HAMBURG (GERMANY, 12.09.21)
Hamburg was my first race of the challenge since November 2019 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The 22 months of training was both a mental and physical challenge to overcome but I was delighted to finally land in Germany after 3 cancellations of the race. Ahead of the trip I interviewed Claudia and Johanne who told me about what it was like to live with M.E in Germany, here's what they told me.
I had to make a last minute re-adjustment as German restrictions meant that Lucy and Cat were unable to come so I flew out alone having completed all of the tests and forms needed to travel and run the race. I had an approach from Hamburg newspaper Abendsblatt who interviewed me the day before via Skype and had over 200 messages of support and £2200 of sponsorship pledged for Invest In ME - which gave me a real lift, awesome.
Start
I arrived early at the Heiligengeistfeld ('Holy Ghost Field') starting pens and milled about for a bit trying to keep warm. It wasn't especially cold but I felt genuinely quite nervous about this race as it had been so long since I'd tried running a marathon and I knew I was carrying a few niggles. I sat down a fair bit, watched all the idiots run around warming up and played a bit of chess on my phone! The race started near to the St Pauli FC Millerntor-Stadion which was daubed in graffiti and looked pretty run-down. Prince played a gig there once I was told by one of the other runners. We had to wear masks in the starting enclosure and for the first few strides of the race which was pretty weird given that all runners had to be 'double-jabbed' and it was outdoors with plenty of spacing but I was just grateful to actually be in a race really. I was 1 of only 6 Brits amongst the pretty small marathon field of 1632 runners, they had nearly 8000 for the marathon in 2019. I guess restrictions and testing has made international marathon running pretty unappealing for most.
The race began with a slightly downhill trip from Glacischaussee to the Reeperbahn, Hamburg's infamous sinful mile. Not much to see at this time in the morning other than the bright facades of the strip clubs (Sex House, Titty Twister and the like) and a few groups of lads still boozing down the alleys. As the course dropped down towards the Altona district I was starting to warm up and quickly put on my headband and tried to drop my pace as it was pretty clear I'd gone off a bit too fast as usual. I was ahead of the 4hr pacers and enjoying the crowd support, though refraining from high-fiving the kids on this race which felt a bit mean but hopefully they'd understand. Rounding a traffic cone at Othsmarschen, the course now tracked the River Elbe and headed towards the harbour past Fischmarkt. It made me laugh out loud when I remembered my previous visit there at 5am to get more beers on my mates Stag Do after a night in the Molotov rock club, great times. Never thought I'd be running a marathon there a few years later! Through the Wallring tunnel there was a lot of random cheering which I didn't really understand but I guess people like running through tunnels a lot on the continent.
Middle
An hour in and just over 6.5 miles complete, I felt pretty good, well hydrated and enjoying the views with some 80's classics blazing in my ears. The route skirted the edge of the fantastic Speicherstadt area that I had walked around the day before, the world's largest warehouse district which looked a lot like the mills of Manchester and the Albert Dock of Liverpool. There was a lap of the Inner Alster lake which had a number of tourist boats cruising about, not as picturesque as the Outer Alster lake which we'd come to but it was nice nonetheless. Up to around 10 miles and I was drenched through with sweat which was a bit strange. I definitely felt like I was overheating a bit and maybe not quite 100% well, possibly feeling the effects of 2 recent stomach bugs, the last of which I'd only kicked a few days before flying out. In any case I was trundling along well as I hit the halfway mark at 1hr 54 or so, unlikely to hit my PB but not in any real danger.
Heading up to Stadtpark on the way to Alsterdorf it actually started to drizzle a bit for a few minutes which was brilliant. The park itself was nice enough but not particularly remarkable and this section wasn't especially scenic. I started to feel my hips tighten around the 15 mile mark which was really annoying how much stretching I had done just prior to the race. I knew at this point that it would be difficult to get under 4 hours and started to re-evaluate what a good race would look like, always the hardest part of any marathon. Over the Hasenbergbrucke and the course started to point back into Hamburg for the finish, 6-7 miles to go. I got to 20 miles at around the 3 hour mark and started to feel pretty spent. I'd devised a plan to run for 3 songs on my playlist and then stop for 2 mins or a refreshment stop if there was one within eyesight. This got me through the next 45 mins or so pretty well and I felt confident I could finish within enough time to get back to the hotel, shower, cab to the airport and make my flight home!
