Volkspark Wuhlheide

At 27km, this run was my longest so far, and according to my training guide, 3km short of the longest I should do before the big day itself. So inevitably, it required a new park to run through. Leaving the city parks behind me, I headed out to Volkspark Wuhlheide, which is just by Köpenick, a once medieval town south east of Berlin that has now been engulfed by the city's administrative borders.

 As I ran down along the river by Treptower Park and into the woodland of the Volkspark Wuhlheide, I noticed how many different ways people were using the parks. After the previous day's sunshine when people had been pedalo-ing, ping-ponging and picnicing, people were cycling, walking, playing and even raving at an all-weekend festival in the park.

Its my impression that Berliners seem to use their parks and green space much more than people in London other European cities I've visited. This may be because the bigger parks - like Volkspark Wuhlheide - have more on offer. As you can see from the map, there are walking and cycle lanes, football pitches and skatebording areas, horseriding centres, an organic garden, a model village of Berlin and Brandenburg buildings, openair swimming pools and theatres, and of course the obligatory children's climbing frames. They were simply designed for people to spend a lot of their free time here.

But it also seems that people here relish spending their free time in the great outdoors - even if that is within the city boundaries. The Timeout equivalents - Tip and Zitty - have been featuring outdoor activities since I've been here; the 10 best lakes, undiscovered outdoor escapes etc. Doing a cycling tour out to one of the surrounding lakes, forests or towns seems to be way more popular here - for those in their 20s as well as 70s. And the neighbourhood parks are busy early into the evening with people having a beer and/or BBQ. Why this is - fewer gardens, or colder winters - I don't know, but whatever the reason, its good news for summertime runners.