Berlin Marathon 2022 Race Report

Training: I began this training block for the Berlin Marathon in April, after a short rest period following the Craft Half Marathon. I began to work with Jess from Team Pace of Me, and it quickly became obvious to me that I should have started working with a coach sooner! Jess is absolutely awesome. She takes the guess work out of training, and I felt that she ramped up the volume for me in exactly the right way. I never felt too exhausted, and I rarely had to modify any runs. It was just the right level of challenge for me, and the 24 weeks of training culminated in a 22 mile long run (which my watch over-estimated, so I ended up running 20.5 miles instead of 22).

I felt confident that I could make it the marathon distance without being in too much pain by the end, and reasonably confident that I could run somewhere around 4 hours. After so many issues with GI distress, I realized that I had trained my body all summer long, and my gut now handles long runs very well (YAY!!!). I still have my bathroom stops, but they have gradually diminished over time. Thanks to Coach Jess’s suggestion, I began taking a daily probiotic, and I think that has helped too. This has definitely been my best training block EVER, and I’m proud that I rose to the challenge, and so thankful for Coach Jess’s guidance and encouragement along the way.

---

Gear: For the marathon, I wore my Homes for our Troops charity tank top, navy Athleta shorts (I love them for the pockets, and the lack of chafing!), black On Running bra (so light, but did cause a little chafing at the bra line unfortunately), Smartwool socks, Altra Vanish Carbon shoes, and on my wrists, my Whoop band, RoadID, Garmin, and Berlin Marathon wristband. I was going to wear my Tracksmith arm warmers but it ended up being warmer than expected, so I didn’t need them.

I also wore my Osprey Dura 1.5 liter hydration vest, filled nearly to the top with water, with the fuel mentioned below, plus my Airpods. The main reason for deciding to wear the hydration vest was for a way to store all my fuel—7 gels is too many for my pockets, since one pocket is devoted to my phone. Plus, I like having water on my schedule, and not be beholden to the water stops. I should have brought my Goodr sunglasses, but I was counting on it being cloudy—it wasn’t. Lastly, I wore my lightning bolt earrings, hoping they would be good luck and I’d be “lightning fast” (lol) and also because they remind me of Harry Potter, and because of that, remind me of my son, Gabe.

---

Fuel:

For the race, I brought 3 UCAN gels (1 orange, 2 pineapple), 3 Maurten gels, and a bag of Honey Stinger pomegranate chews—they have been my fave since the Mt. Rainier trip. I also had a salted caramel GU from my running friend Jenn, and a little bag of Haribo gummy bears, in case I ran out of everything and needed something else.

The morning of, I woke up feeling a little light-headed, and made sure to have an entire 16 oz of Nuun electrolytes with my breakfast. I only had 2 rolls at breakfast, with jam and peanut butter, because I was feeling off and had little appetite. I had 2-3 of the pomegranate chews before the race started (30 min prior).

The day before, I had done my best to “carb up” but sometimes that makes me feel like I haven’t had enough to eat, due to the lack of protein, so maybe that’s why I woke up feeling light-headed. In any case, I know I still have much to learn about proper fueling, and I wish I had kept better track of what I ate and when, so I could go back and scrutinize a little more. I had a normal breakfast the day before, a huge German pretzel as a snack, part of a doner for lunch (not a good call, it had way more meat than I wanted, and way less bread than I needed), a banana for a snack, and mashed potatoes with roasted chicken for dinner. I also had a package of Pop-Tarts, a sure way to get a bunch of carbs very easily. I also drank a bunch, so much so that I woke up twice in the night to use the bathroom, so maybe I was slightly over-hydrated, and slightly under-fueled.

---

Pre-Race: So last night, I was nice and calm until bed time. For some reason, I could NOT sleep, the room was too warm, and I woke up twice to pee (and usually don’t go at all in the night). I was very well hydrated but felt like I hadn’t eaten enough 🙁

This morning, I felt like I had low blood sugar or something.. I was slightly nauseous and couldn’t tell if it was nerves or something else (turns out I got my period during the race, but didn’t know until after the race, so unfortunate timing with the menstrual cramps). After breakfast, I didn’t feel better like I thought I would, so I laid down, and my hubby rubbed my back and gave me such a sweet pep talk. I thought I might throw up and was super bummed that this would happen on race day.
At that point, I didn’t even feel like running, and thought I would end up walking the race…

After 40 min of resting, I got up and showered, and felt somewhat better. I read a book to just take my mind off things, and that helped too.

