Brandenburg Gate
Pictured, the symbol of Berlin and indeed, Germany. It is also where I will start and (I do hope) finish the marathon. The weather could not be better - today about 17 degrees and sunny yet autumnal. Most of the streets being shut down as I write though still 37 hours to the event (but who's counting). This year's buzz about the great Haile Gebreselassie who owns the World Record in 2:03:59 which he set last year on this very course. He thinks he can go 2:03:30 Sunday and even sub-2:03 "on a perfect day." Pushing him are Duncan Kibet and Sammy Korir, both from Kenya and both under 2:05. In fact, this is the fastest men's marathon ever assembled with 11 runners under 2:10. To put this in perspective, the winning time as recently as 1993 was 2:10:57. I recall as a swimmer seeing age-group dudes achieving miraculous results - like John Mykannan or Jeff Kostoff, both in Southern California, swimming under 4:20s for the 500 yard freestyle which was not far off the American record back in the early 1980s (I got to know John BTW since we trained together when he was at Cal; he went on to win the 400 meters silver in Los Angeles before college; Kostoff joined Stanford and broke every short-course distance record in the books). This is how I feel about the elite athletes: super human, inspirational.
The women's race also quick with Askale Tafa Magarsa in pole position with an entry time of 2:21:31 then Atsed Habtamu (2:25:17) and Genet Getaneh (2:26:37). All from Ethiopia. Paula Radcliffe contemplated Berlin to better her World Record of 2:15:25 but, alas, it is not to be - she has been injured or under-trained this year and not at her best.
I collect my race number at the marathon expo inside the former Tempelhof Airport. And boy, it is a scene. My guess runners have above-average disposable income and they certainly are mad about their weird, introverted sport. I am too when not grumbling about injury or some running induced perversion. Given the big Sunday ahead, we do what comes naturally to middle aged athletes - buy shit. And there is plenty of it - ASICS, Nike, Adidas, Mazino, Power Bar, Lucazade, Puma, track suits, racing kit, water systems, trainers this, gear that .. each vendor has a high-tech stall some with you volunteers in panty hose pushing their whatever. I look. All this crap inside airplane hangers which adds to the immenseness of the experience. Outside, on the airstrips, inline skaters do their thing while beer gardens and barbecues fill more space. It is hard not to be swept away by the vibe, which is all excitement and anticipation.
