Berlin next year and my journey towards it.

Berlin and me 

   

I first heard about the Berlin Wall when I was 10, with President Reagan's "tear down this wall" speech. When opened 2 years later to allow people to cross it without preconditions, it was almost literally torn down. As a teenager during the year of effective reunification in 1991, I saw Berlin for the first time. On the drive there from Bavaria, between crossing the old inter-German border and Berlin itself, the entire family got to see some of the withdrawal of the last units of the Red Army from our Vauxhall Cavalier. I was transfixed at the sight of them and the gradually dilapidating remnants of the end of the Cold War.

The 3rd year of my degree was both work experience and concurrent research assignments. I had managed to successfully pester my German Studies professor into me going to Berlin. It had been the capital since my first visit, and the parliament was due to move there from Bonn the year after living there in spring and summer of 1998. There was much to discover, especially as the title of my research assignment was "Berlin as the capital city of the Federal Republic"

 I got around, with a minor 1 week quasi-delay when my Renault 5, built in the same year as Reagan's speech, needed a new clutch cable. It broke while attempting to change gear on a road in the former Soviet sector. I lived in Charlottenburg in the former British sector. 

My most recent visit was in 2005. I was a bit of a tour guide for my wife, including the only sector of the wall where the entire border system is preserved - inner wall, outer wall, death strip, and a watch tower. This is where I aim to run a marathon in September next year.

Build up

  

Training has begun already, with just a smattering of steps in the snow. It will build up into a decent training regimen, aided by winter disappearing: Long run every Sunday, medium-distance good pace run on Tuesdays, and interval runs on Thursdays. Intervals involve several sprints, with intermittent walk breaks. All 3 together are supposed to improve speed, strength, as well as the most important quality for any long-distance runner, endurance. Adaptation to the varied demands of my training trio should make me ready to put in a respectable performance in Berlin in just under 2 years.

This year will include a variety of races: 2x 5k, 3x 10k, a 5 mile (a.k.a. 8k), and the Harvest Half Marathon (21.1k, a.k.a. 13.1 miles). 

Next year is subject to variation. The races could be/ are provisionally a 5k, 4 or 5x Half, maybe a 30k (the Eyeball the Wall event in May), and a full marathon in addition to the Berlin Marathon itself. 

My personal bests were all set in my thirties, so are unlikely to be beaten: 5k- 19:15, 10k 39:50, Half 1:26:44, Full 3:15:48.

Berlin 2027

  

Further to registration and booking flights, there are several aspects to be planned/suggested and finalized. 

Instead of the expected and customary Team GB shirt,  I will have one custom-made. The above photo of me and my Renault 5 was taken close to the start/finish line just west of the Brandenburg Gate on Strasse des 17. Juni, named after the uprising of 1953 in the former East-Berlin. 

On the other side of it will be an old photo of Willy Brandt who I have admired since before I lived in Berlin. He was mayor of West Berlin when the wall was built in 1961, frequently enabling West Berliners to remain calm during that period. He went on to become Chancellor of West Germany, during which he introduced widespread sociological changes through which Germany could honestly deal with its past and trauma it inflicted, including upon itself.

In addition to training and clothing, it would be ideal if certain specific spectators could come to not only watch me run, but also for me to catch up with them. This applies especially to former university classmates, some of whom I haven't met since graduating last millennium. 

Of course and ideally, those who were with me during my first visit: Mum, Dad, brother as well as first-time visitors, my sister-in-law and nephew. 

In addition to the GoPro video of the marathon itself, a few days beforehand I would make a GoPro video filmed from a rented car which would both reflect the city's history and my own within it. 

Having done the above setup, race day itself would be about enjoying the event at a decent pace. While a PB is unlikely, under 4 hours would be ideal.