I’ve been long distance running since my junior year of university, largely due to the fact that it was a cheap way to get in shape that didn’t require any expensive equipment or training. Secondarily because I noticed the belly I was getting my sophomore year thanks to stress eating and general life chances of having to move off campus and fend for myself for the first time. At the time, it wasn’t anything terribly structured, just a three or four mile run after class or before work to wind down and work through the problem of the day (fun fact – running is similar to a shower when some of my best thoughts and solutions have been discovered. This obviously only happens prior to the point of total exhaustion but right after the ‘sweat breadcrumbs’ phase). It wasn’t until I met Lauren when I actively started signing up for organized races and began pushing myself to further distances. Fast forward over a decade and I have a handful of 5ks, 10ks, half marathons and a single marathon under my belt each and everyone providing an electric atmosphere that is topped off with the satisfaction of knowing I was able to accomplish something difficult when most others fail to appear. It was at one of these races that Lauren noticed a theme in the running population – runners aren’t defined by a certain body type, physique or age. The vast majority of runners are run of the mill folks who weigh between 80-400 pounds and share a determination to show up and finish strong. It was this that motivated her to start on her own running journey. She started running a year or so before covid and it has been an extraordinary experience for me to see her progress as a runner. From starting with fifteen minute, one mile workouts to finishing her first half marathon last year, its a very firm reminder of the sheer will and determination she has when she puts her mind to something and is one of the infinite things that I love about her. Because of her jumping head first into the sport, we both decided to push ourselves again and start looking bigger. A year ago, we submitted our entry for one of the world’s largest marathons and lo and behold, we got in to the 2025 Berlin Marathon.

I didn’t know much about this particular marathon or the broader competitive atmosphere until we submitted our names into the ballot so let me orient you as well. There are seven marathons that are organized around the world that make up the Abbott World Marathon Majors. Boston, Chicago, New York, London, Tokyo, Sydney and Berlin. These races are where the professional marathoners and olympians race and regular folks can run with them (for the most part). These are huge events that can attract more than 50 thousand runners and are often used as a fundraising opportunity for local charities. Many dedicated people spend a lifetime attempting to get into each of these races in order to secure their seven stars. The odds of getting into these races vary for each one but it can be as low as 4% in the case of Tokyo or 44% for Sydney or go completely off the walls in the way of Boston that requires a certain time to even be able to apply. Spoiler alert! I would have to take off over an hour off my best time to even get close to qualifying. For Berlin the odds were a little better, roughly 15% and both of us made it in.

If anybody ran into us over the course of this summer, odds are we had to cut out early on something or cut a trip short so we could fit in our (often times) grueling training schedule. We started our training in mid May and spent the following four and half months running five days a week, peaking at 55 miles a week. One thing Lauren quickly learned is that marathon training isn’t something to take in lightly and it is all consuming. As you already know, we spent time in Ireland and the UK this summer and each of those trips included training runs as part of our plan. No event, weather phenomenon or travel plan would interfere with our training lest we end up embarrassing ourselves in Berlin.

We’ve only ever traveled for a race once, the winter 10k in London last year, but traveling for a marathon was completely different beast. During training we were used to eating the same foods, drinking the same electrolyte drinks, running similar routes and working through a routine that we could rely on. Racing in a completely different country where everything changes provided an interesting challenge for us to 1. quickly get over jet lag, 2. figure out the logistics for the race itself and 3. find foods that were similar enough to what we were eating back home so our GI system doesn’t go haywire before, during or after the race. Luckily we planned for this and got to Berlin five days prior to the race and were able to figure all of this out beforehand.

As with any large running event, leading up to the race is an expo where runners go to pickup their race essentials (mainly the bibs) and vendors show up to provide samples of their products, showcase their new gear and even have a full bar to give out drinks (really!). In the case of the Berlin Marathon, Adidas pulled out all of the stops to provide a small concourse worth of merchandise that runners were way to eager to pick up. And yes, we were both part of that group.

The race itself starts in Tiergarten, one of the largest parks in Berlin and runs through the streets and circles back to the Brandenburg Gate creating an epic finishing line with the signature blue carpet and the gate in the background. We spent the day prior planning our route to the starting line knowing that over 55 thousand others would be doing the exact same thing. We left our hotel at eight, took two S Bahn trains to the starting area and arrived by eight thirty. Because of the amount of people, runners were grouped into waves based on their expected finish time. Me being slightly faster than Lauren, my wave was set to start at 10:10 and hers and 10:40 so arriving at 8:30 seemed to provide us with enough time to get psyched and into the corrals with time to spare…until we saw the line for the toilet. The start area spanned roughly a square mile and included in this area were three sections of port-a-potties with roughly 20 in each. If there is one thing you can count on prior to a race it’s that every single runner will want to use one of these before they start running. and they did. We got inline a 9:00 and I didn’t get through until 10;10, essentially missing my start group, which was stressful but not as stressful as the half mile walk it took to get to the corral in the first place. Luckily, there was no harm done and I was able to cross the start line with minimal folks around me. Lauren was a bit more fortunate and was able to get to her corral but had the same issues with the long walk to the start which is exactly what you want to do when you’re planning on running over 26 miles.

