Long before I had moved to Europe and once I began getting interested in running marathons, I had learned that the Berlin marathon was at the end of September during the Oktoberfest festival in Munich, which convenient would allow for a great post race party. Last summer, we organized a group of 6 runners and 3 spectators for this race (which was Sept. 25, 2016); ranging from my sister (Melissa), to college friends (Lisa and Alicia), and then friends of friends (Dan, Chris, Kris, Plum, Josh). The races fills up quite quickly so we were lucky to all obtain racing bibs through lottery registration that allowed runners to apply in groups of 3 where all runners were either accepted or denied.
Melissa arrived in Geneva on Thursday and did some sightseeing and relaxing to adjust from jetlag before flying to Berlin the following day. Per usual, we went to Chez Ma for dinner; every American visitor to Geneva has now been here, but we did forego fondue and raclette as neither are the best pre-race meals in a week leading up to a marathon. We arrived late on Friday in Berlin after needing to make some emergency flight changes requiring a ticket to be purchased at the Geneva airport ticket desk. When arriving in Berlin, we then had an "interesting " 30 minute taxi ride listening to German hip hop on full blast sung by the driver's cousin; during the drive, the driver also sung along and was texting during the entire process so we felt quite safe! In retrospect, if you're ever asked if you'd like to listen to some German hip hop I would suggest politely replying no. After the longest 30 mutes of my life, we reached the apartment where we were staying; our entire group stayed in an apartment that slept 9 people all in beds and was incredibly convenient when traveling with a group that size.
On Saturday morning, we participated in the Breakfast run, which is a 6km run that finishes in the Olympic stadium with coffee, bananas, and pastries are available afterwards. Arriving at the Olympic stadium to run one final lap was quite an amazing experience with great views. The remainder of the day was spent trying to stay off our feet as much as possible with the race the following day.
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| Start of the Breakfast Run |
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| Outside the Olympic Stadium |
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| View when entering from the tunnel |
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| Snacking post run |
Judgment day
The marathon started at 9:15 and we didn't have to leave our apartment until 7:30, which was quite a nice alternative from other races I've done where it has been necessary to wake up at 5 or before. Race day weather was gorgeous as it was sunny and about 50F at the start with the last hour getting a little hot (70F). I ran well for the first 21 miles and then made the mental decision that I didn't have the energy for a BQ push so I slowed my pace to appreciate the experience and scenery. It was likely the best I have felt after a marathon other than in Philly when I was very well trained as I'm typically used to my whole body seizing up post race. The course had plenty of spectators and the course followed many of the famous sites in the city; at the finish, the runners ran beneath the Brandenburg Gate so that was quite special. The end even had showers so was able to be clean and sun bath in the grass in front of the Reichstag while waiting for the other runners. Most of our group finished within a relatively similar time span so we all waited and cheered for one another before going back to the apartment.
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| Marathon morning - Prerace |
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| Post marathon at the Reichstag |
After all of the runners arrived, we then cleaned up and relaxed at the apartment before going to the Prater Biergarten for some victory beers and brats; this biergarten is apparently the oldest in Berlin. While at the biergarten, we were joined by my friend Meghan (from Australia study abroad) and her husband as they saw that we were in town so that was fun to catch up with some old friends. Following the biergarten, we capped off the night at the horror bar near our apartment; very odd bar, but it was very near our apartment.
The following day we did a hop on hop off bus tour to see the remainder of the city that we missed on the marathon (or went by too fast to see). We saw Checkpoint Charlie, had dinner at a Pirate Bar near the East Side gallery and then prepared for the following day as we had the train for Munich.
We had a 5 hour train ride to Munich and arrived mid afternoon; the trains are great in Germany (Per Dan)! Beyond the speed and efficiency, the escalators in the stations change direction depending on if there is no one on the escalator and you approach the oncoming direction; this created a fun game over the course of our trip. After arriving in Munich, we kicked off being in a new city by grabbing a few masses of beer at Hofbrauhaus and then all split to different directions of the city for sightseeing and shopping; I helped Plum find some leiderhosen. That night, we grabbed dinner and went to the Paulaner tent to kickoff being in the city for Oktoberfest.
The following day (Wednesday) we did the New Europe walking tour; note that this is my 3rd time doing the tour so I'm quite sure that I could give the tour by now, but I still really enjoy it! We had lunch at the Schneider Brauhaus and then the group separated. I went to the BMW museum with Melissa and Chris while the rest of the group went went shopping (primarily to find leiderhosen and dirndl for the Oktoberfest tents). For dinner, we went to Alten Kreus! Alten Kreus was a restaurant near the hotel I stayed at my first time to Munich (and Europe) in 2011 and I've eaten at the restaurant on every trip back since as the food and people are great; the whole group really enjoyed the restaurant. Following dinner, we had some drinks at Paulaner Nockerberg before heading home; this brewery was where I also came in 2013 when in Munich for Starkbierfest on my first ski trip to Europe.
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| BMW car badges from the beginning to now |
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| Wiener schnitzel at Alten Kreus |
Thursday was Oktoberfest all day! We started the day getting breakfast at Marienplatz before going to the tents for our reservation at 11:30. Being a weekday, we were able to walk in and get a table quite easily; we had one drink at our reserved table before moving to the open area as we would otherwise had a harder time finding a table at the end of our reservation (4:30). The Hofbrau Tent, as usual, was a blast! I'm not sure if it was the fact that we started at noon or had just ran a marathon a few days prior and had not been drinking during training, but we were all in bed by 10. I actually got 8+ hours of sleep during the night!
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| Most of the group; this is the beginning of the day before entering the tents! |
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| Yours truly; and of course my shirt is green and white and I'm sporting socks from Kyle's wedding! |
The following morning, I walked Melissa to the airport at 7am! Any complex thinking was not possible so I did some relaxing and we spent the remainder of the day wandering the city and checked out a few of the tents to see the insides of others as we had only been in 2 before then. The decorations are quite impressive given the tents are built for a 2 week festival and then torn down until the following year.
That evening, we embarked on the next leg of the journey and flew to Milan late that night. At this point, it is only Lisa and Plum, Alicia and Kris, and me on the trip. The following day, Plum and I got breakfast for the group at Twins and went and rented a car. Lisa, Plum, and me spent the day going to sparking white wine wineries in Franciacorta and then dinner on Lake Como while Kris and Alicia shopped. The weather was very wet (it downpoured), but we had fun in Como riding the funicular to the top of the city and then having an amazing pizza dinner before heading home for the night. The following day, I returned the car, ran, and did lunch with the group before boarding a train back to Geneva.
This was a GREAT trip with fun people; everyone was very easy going and I would travel with any of them again. The train ride home was a quite sad given we had spent so much time planning this trip and the anticipation that led up to it; we had a lot of fun with no issues and now it was coming to a close. For me, it also was my last big trip that I had planned for the summer and now must return to real life and back to work. I'm not sure if you've been reading my blog posts, but I feel like I've been traveling on vacation since the end of July (and maybe even June) and now must finally return to reality.