End
Running past Alsterpark and down to Rotherbaum there were lots of incredible houses on our right which I learnt on Saturday's bus tour were worth £10-20m each. Some were ex-embassies and others were owned by celebrities and politicians, they were quite incredible really with manicured lawns and castle-like facades. It was a bit of a slog at this point but it started to drizzle a bit again which was great and I threw down another energy gel and pressed on. Just a few miles to go and I got passed by the 4 hour pacer which was tough to take but has happened a lot of times before, no bother I just shrugged it off and started to sing and air-drum a bit to pass the time. Running along the Gorch-Fock-Wall back towards the finish 3 miles away my legs were taking it in turns to cramp, pinning me to the spot, sometimes facing the wrong way (not for the first time). A quick rub and a slap alongside a few encouraging words from some randoms and I got going again.
Next up just beyond the Planten un Blomen garden was a slight climb I'd read about a fair bit at mile 25. In truth it wasn't too bad and the streets were well lined now with crowds of people shouting my name (or rather 'Miguel', Mickhail and other variations), the German football shirt going down well. It was pretty warm as I climbed the hill towards the finish and after a sharp turn just past the Messehallen U-Bahn I could see the long red carpet of the finish line. I trotted up with a real mix of emotions. Delighted that it was going to end and I'd completed another marathon but also a bit disappointed that I couldn't have gone a bit quicker and also that I was now only 2 races away from finishing the challenge. I had to quickly put another mask on, collect the medal and after a quick photo with my flag I dropped down on the car park for about 10 mins whilst my legs cramped.
Pics
Did a big wander around the city and a bus tour - pics here!
Weather
15c start rising to 20c, mostly cloudy with the odd very light drizzle. Sun came out towards the end.
Ratings
I had to make a last minute re-adjustment as German restrictions meant that Lucy and Cat were unable to come so I flew out alone having completed all of the tests and forms needed to travel and run the race. I had an approach from Hamburg newspaper Abendsblatt who interviewed me the day before via Skype and had over 200 messages of support and £2200 of sponsorship pledged for Invest In ME - which gave me a real lift, awesome.
Start
I arrived early at the Heiligengeistfeld ('Holy Ghost Field') starting pens and milled about for a bit trying to keep warm. It wasn't especially cold but I felt genuinely quite nervous about this race as it had been so long since I'd tried running a marathon and I knew I was carrying a few niggles. I sat down a fair bit, watched all the idiots run around warming up and played a bit of chess on my phone! The race started near to the St Pauli FC Millerntor-Stadion which was daubed in graffiti and looked pretty run-down. Prince played a gig there once I was told by one of the other runners. We had to wear masks in the starting enclosure and for the first few strides of the race which was pretty weird given that all runners had to be 'double-jabbed' and it was outdoors with plenty of spacing but I was just grateful to actually be in a race really. I was 1 of only 6 Brits amongst the pretty small marathon field of 1632 runners, they had nearly 8000 for the marathon in 2019. I guess restrictions and testing has made international marathon running pretty unappealing for most.
The race began with a slightly downhill trip from Glacischaussee to the Reeperbahn, Hamburg's infamous sinful mile. Not much to see at this time in the morning other than the bright facades of the strip clubs (Sex House, Titty Twister and the like) and a few groups of lads still boozing down the alleys. As the course dropped down towards the Altona district I was starting to warm up and quickly put on my headband and tried to drop my pace as it was pretty clear I'd gone off a bit too fast as usual. I was ahead of the 4hr pacers and enjoying the crowd support, though refraining from high-fiving the kids on this race which felt a bit mean but hopefully they'd understand. Rounding a traffic cone at Othsmarschen, the course now tracked the River Elbe and headed towards the harbour past Fischmarkt. It made me laugh out loud when I remembered my previous visit there at 5am to get more beers on my mates Stag Do after a night in the Molotov rock club, great times. Never thought I'd be running a marathon there a few years later! Through the Wallring tunnel there was a lot of random cheering which I didn't really understand but I guess people like running through tunnels a lot on the continent.
