Report by Peter Johnston
When I started running in 2009, seriously overweight and unable to even jog a mile without pulling up in agony, it was the marathon that enticed me out. That year, I’d secured a place in London and went from a standing start to a 3:58 and one of the best feelings at the finish I’ve experienced. The marathon bug clearly bit hard and in 2010, seeking more personal bests, I went to Berlin for the first time having heard it was a flat and fast course. It was, and is, both flat and fast, but is also a wonderful event in a city I’ve completely fallen in love with over the years. Since 2010, I have returned every year with the PBs coming until a 3.11 in 2014 marked the end of the times coming down and instead moving back up. By 2019 (the last edition of the race due to Covid) I had ended up back at 3.43 and the slowest I’d ever been. This took the shine off the fact that by completing the race, I qualified for Berlin’s Jubilee Club – a club for runners who have finished the race 10 times who then get their own number and guaranteed entry to the race forevermore.
Following the 2019 edition, I had started to improve again when I was taken out by a falling tree (whilst on a run) that led to a lengthy lay-off (thankfully no long-term damage was caused). So by the time 2020 came along, I was worse than ever, back to being seriously overweight and a half-marathon taking over 2 hours (which for me is as slow as I’ve ever been). At the start of 2020 I decided to try and run every day, minimum 3 miles. Despite Covid, this lasted all the way through until October when appendicitis forced a few days off post-op, but I then restarted and have run every day since. The big epiphany of 2020 was that I seemed to be getting better and better despite running much slower in training than I ever had before – even walking up hills when I felt like it. And so in 2021, I kept it going and arrived in Berlin having run nearly 2400 miles since the start of the year. Despite the miles, I had no confidence of a particularly strong performance, having half-killed myself to get a sub 42 minute flat 10k a few weeks earlier – suggesting that around 3.17 would be a pretty decent result. My personal target, which I thought was ambitious, was to go under 3.15, but I was certainly not counting on it!
On race day it was a warm one, over 20 degrees by 9am and getting hotter throughout, but thankfully my historical times get me a place near the front and so at least I wasn’t subject to the worst of the heat. I set off and by 10k (43.25) was starting to feel like maybe I had more in me than I thought and when I went through the half-way point at 1.32 was starting to think that maybe 3.15 could be beaten. Although I was slowing a little, the amazing Nike Alphafly shoes really did seem to be giving me the protection I’ve needed to negate a longstanding injury and I was running mostly pain-free for a change. By 20 miles I was really starting to believe – which is perfect timing as those are the really tough miles in marathons and you need something to keep the motivation up! Soon after that I realised that not only was there a real chance of my first PB in years, but that I might even be able to get under 3.10 if I kept the pace up. Thankfully, I did, and as I crossed the line in 3.09.31, I was back to that feeling from the very first marathon of really having achieved something special – it’s never been about the time as such – it’s about the feeling that you’ve done the best you possibly can and I crossed that line feeling exactly that.
So, what next? I think it might be time to fulfil a longstanding ambition to go and do the Boston Marathon; my time, coupled with now being over 45, should mean I easily meet their qualifying standard (no fun runners in Boston!!). If I never go faster, I’m absolutely okay with that: as it should be for all runners, I’m now satisfied with what I’ve achieved and the marathon distance has been such a big part of that for me. So if you are even remotely thinking of trying one – do it! It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get round – there’s something amazing about crossing that line!