We waited until 8:30 to start walking over and that ended up being the right timing (could have even waited longer, but it was further than I thought). I felt better as I walked, and told myself that my time doesn’t matter AT ALL and if I walk it, who cares? Hubby dropped me off at the race entrance and I was able to find Corral F easily.

I ended up peeing in the woods, like MANY people were doing, b/c I didn’t want to wait in line. That was the right call 🙂

I lined up in the back of F and felt much calmer about things. I told myself that I still have a chance of a good day, despite feeling so crummy earlier. It wasn’t too chilly and I was perfect in my throw-away shirt. I took it off too early (didn’t realize we would be walking so far to the start line) but I wasn’t cold.

The start line atmosphere was very exciting! I could tell everyone around me was nervous too, and that made me feel better. I didn’t talk to anyone, but just tried to stay calm and focus on the experience.

At 9:15 the announcer counted down the elite start, and we could all watch on the big screens! Corrals A through D also started. I sent out some positive vibes to Keira D’Amato (hoping she would win the women’s race), and Eliud Kipchoge (hoping he’d break his world record again).

At 9:35, it was our turn (Corrals E & F)!

I was at the back of Corral F, and surprisingly a lot of others purposely lined up in the back. Once our corrals started, we slowly walked towards the start line.

It took longer than I’d expected to reach the start line, so I should have kept my Norwegian shirt on just a bit longer. It wasn’t very cold though (low/mid 50’s), and looked like the sun wanted to break through—I hoped it wouldn’t, as I didn’t wear my sunglasses, thinking it would be cloudy all day.

I had spent so much time needlessly worrying about getting trampled, that I had to chuckle to myself at how spaced out the back of Corral F was. It seemed everyone wanted to be on the right side of the road, as the first turn was on the right (waaaaay up ahead though, over a mile away). I finally got irritated and went over to the left side of the road, where there were fewer runners. I wanted to get started, and waiting in line on the right side of the road was delaying the start.

Finally I reached the start line–happy & healthy, I reminded myself–and began my 26.2 mile journey!

---

Race: I repeatedly told myself “Ease into it.. let these first miles be the slowest of the whole race… stay calm and relaxed… conserve your energy!” My watch beeped at mile 1, and showed 9:39—perfectly easing into it. I didn’t know if it was going to be an accurate watch day (it’s been giving me some crazy splits lately) but I hoped I could trust it, at least at the beginning. During my pre-race chat with Coach Jess the day before, she had told me to have a “speed limit” of 9:20-9:30/mile for the first 10K, and to treat it as a warm-up. She also said to run by effort. So I did, and I was feeling ok… maybe a tad differently than my usual, as I could tell my energy wasn’t quite right, but I was happy that my body felt good and mostly strong, and I had no tummy troubles. I was even thankful that I got to pee in the woods before the race, haha!

I had told Javi that kilometer 7 would be a good spectating spot, and he texted me that he was in position on the right side of the road. So the first 7K went by pretty quickly, just looking forward to seeing him. I couldn’t believe how many people were on the streets cheering, and how many of them would shout my name (thankful that the name was printed on the bib—there is something so helpful about hearing your name in a race!)

I texted Javi at Km 6 to let him know I was approaching, so he could look for me. Around that time, I also got a text from Gabe that said “Good luck with your race! I hope you have fun and get a good time!” (such a sweet boy!) At first didn’t understand why he’d be texting me, since it was so early in NC (he told me later he got up to go to the bathroom, and thought of me) It was so great to hear from him and encouraged me to keep going.

Nearing Km 7, I began to look for Javi, and realized this was going to be harder than I thought, and I had already been worried about missing him in all the crowds. I made him wear his Miami Dolphins hat, thinking that no one else would have that hat, but as I ran along and my eyes glanced over person after person, straining to find MY person, I thought we should have picked up a balloon for him to hold (my original plan). Plus, the sun was shining in my face and I worried I’d miss him. But, thanks to the hat, I saw him far enough away and waved, and he had his phone ready to go to make a video of me.

