The marathon

After over 500km and 50 hours training, and the more important 42km and 4 hours 19 minutes on the big day itself, I am coming to the end of this blog.

And now one week after the aches and pains have faded away (not helped by three flights of stairs and a job where renditions of 'head, shoulders, knees and toes' are obligatory), I am left with only the memory of a challenging but fantastic day. So much so that I've even joked about doing another...

I guess all first time marathon runners don't quite know what they are letting themselves in for. You can't really know as the most you're advised to run before the day itself is 30km. And most of that is bearable. In fact - despite being late and starting at the back amid discarded water bottles, jogging tops and plastic wraps of the other runners - the run out through the Tiergarten, past the Siegesaule and through Moabit and Mitte was fantastic. Getting into my groove down my regular routes of Karl Marx Allee and Kreuzberg, I felt on top of the world - even as my mate, who had only decided to run the marathon one week before, motored off into the distance. But then comes the hard bit.

At 21km, the route started its massive 15km loop out towards Zehlendorf. And the further I ran away from the direction of the finishing line, the more it felt like no-man's land. I was not used to running in the late 20kms, and I had never been to this bit of town. I desperately needed a friendly face to let me know where I was. And a madly waving boyfriend and friends provided me with that at 32 and 37km. I was so happy I even mustered enough energy for a wave and a smile. And then head down for the last, hellish 5km where the kms got longer and longer, my knees got sorer and sorer and I was seriously considering whether anyone would notice if I took a shortcut up Friedrichstraße.

And finally, there it was, the finishing line - albeit a unexpected and unwanted 200 meters further on than the Brandenburg Gate. It was done, and all that was left was to pick up my medal, to collect my free alcohol free Erdinger beer (who else would sponsor a marathon in Germany?) and to look forward to week of eating and drinking what I wanted.

So despite not being friends at times, thank you Marathon, for giving me something to get out of bed for, showing me around my new town, and making me feel ok about eating cheese for breakfast!

Walpurgisnacht and May Day

While back in the UK events were being organised for the Royal Wedding, over in Berlin more and more posters were appearing for two events over the same weekend. My short route yesterday took me past lots of posters advertising them. The first - Walpurgisnacht - is a bit like Halloween. Originally it was a Christian festival celebrating St Walpurga who was born in England in 710 and travelled to Heidenheim in southern Germany where she became a nun, and following her death, a saint. Now its celebrated across central Europe in different ways; some Christian, some pagan. A potential landlord of mine (fingers crossed) came from Heidenheim. There, he said, people would keep up tradition by playing tricks on their neighbours, although this would sometimes end up in violence.

In Berlin, as well as being an excuse for a good club night, it is also merged with the May Day protests that have been happening since 1968. These were relatively peaceful until 1988 after the use of teargas by the police provoked violence that has endured every year. My new friend, who grew up in Kreuzberg, said that the local Bezirksamt (municipal body) now organises a festival every year to detract from the violence. But apparently the police also use kettling over here, so think will head for home tomorrow about 7pm.




Finally, not a brilliant photo, but just to prove that Friday's events did not pass Berlin by.