Middle
An hour in and just over 6.5 miles complete, I felt pretty good, well hydrated and enjoying the views with some 80's classics blazing in my ears. The route skirted the edge of the fantastic Speicherstadt area that I had walked around the day before, the world's largest warehouse district which looked a lot like the mills of Manchester and the Albert Dock of Liverpool. There was a lap of the Inner Alster lake which had a number of tourist boats cruising about, not as picturesque as the Outer Alster lake which we'd come to but it was nice nonetheless. Up to around 10 miles and I was drenched through with sweat which was a bit strange. I definitely felt like I was overheating a bit and maybe not quite 100% well, possibly feeling the effects of 2 recent stomach bugs, the last of which I'd only kicked a few days before flying out. In any case I was trundling along well as I hit the halfway mark at 1hr 54 or so, unlikely to hit my PB but not in any real danger.
Heading up to Stadtpark on the way to Alsterdorf it actually started to drizzle a bit for a few minutes which was brilliant. The park itself was nice enough but not particularly remarkable and this section wasn't especially scenic. I started to feel my hips tighten around the 15 mile mark which was really annoying how much stretching I had done just prior to the race. I knew at this point that it would be difficult to get under 4 hours and started to re-evaluate what a good race would look like, always the hardest part of any marathon. Over the Hasenbergbrucke and the course started to point back into Hamburg for the finish, 6-7 miles to go. I got to 20 miles at around the 3 hour mark and started to feel pretty spent. I'd devised a plan to run for 3 songs on my playlist and then stop for 2 mins or a refreshment stop if there was one within eyesight. This got me through the next 45 mins or so pretty well and I felt confident I could finish within enough time to get back to the hotel, shower, cab to the airport and make my flight home!
End
Running past Alsterpark and down to Rotherbaum there were lots of incredible houses on our right which I learnt on Saturday's bus tour were worth £10-20m each. Some were ex-embassies and others were owned by celebrities and politicians, they were quite incredible really with manicured lawns and castle-like facades. It was a bit of a slog at this point but it started to drizzle a bit again which was great and I threw down another energy gel and pressed on. Just a few miles to go and I got passed by the 4 hour pacer which was tough to take but has happened a lot of times before, no bother I just shrugged it off and started to sing and air-drum a bit to pass the time. Running along the Gorch-Fock-Wall back towards the finish 3 miles away my legs were taking it in turns to cramp, pinning me to the spot, sometimes facing the wrong way (not for the first time). A quick rub and a slap alongside a few encouraging words from some randoms and I got going again.
Next up just beyond the Planten un Blomen garden was a slight climb I'd read about a fair bit at mile 25. In truth it wasn't too bad and the streets were well lined now with crowds of people shouting my name (or rather 'Miguel', Mickhail and other variations), the German football shirt going down well. It was pretty warm as I climbed the hill towards the finish and after a sharp turn just past the Messehallen U-Bahn I could see the long red carpet of the finish line. I trotted up with a real mix of emotions. Delighted that it was going to end and I'd completed another marathon but also a bit disappointed that I couldn't have gone a bit quicker and also that I was now only 2 races away from finishing the challenge. I had to quickly put another mask on, collect the medal and after a quick photo with my flag I dropped down on the car park for about 10 mins whilst my legs cramped.
Pics
Did a big wander around the city and a bus tour - pics here!
Weather
15c start rising to 20c, mostly cloudy with the odd very light drizzle. Sun came out towards the end.
Ratings
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Course: 7/10 - Good variety with Reeperbahn, lakes and lots of leafy suburbs. Undulating for sure but on the right day, definitely PB potential.
Expo: 2/10 - No expo as such just a couple of small tents selling gels and kit. Heavy Covid regulations unfortunately meant zero atmosphere in what was essentially a marquee in an industrial car park. Support: 7/10 - Excellent throughout, not much of this course without supporters. No bands/entertainment at all which seemed a little bit extreme. |
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Refreshments: 7/10 - Half-filled plastic cups of water, banana pieces, diet coke, gels, electrolyte cups. Enthusiastically marshalled, lots of kids on the stands. Regular intervals and sign-posted well.
Goodie Bag: 4/10 - Tissues, sun cream, porridge, bag, leaflets. Post race - apple, cereal bar, sparkling water, lemon drink, choc bar. Medal & Pics: 8/10 - 7.99 Euros per photo, good quality and plenty of photographers. Excellent medal with anchor and blue sea. Time Completed: 4hrs 28 mins - click here for run stats |