I high-fived him and squeezed his hand—it gave me such a boost to see him, and the crowds were so loud and cheering fanatically, I had a huge grin on my face for awhile. So many people yelled for me, I felt that this must be what an elite runner or a rock star feels like, it was so amazing. Shortly after seeing Javi, my watched beeped and said I ran 8 minutes for that last mile, so I slowed down a bit. A guy with a Homes for our Troops shirt ran up next to me and fist bumped me. He was the first teammate I had met! I told him my name, and his was Jaime. I wished him a good race.

My racing strategy was to stay calm and focused, not worry too much about pace, especially since I wasn’t feeling quite right, listen to my body, and be sure to take my fuel every 30 minutes. My hydration vest proved a good idea, though it was heavy for the first hour or so, I was very happy to have water whenever I wanted, as the water stops were spaced out about every 5K for the majority of the race (a little too far apart, in my opinion).

So I trotted along, trying to lock into a manageable pace, and keeping an eye on the time so I could fuel every 30 minutes. I tried to find others to run with, but usually they were faster or slower, and I didn’t stay with anyone or any groups for very long. My coach had told me to run my own race, so that’s what I did.

There was a timing mat every 5K, and each time I crossed it, I felt a little jolt of happiness, knowing that I was going to complete this goal, and that my friends and family back home would be able to see my progress along the course due to the timing mats every 5K. Each 5K ended up being roughly 30 minutes apart for me, so they sort of coincided with my fueling, which was helpful. At each landmark I would appreciate the huge, historic city even more, though I couldn’t remember the names of most of the landmarks as I ran past.

Each neighborhood had a small sign that I noticed upon entering, so I just kept celebrating everything I could—that I hadn’t stopped yet, that my legs felt fine, that I had no GI issues, that it wasn’t crazy hot, as well as each turn, each bridge, each landmark, each timing mat. All of that was bringing me closer to the finish, and I tried to savor the journey!

The crowd support was very noteworthy—I tried to think of the best-supported race I had ever done, but couldn’t think of one that matched this. There were really no stretches at all without people. Some areas were quieter, but most neighborhoods had turned out in full force, with dozens of bands along the way, or people with speakers, cowbells, noisemakers, megaphones, etc. Even the church bells chimed (likely chiming 11 AM, or whenever it was I passed), but it felt like the old church cheered us on too.

The kids struck me as especially delightful, and I tried to stay near the edge of the streets so I could high-five as many as possible. Their little hands reminded me of Asher, and spurred me along. So many girls and women cheered for me, and I heard many Americans cheer for me too. I can’t overstate how helpful this was, to hear my name so loudly, and see so many smiling faces as I ran by. For all I worried about how big this race was (worries of getting pushed, trampled, or generally feeling claustrophobic), the trade-off was the huge smiling crowds, happily and boisterously cheering their heads off. There were sections of the race course where it got crowded with runners, but generally I had plenty of space to move.

Every time I was starting to feel a little low, that my energy was waning or there was a long way to go, someone would shout my name and it would spur me on, pulling me out of my low point. I also thought of Javi, Gabe, Asher, my mom and dad, my brothers, and all my friends and other family members cheering me on from afar!

After I saw several 8 min mile splits, and knew I wasn’t running that fast, I stopped looking at my watch much. I reached the halfway point on my watch in less than 2 hours, but I didn’t reach the true halfway marker until 2:08, so I knew it was worthless to me as a pacing tool, and even to show the correct distance. My brain gets fuzzy while running that long, so I couldn’t think of how to fix the situation, so I mainly ignored it for the second half of the run, except to see the total time.

Reaching halfway in 2:08 bummed me out a bit, since my goal was 2 hours or less for each half, but again I tried a positive pep talk, and told myself I could still negative split the race (run the second half faster than the first). I didn’t have a ton of confidence that my body would get more energy in the last 10K, but told myself to wait and see how I feel.

Around mile 14, I thought that music would help me along, so I carefully got my Airpods out of my vest pocket and put them in, hoping my ears wouldn’t be too sweaty and they would stay in OK (they did). I cranked the music loud enough, but could still hear my surroundings, and felt a little surge as some of my favorite running songs began to play (the ones I remember playing are “You can’t stop the beat” from Hairspray, “The Greatest” by Sia, and “Let’s Go” by Trick Daddy–the clean version, haha)

After the half, I wanted to get to 30K (18.6 miles), as that was the point on the course where we turned eastward and headed back towards the finish, and also roughly the three-quarters mark. I had run a 30K race at Salem Lake in 2012, in 3:10ish, and hoped that I would PR at this distance within the marathon. As I crossed the 30K timing mat, I was at 3:02, so that made me feel good that I was faster than I was 10 years ago, and could also still PR at the marathon distance today.