While I didn’t perform as great as I was hoping, Lauren met her goal and was able to complete the race without injury and running the entire distance, which is not an easy thing to do especially since this was the hottest Berlin Marathon on record. Despite the heat, the city came out in full force for the race. Every mile of the 26 mile route was filled with screaming spectators holding what I’m assuming were encouraging signs (most were in German) willing the runners to push their limits and keep taking that next step. Billboards were up around the city offering motivation, restaurants closed down so their staff could participate and naturally the cheekiness of some companies hit a particular nerve.

I finished in four hours and forty minutes and Lauren finished in five hours and fifty six minutes. Each minute was a testament of dedication, hard work, four months of training and sheer willpower. In the latter part of the course, both of us were so exhausted that we didn’t think we’d ever make it to the finish. But upon seeing the Brandenburg Gate a kick like no other propelled us forward to finish strong and cap off an extraordinary summer with an extraordinary finish alongside the greatest athletes of all time…..OK roughly two and half hours after those athletes but I thought I may have seen one of their footprints at the finish, so there’s that. Seeing Lauren with a marathon medal around her neck made be beam with pride as all of the blood sweat and tears actually paid off.

As I was waiting for Lauren, she texted me after she crossed the finish line:

“Why did I think this was a good idea?”

Two days later we put our entries in for the Sydney Marathon.

Travel/Post Details:

Post includes activities from September 16-23, 2025

Accommodation: KPM hotel & Residences, Berlin

Flights:

• GRI > DFW > LHR (American)
• LHR > BER (British Airways)
• BER > HEL > DFW (Finnish Air)
• DFW > GRI (American)

Food Notes:

9/18: Coffee and brunch at The Visit after shopping at Steiff. Dinner at the Italian restaurant Ristorante Arlecchino. They had generous portions and a staff that spoke Italian as well as German and English. I was able to actually have a conversation in broken Italian which made my night.
9/19: Coffee at Einstein Coffee which was located right around the corner from our hotel and dinner at the Italian restaurant Losteria. I would not recommend going back to this place since we waited nearly 90 minutes for our food and almost decided to leave. The food was fine but the wait was egregious even for European standards.
9/20: Dinner at the Italian restaurant Luardi. We sat on a table on the sidewalk which turned out to be a mistake thanks to Europe’s outdate love affair with cigarettes. The food was fantastic but the portions were a little small, especially on the eve of the race. Yes we did have an Italian theme but where else is one to go when on a three day carb load?
9/21: Burger King next to the Tiergarten train station. Very disappointing in terms of quality but after running 26 miles there’s nothing we wouldn’t have eaten
9/22: While we were a ways from the Bavaria region, we did our best to celebrate Oktoberfest and went to Hofbrau’s Berlin location for German food and a 1L of their finest brew. The place was designed to mimic an Oktoberfest tent, including live music and the atmosphere and people were the perfect cap to an extraordinary trip.
We ended up visiting a Lidl, Rewe and other various small grocers in order to stock our hotel room with carbs and snacking foods. This helped keep costs down and make sure we were getting enough fuel for the race.

Misc Notes:

We tried our best to keep off our feet the days leading up to the race but didn’t have much success. Although we’ve been to Berlin before, there were still a handful of things we didn’t get a chance to see. The top of the list was the Berlin Zoo which, while smaller than most, have two species both Lauren and I have wanted to see for some time – Pandas and Capybaras. So we spent the morning of the 19th walking through the zoo hanging out with their three pandas and two capybaras in addition to the other cool animals they have including hippos, meerkats, camels and the occasional ass. The Berlin Zoo is advertised as Berlin’s top tourist attractions and it’s easy to understand why. At about a quarter of the size of the Omaha Zoo, it is extraordinarily well run with a diverse array of animals you may not be able to see elsewhere.

We also spent time before and after the race hitting a few spots on the outskirts of town including a few vinyl stores, the Haribo shop, Jack Wolfskin and the Steiff store. I was lucky enough to find a 1973 pressing of Sgt Pepper at Vinyl a GoGo and a 1983 pressing of Eye in the Sky at Sound Vinyl Store Berlin. Naturally we picked up sixty euro of gummies at Haribo but sadly left Steiff empty handed despite a hippo that looked absolutely adorable.

Featured Image: Berlin Marathon Billboard in the starting area of the marathon