that would be the only way I could contend with Tsutomu. The previous winner and course record holder Peter Flock was also running and I was sure that there would be a few other speedy people in the lineup, so it was not going to be a day for taking it easy!

At 6am on the dot the race started and I went off with Tsutomu and another German chap (whose name I have forgotten!), with a couple of Italians running close behind us. The first 10km or so of the race are right through the center of Berlin and we had all been warned repeatedly that crossing a road at a pedestrian red light would result in instant disqualification. There was a cyclist who was to ride at the front of the race for the whole day so flaunting this rule was not really an option if you were up at the sharp end! My little daughters were extremely concerned about this (possibly due to my general indifference to traffic lights when walking around Brighton) and made me promise them repeatedly that I wouldn't break the rule and get disqualified. This made the first part of the race a bit stop-start, I was mostly running in third place and kept catching up with the lead two runners at lights which was fine by me, but when I got caught at a frustratingly slow light that they had made it through I suddenly found myself out of visual contact with them. Initially I was concerned because the presence of the bike meant that it was impossible for the leaders to get lost, and without him I would have to be responsible for staying on the correct path myself. However the course markings, which had been laboriously explained and documented in the pre-race briefing were actually really excellent and I didn't have to worry at all. So I just settled into running at a pace that felt comfortable, just ahead of the two Italian runners, and chugged along towards the outskirts of the city. A nice touch was that the course was routed right through the middle of an exhibition centre all about the Berlin Wall - slightly surreal running though it during a race but underlined the commitment of the organisers to make this more than just a race.

The next 70km or so passed pretty uneventfully, I generally didn't stop at the plethora of aid stations (there was one pretty much every 6-7km or so!) as I was meeting Sarah about every 20km for water bottle refills and food top-ups, and at some point I caught up and gradually overtook the then-second placed runner. I went through the marathon mark in about 3:14 and noticed that my pace was a bit quicker than I had planned, but I was feeling good and didn't feel like I was pushing myself too hard. I was quite a bit up on my projected times at about 60km and I think that Sarah was a little worried that I might blow up later, but everything felt in control and I was eating and drinking well so I wasn't too worried. Tsutomu had set off at sub-12 hour pace and had a gap of more than 10 minutes on me at one point, but by about 65km that gap had shrunk to about 3 minutes. I wasn't speeding up so he must have been slowing down which was definitely an good motivator to try and keep my pace solid as I ran through the leafy woods around the south of Berlin.

After trailing behind him for a few kilometers I decided to make my move as we came into an aid station, dashing in and out just to register my timing chip but not picking up any food or water. In By this point we had caused a bit of a scramble to get the aid stations open in time as we were running significantly under the course record splits. Sarah had spoken to the organiser on the phone who had told her that because of the traffic lights he didn't think anyone would run under 15 hours on the course, something that I was skeptical about when there is a 6:44 100km runner in the house! But all credit to the organisers because as the race went on they managed to get everything open and set up in plenty of time for us to come through.

I noticed that Tsutomu was looking ropey and asked him if he was ok, to which I got a pretty vigorous shake of the head in reply. He was suffering from stomach problems which would only get worse over the next section of the race, and after about 10 minutes where he was running close behind me for a little bit I noticed that he had dropped away from me and I was now clear away at the front of the race. I found out later that Tsutomu had rallied a couple of times and had put in a couple of quick sections behind me, but each time had been stopped short by his stomach problems again. Fair play to him for still finishing however - no-one would have thought any the less of him for dropping, especially when his stated goal was to win the race, but he battled through to the end which I respect a lot.

I met my extended crew of my daughters and Sarah's parents for the first time at just after 90km, took a quick pit-stop and a second to find out about the position of any other runners close behind me and ran out of the aid station feeling pretty good. I'd set a new 50 mile PB of 6:10 but still felt in control and wasn't hurting too much yet. However, within in about 5 mins of leaving the aid station I suddenly started feeling sick and felt myself slip into a really big mental dip, much worse than anything I had had at the SDW100. I couldn't get anything into my stomach over the next 10km or so and lots of dark thoughts about having gone out too hard after all started going through my mind. However I knew that I had pushed through an even lower point in the NDW100 last year and so I did my best to keep my pace up and just trust that I'd eventually get through it. Slowly the nausea began to back off and although I couldn't face eating anything I wasn't feeling sick anymore, and by the time I got to my next crew meet location I was definitely on the up again. With solid food off the cards I turned to the ultrarunner's best friend, Coke, and resigned myself to doing the last 60km of the race on a strictly liquid diet.

By the time I got the aid station at 38km to go, where Sarah was going to be pacing me from, I was definitely feeling much better and was really looking forward to running with her. I was about half an hour up on the Italian runner (Marco Bonfliglio) who was now running in second place, and I knew I was making time on him not losing it... so barring any massive blow up or injury I knew that the win was pretty certain. I had been aware for a little while that a sub-13 hour time was potentially on the cards, but I also knew that my pace was slowing and I was very wary of pushing too hard at this point, especially as I knew my stomach was not in a particularly strong place.

The aforementioned cyclist who rode ahead of the first runner was a really nice touch by the organisers and was a great help, allowing me to pretty much totally switch off and just concentrate on moving efficiently. He didn't speak much English and my German is pretty ropey but I got quite attached to him by the end! So Sarah and I just followed his lead, stopping occasionally at red lights (which made it very hard to get going again) but generally just focussing on getting the job done. By the time we got to about 10km to go I knew that sub-13 was not going to happen, I just didn't have enough in my legs but I was pretty sure we'd make it in under 13:10 which was still way ahead of anything I'd been expecting.

The last bit is really all a bit of a blur, but we seemed to pop out in the center of Berlin quite suddenly, and after an very painful last 2km I suddenly found myself on the running track at the stadium for the final loop round and over the finish line. I ended up with a time of 13:06:52, which was about 2 hours 45 mins off the old course record and nearly an hour under my 100 mile PB that I set at the SDW100 just two months earlier. It was all a bit hard to take in to be honest but it was great to have Sadie and Josie, Sarah and her parents there at the finish line to share it with me. And thanks to the live video feed from the stadium (another nice touch) my parents were actually able to watch me finish in real time from back in the UK, which is really quite cool.

The trip to the award ceremony the next day was a slow one, and whilst the ceremony itself was pretty long (and held in a very warm room) I did really appreciate the spirit in which it was undertaken. Every runner got their time read out, clapped up on stage and picked up their medal (and for some, their buckle) and it was really nice that it was not just about the runners at the sharp end of the race. I was totally humbled by everyone's reaction when I went up to collect my trophy and other bits and pieces - to be honest I didn't really know how to respond so I did the only thing I could think of and I just stood there on stage grinning like an idiot.

One hundred miles of flat, predominantly tarmac path is defintely not the type of race I'd choose to race too often. However I'm obviously very pleased with the time I ran and I really thought that the whole event had a good vibe and was very well organised. So if you are looking for a relatively easy 100 miler with a bit of history surrounding it (and if you don't mind the traffic lights!) I'd definitely recommend this as one to consider.

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