At 32K I was feeling quite tired, but told myself—only 10K to go, and this is where you gotta start running with your HEART.

I saw many people walking, for the entire race, and felt proud that I was continuing to run, albeit slower than I wanted to be.

Javi was waiting for me at Km 38, so the hardest stretch for me was between 30K and 38K. I knew I was slowing down, my pacing was erratic, and my legs were feeling very heavy. Mentally I was doing OK, though I had been running for 3+ hours at this point, without stopping once—a huge accomplishment for me! I kinda wanted to stop for the bathroom, just to pee and sit down for a few seconds, but each time I passed them, I thought, nah it’ll just mess up my rhythm, so it’s best if I don’t stop. I also told myself “I’m fine, everything is fine” each time I wanted to stop, and somehow that worked 😊

Around 35K, I ran out of water in my vest. I chastised myself a bit for not filling it completely full. I didn’t think I would need the whole 1.5 liters, but the sun was shining, and I was thirstier than expected.

I passed the KaDeWe department store, where we had shopped yesterday (and the day before!) and smiled to myself that I had made it this far–on a huge, beautiful tour of Berlin–on foot, on my own.

I got water around 37K and had to walk in order to drink it, as they use these hard plastic cups that don’t fold, so it would be easy to slosh it right up your nose if trying to drink and run. The walking break made me realize I had run over 3.5 hours without stopping and without walking, so I was proud of that fact. My legs were sore and it felt strange to walk after all that running.

I finished my water slowly, and got going again. I texted Javi that I was at 37K, and he texted back his location (near a U bahn sign and the BMW arch, on Leipziger Platz). I knew generally where that was, and again, as at Km 7, I worried I would miss him in the crowd of hundreds of screaming people. But just like before, I spotted that Dolphins hat from far away, even before he saw me I think, and raised my arm. The noise of the crowds was nearly deafening, but I heard Javi yell “Say hi to everyone back home!” and I thought maybe he was FaceTiming with my parents and the kids, so I said “HEYYYY guys!” and gave Javi a quick kiss before running off again. That was JUST the boost I needed with less than 2.5 miles to go.

But a few moments later, passing by the mall of Berlin, I felt like I still had a long way to go. My legs were hurting, and I felt like I couldn’t find another gear, to go any faster than I was going.

I knew we had something like 6-7 turns remaining, yet the course just kept going straight… finally we turned left, then left again, then right, left, right… I knew we were so close to Unter den Linden. One more water stop… this is it, my last opportunity for water, so I better take it. I got out the salted caramel GU from Jenn D.—the last thing I had to eat other than the gummy bears. I could barely choke down half of it, I was so tired of taking gooey gels, but it tasted good, and I stood there for a moment by a trash can and washed it down with water, as multiple volunteers shouted at me “GO VANESSA!” with their big smiles.

I started running again, and was able to find that higher gear—still not finishing as strongly as I’d hoped, but I was so proud of myself for coming so far, for not giving up, and for realizing this dream of running Berlin, 12 years after I first signed up.

The energy near the Gendarmenmarkt reverberated through the air–the uptempo music, the cheering fans, the landmarks–I soaked it all it. I even made the below video, and they got a picture of me messing with my phone, LOL!

At last, we made the final turn!

I got choked up turning onto Unter den Linden, with the Brandenburg Gate finally in sight. The crowds roared, and I picked up my pace even more.

Javi texted and said he was at the finish line, right past the camera guys, so I smiled the entire way down that historic street, through the gate, and down the finish line chute.

I saw Javi and high-fived him on my way to the finish, and nearly cried again. I had done it… all the hours of training, the early wake-ups, the long hot summer runs, the strength training after a long workday… all of it was so incredibly WORTH IT. I was on cloud 9 and ran that race full of joy!

You can hear Javi say “You did it! It’s all done baby!” and at the same time I say “I love you guys!”

Then he says “Finish line… 12 years in the making!”

Definitely the best finish line moment I’ve ever experienced.

