Results

Posn (gender)	Posn (age grp)	Name	Group	Time
57	First	Sally Gilbert	W50	3:07:17
3053	658	Emyr Morgan	M35	3:18:41
8649	1546	Kevin Gilbert	M45	3:45:23
9453	1050	James Allen	M	3:48:23
848	171	Becky Mulley	W30	3:49:32
13668	2515	Trevor Gregory	M45	4:02:43
15062	225	Peter Haynes	M60	4:08:31
16480	1815	Trent House	M	4:14:01
19343	346	Pete Dean	M60	4:26:34
4414	799	Karen Washford	W45	4:42:27
5956	863	Sian Thompson	W30	5:12:20
27228	727	Neil Washford	M60	5:38:14

Berlin Marathon Report.

By Owen (spectator /supporter for the day). The targeted Team Southampton on tour event for 2009 was the Berlin marathon. The popularity of the race and tales of previous trips had attracted 12 runners and 7 supporters from the club so all was set for a great long weekend away.
First task on arrival in Berlin was to register and pick up the race numbers and timing chip. Registration was in the old Templehof airport buildings, the airport used to keep Berlin supplied during the division and blockade. Once that was done it was off to the apartments where we were all staying for a group pasta loading supper.
With a 9:00am start it was an early rise on marathon day to have breakfast (plural in the case of Trent) and make it down to the start area in the Tiergarden park. Runners and supporters parted company, the runners to join the inevitable queues for bag drop and the loos and the supporters to find a good vantage point to cheer from. With a entry of 40,000 runners and a somewhat random start pen allocation the race start through the Tiergargen park was packed. Comparing chip and gun times some runners were taking 20 mins to get across the start line.
The support team had staked a claim at around the 7km mark. At 9:00am precisely (this is Germany after all) a mass of balloons could be seen rising over the park signalling the main race was under way. First athletes past out point were the wheelchair entrants, the leaders making light work of the small hill. Next past were the handcycles. I had never seen these racing before and their speed was breathtaking. The first group drafting each other with only mm between them (even closer than Trevor following me on a bike ride round the New Forest). The arrival of the leading runners could be predicted by looking for the helicopters. Not surprisingly the leading pack included Haile Gebrselassi surrounded by all the pacers. It wasnÕt long before spotting individual runners in the mass of people became increasing difficult. Probably about 50:50 if we spotted the runners or the runners spotted the supporters but everyone was cheered / abused shouted as they passed looking strong.
As the runners continued on the support group relocated to around the 38km point. With all the road closures crossing Berlin involved a few diversions so we arrived just as Haile passed by. By this time he was alone having dropped all his opposition and pace runners. Weather conditions had by now turned from the cloudy and cool conditions at the beginning of the day to bright sunshine and 23+degrees temperatures. Ideal for spectating but hard work for the runners. The conditions didn't seem to be slowing Sally down to badly though and she was the first of the TS runners to appear, a quick query 'has Emyr passed yet?' (no) and she was gone. It wasn't long before Em did appear and gave us the traditional thumbs up for the camera. It was then a case of red and white vest spotting as one after the other of the TS runners appeared, had one of Saz's special energy giving jelly babies and continued onwards. For Karen, Neil and Sian this was their first marathon and it was good to see that they had all paced the effort well. It was especially obvious that as Neil passed us he was one of the few people actually still running of those around him.
A run through the Branderburg gate provided the last landmark on the course and and a fitting backdrop to finish by.
The group all re-united in the park to swap stories of the day, rest the feet & legs plus some rehydration of course! JOB DONE and WELL DONE to all.
You would think that after all the effort of marathon day the rest of the trip would be taken with feet up. This doesn't appear to be the way on these trips however. A packed schedule over the next few days involved a raft of different activities;
Swimming in a barge moored on the river. - Not what you expect to find in the centre of a city.
Visit to the Soviet war memorial & last remaining guard tower.
Boat trip on the river.
Olympic stadium tour as the sun went down - Just a little bit bigger than Soton track.
Very informative walking tour of Berlin taking all the big sights and a few hidden points that we would not have spotted easily. Ask any of the group for the story of why the Berlin wall had to be pulled down.
Tour of the Reistradt parliament building.
Plenty of eating and 're-hydration'. Especially eating by Trent who had the aim of having 5 meals a day, not sure he ever achieved it but certainly gave it a good try. Becky's 'mango' cocktail also lead to a very surreal discussion one evening involving Welsh hedge pigs. Best not to ask as even the participants are not sure what we were talking about...
All to soon it was time to return home and start the discussions as to where next but In summary Berlin was a successful race and great trip for all involved. Congratulations to all the runners in completing the distance and achieving excellent results.

Support team were;
Sarah and Del plus George.
Kerry and Sam
Jeanette
Owen

Photos here

Please Note:
Any problems with names / times / positions then e-mail boardsbikes@yahoo.co.uk