I wasn't sure I could hold that pace, but gave it a shot, diligently taking km splits and trying to keep it even. It worked out really well, as I was in the 3:55-4:02 range nearly the entire race, only fading to some 4:06s in the final 6k, possibly because I ran too hard from 30-35k trying to catch my buddy Chris (I did, but then he accelerated to 19:26+8:04 for his final two splits, leaving me WAY behind and finishing in a PR of 2:45:58). But at least I went for it.
5k chip splits:
19:42 - 5
19:53 - 10
19:46 - 15
19:53 - 20
19:54 - 25
19:48 - 30
19:32 - 35
20:13 - 40
8:52 (2.2)
Total: 2:47:33 = 3:58.2/km = 6:23.4/mi
Halfs: 83:35+83:58
419th place overall
402nd place men
141st place men 40+
92nd place men 40-44
The morning was cool, in the high 40s, with a light breeze -- perfect conditions. Obviously, since they'd have to be for Wilson Kipsang to set a WR, which he did by a whopping 15 seconds. Although entitled to start with the sub-2:40 group in Corral A, I started with my buddy Chris in Corral B, since 6:05s were not going to be in the cards for me this time -- 6:25-ish was my goal pace. Chris's PR going into the race was 2:46.
The start was crowded but within a km or so there was plenty of running room (Chris and I hit our first km in 3:55), and by 5k packs were starting to form. The slower you go, the bigger the packs, which was actually pretty nice. I just sat back and enjoyed the ride off of many others running an even pace, although with all the lack of training, I never felt particularly smooth or fast. I let Chris settle into his own pace, 2-3 seconds per k faster.
Somewhere around 28k I saw Chris's green NAC singlet in the distance and wondered if he was starting to feel it. He had aimed for more like 6:15s-6:20s but I stuck to my goal pace a bit slower than that. I sensed I'd closed the gap a bit by 30k, figured that's where the race really starts so started pushing, drafting off a 6-foot-2 German guy setting a solid pace and passing many. I caught Chris around 34k, we spoke briefly (mostly about how I had just gone very hard to catch him, and about how he felt good and wanted to kick it into gear soon), and passed the 35k timing mat in identical splits. Our 3:51 for the 36th km broke me, and Chris pulled away - slowly at first, and then - poof - he was gone. I took it k by k from there, running 4:02-4:06s and really struggling, but put it all out there and held it together. Some folks from the pack I'd left behind at 30k passed me back near the end, but I just gave it what I had left - and ended up meeting my goal time and running pretty even splits. It was what it was, but given the lack of training, I was happy to be able to: 1) run it at all, and 2) hold a decent tempo pace instead of jogging the whole thing.
Interesting/different things (this was my first marathon not in the U.S.):
- plastic cups at the aid stations (why does anyone ever think this is a good idea?)
- plastic space blankets
- alcohol-free beer at the finish (really? - in Germany - during the Oktoberfest season - really?). so we skipped it and went out for real litres that evening
- not-so-easy-to-find chip return tent way off in the fields instead of right after the finish line (our theory was they were scared Kipsang would set the record and they'd have to payout that large sum, so more unreturned chips would mean more revenue)
- sponges in the race packets (supposedly to carry with you and dip in buckets at aid stations)
- guys just changing fully nude out in the open field post-race (to be expected in Europe)
- guys my speed or so standing around smoking some sorta fancy self-rolled cigarettes post-race (again, Europe)
- a guy peeing while running (I didn't even know this was possible). He just peeled off to the sidewalk and went for it, barely slowing from our 6:20s pace. This was the first race I can recall laughing hard enough a couple times it affected my breathing ability.
- a deep master's field - I was 92nd in the 40-44 AG and 141st amongst all men 40+ but 402nd male overall. So about a third of the dudes in front of me were 40+. One theory we had is that people do things later in Europe - like moving out of mama's house, getting married, perhaps even starting running. So they're maybe just hitting their stride at 40, 45 years old, instead of being burnt out and jaded like a lot of U.S. masters. In addition to the 91 guys 40-44 who beat me, there were 39 guys in the 45-49 division in front of me, as well as 10 in the 50-55 division. There were 45 masters under 2:40, compared with 15 or so in my race at Chicago last Fall and 30 at the USA master's marathon championship last Fall (Of course, those two races were both on the same day, so perhaps depth is equal, at least a the front of the field, but I doubt it's equal when you add up all the slower masters, say all the way to 3:00 or so. I'd give Berlin the nod there.)
- an expo beyond-crowded -- it was nuts, and the packet pickup was at the very end of like a mile-long walk through an insane # of booths, people, live music, food, etc; like any race, it's always better to go on Day 1, not Day 2, and certainly not toward the end of Day 2 (when we went, of course)
- the final announcements to the crowd pre-race: "Do not sprint the final kilometer." "If you're feeling bad, stop immediately. There are many other marathons, but only one life." They were quite focused on avoiding medical emergencies, but the "Do not sprint the final kilometer" had us all busting up, as if it was more like race strategy advice: run consistently the whole way, don't have too much left at the end, because if you're sprinting you didn't try hard enough earlier.