Post-race: Of course, after crossing the finish line, my legs could hardly walk and I needed to catch my breath, so I ambled along slowly and alternated thoughts of “whew, not doing that again for awhile!” and “Dang, that was AMAZING!”

And also, I really wanted some food and water, and desperately wanted to sit down.

I got my medal, talked to an Altra guy for a minute (he asked how I liked the Altra Vanish Carbons–I replied with, they were OK but my feet hurt, lol), and picked up the goody bag filled with fruit, bars, and water. Then went in search of non-alcoholic beer (never found it, too tired to care!), my race poncho, the timing chip drop-off, and the medal engraving. I stopped for a selfie and sent it to my coach. Several friends texted me (SL, TM, you are the best!) and I responded back, hoping I was making sense 🙂

The athletes’ village was a mess of sweaty, exhausted, delirious, joyous, confused runners, and I certainly wanted to get out of there quickly, but my brain felt so fuzzy, and I was moving slooooowly. Thankfully, signage was everywhere, but with the runners everywhere too, it took awhile to figure out where to go.

After getting my poncho, I sat down for a minute to process what just happened. I took the chip off my shoe and thankfully there was a volunteer collecting them just 5 feet away, so I turned that in and almost had my “errands” completed–just the engraving left. I was so filled with joy, yet so tired. I drank some water and ate the candy bar they included in the goody bag.

I almost skipped the medal engraving, but Javi texted me and told me to make sure I do it, so I found it, paid the 12 euros, and braced myself for a long wait. When I asked the lady how long it would take, she said “It’ll be ready in the next tent in about 5 minutes.” I almost didn’t believe her… but then 3 minutes later, I heard my name called. German efficiency at its finest 🙂

The worst part of the day was the slog back to the hotel. It was probably less than a mile, but I had to wait in the midst of a big crowd to cross Unter den Linden, near the Brandenburg gate, to get across the race course. It took 10-15 minutes, and people were pushing and standing way too close to me. The sun beat down, I was hot, exhausted, and desperately wanted to lay down. Finally got past that, and walked as fast as my tired legs would let me, back to our room at the Berlin Marriott.

---

Called home and FaceTimed with my parents while Javi went to get our lunch, then enjoyed a hot dog, fries, soda, almond pastry, and whatever else I could find 🙂 I stretched, showered, laid down, and reveled in my accomplishment. My legs were sore, but not the worst I’ve ever felt, so I knew all my training was worth it.

Results: My official time was 4:19:27. Quite a ways off my goal of sub-4, but still a time I am proud of! Average pace, 9:54/mile. I was shooting for 9 min/mile so this felt a bit disappointing, but then I have to remind myself, this was the fastest marathon I ever ran, and it wasn’t an ideal day. As my coach reminded me, I executed it well 🙂

Overall, I was 20,623 of 34,788 total runners.

I was 5,095 of 11,508 women. I was faster than more than half the women there (looking at the bright side)

In my age group (35-39), I came in 888th of 1,757.

My splits were 2:08:09 for the first half, and 2:11:19 for the second half, so not quite the negative splits I’d hoped for, but still fairly even.

I am proud of my splits, every 5K I moved up in placement, and my splits were super consistent–shown below right on my certificate–up until 35K and 40K (which was expected).

My fastest section was the end, so I was glad I ran conservatively and left enough energy to make it to the finish line strong!

Recommend: 100% YES. This was a difficult race to get into–I didn’t get chosen for the lottery–so joining a charity team was my only option. I loved running for Team Homes for our Troops, and I would do it all over again. If you ever have the chance to run Berlin–DO IT! The course is flat, fast, and full of historic landmarks. The crowds turn out and yell your name super loudly and ecstatically! And this is a world majors marathon, so it has that extra WOW factor that other smaller races just don’t have.

The downsides–it’s crowded, more expensive to stay/eat/travel to a big city, and the swag all had to be purchased separately (they didn’t include a T-shirt or anything). In all, the pros greatly outweigh the cons, at least for me. I hope to run this race again someday!

I raised over $2,700 for charity, and while that did induce some anxiety, I eventually made it to the goal of $2,620. THANK YOU to everyone who donated–all 43 of you!–and thank you for reading, if you made it this far 🙂 I know this was my longest race report to date, but it was a truly incredible event, and I don’t want to forget any of the details!

Up Next: Training for a fast 5K, at the Mistletoe 5K in December, and running multiple 5K’s for fun in the next few months.