I’ve run 20 marathons in the past three years, nine months. I am proud of that collective achievement. Yet, I rarely feel good about my performance in any given race. In only three of them can I honestly say that I ran to my potential and I am constantly reviewing my copious notes and data hoping that the secret to replicating those results will reveal itself.
A great run is elusive. But that’s hardly center stage because there’s much more going on than the run. Marathons have an ability to draw together extraordinary people and uncanny coincidences. This year’s Berlin Marathon was no exception.
Here’s an example.
After running Sunday’s Berlin Marathon, I hung out as close to the finish line as the authorities would allow and waited to meet up with my friend Scott who was still on the course.
As I waited, a runner came along wearing a pineapple. Many other runners took selfies with him. I snapped the photo below.
His name is Moshe Lederfien and he is world famous for running entire marathons while balancing a pineapple on his head. He calls himself the Pineapple Marathon Man.
Within minutes of taking that photo, my daughter, Kinsey, nine time zones away, forwarded me the post below and asked me if I had seen this.
Yes, it’s a small world and the marathon world is even smaller. But still, you can’t make this stuff up.
Scott and I didn’t manage to meet but we’ll have another chance in two weeks when we both run the Chicago Marathon.
As was the case in 2021 when I first ran the Berlin Marathon, I booked my entry into this year’s race through Marathon Tours and Travel (MTT). In 2021, the world was just starting to get normal after COVID and Berlin seemed very quiet, sterile even. Many folks were still not ready to come out of there homes then. That’s all changed and this time around the city was bustling like any other world capital city would be.
MTT hosted a reception for the runners and their supporters on Thursday night. I met up with Patti Shuster, another West Seattle Runner, and her husband Eugene at the reception. Patti and I often cross paths on our training runs and we traded texts leading up to the race as we sorted out our race strategies.
On Friday, MTT arranged a tour of the city but given that I took that tour in 2021, I opted out this time around in favor of resting up for the race.
I did, however, join in the Generali Breakfast run hosted by the city on Saturday morning. It is a traditional pre-race event and free for all participants. Runners and their supporters gather at the Charlottenburg Palace plaza, run the four miles to the Olympic Stadium where Jesse Owens (and a hero of my former Palo Alto neighborhood, Jim LuValle) kicked Nazi butt in 1936, and scarf up a free breakfast. The Generali was cancelled in 2021 due to COVID concerns so I was eager to witness it this time around.
MTT provided buses to and from the event. As hundreds, if not thousands, gathered at the Charlottenburg Palace, I struck up some conversations.
I noticed a young woman who, like myself, was decked in HOKA shoes and clothing and asked her about it. I mentioned that I am a HOKA Flyer — like a brand ambassador — in the States.
Léa lives in the north of France and she would like to be a HOKA ambassador there. She has applied for it but she says a large social media presence is a requirement and she doesn’t have enough followers yet. Léa was not running in Berlin but had just completed an Ironman triathlon and came to Berlin to support her friend who was running.
Next, I spoke with Amanda who was the runner and her husband Thomas who came along to support her. In an insane coincidence, they were from the town of Shirley on Long Island in New York close to where I grew up. I was amazed to learn that Amanda’s first long road race ever was a beer run that started and ended at the Blue Point brewery. Blue Point is the town where I grew up.
To save my legs for the marathon, I planned to walk half of the way to the Stadium. Starting out, a local walking her dog was startled to see such a huge crowd of runners on Saturday and asked me if there were two marathons this weekend. I let her know that, no, we were all just running to get a free breakfast.
While still walking, I chatted with Laura, a cybersecurity expert from Columbus, Ohio. Berlin was to be her attempt to get back into the running scene after a few tumultuous years wherein she had several bouts with COVID and lost her partner to ovarian cancer.
I started jogging with about two miles to go and entered the Stadium. Impressive, of course, and much modernized apparently since 1936. But the real spectacle was the feeding frenzy. In general, I have found runners to be great people. But everyone has their faults and for runners the prospect of free food undoes their otherwise exemplary manners. I chose to stay away from the brawl.
On the bus ride back to the hotel, I sat with Ildiko, a Hungarian who emigrated to the US in 1989 when the Communist block crumbled. She was in Med school at the time, finished her studies in the States, and set up her pediatric practice near Atlanta. Another marathon fanatic, she started running them eighteen years ago and Berlin was to be her 83rd. One week later she planned to run the Loch Ness Marathon in Scotland. Besides comparing our running resumes, we discussed the ridiculous cost of healthcare in the US and how Hungary, once the Western Media’s darling of the Soviet satellites in the 1970’s, has now become a scary and — for Americans — relevant example of how democracy can quickly slip into autocracy.
Saturday evening, MTT put on a pre-race dinner for the runners and their supporters. Months earlier I proposed to MTT that I address the audience at this dinner to describe my journey with Parkinson’s and how, through vigorous exercise, people living with Parkinson’s can thrive despite the disease. At the 2021 race a similar presentation was made by a runner whose wife had Alzheimer’s. The couple took to running marathons all over the world as therapy.
MTT ghosted me on that proposal and chose instead to have Tony Reed talk about his marathoning endeavors. In 2008, Tony became the first black athlete to run a marathon on each of the seven continents. Since then he became the first black runner to score what he calls the “Marathon Hat Trick”, which in addition to the seven continents, includes completing at least 100 marathons and running a marathon in each of the 50 states. Besides running, nowadays he also produces documentaries featuring black marathoners.
All right, I get it. His story is as humbling as it is inspiring. And I feel a bit sheepish.
For weeks leading up to the race, I had been monitoring the weather forecast for Berlin. In 2021, it was dreadfully hot. I and many other runners suffered on the course with the temperature in excess of 70 degrees.
This year the race would start out at a tolerable 56 degrees. It definitely was better than 2021 but with my 9:40 am start time the best of the chllier weather was gone early on and in the meantime humidity was a scary 83%. Several hoses sprinkled cold water down onto the runners along the course and I happily soaked myself in every one that I encountered.
My recollection is vague but it seemed that the spectators this year were fewer and less boisterous than in 2021. There were far more runners, though. In 2021, there were about 25,000 entries. This year it was nearly 48,000.
At one crowded stretch at about mile 17, another runner stepped on my heel sending me to the ground. No apologies but no great damage — just some blood on my knee and knuckles. My legs had already begun cramping, though, and it was a struggle to get back up. Another runner noticed my plight, helped me up, and made sure that I was good to keep going.
By then my pace had already fallen off. I was good until the halfway point but couldn’t keep it up. Often when I run out of steam my pace drops continuously through the end of the race. This time I was determined to avoid the death spiral and managed a fairly constant, albeit slower, pace for the second half.
I ended up with 4:18:01, more than 37 minutes faster than in 2021 but well off my sub-4 hour plan.
Many runners set several levels of goals for their races. “A” goals are the hardest and only happen when everything lines up perfectly for the runner. That includes their own preparation as well as circumstances beyond their control (i.e. weather). The lowest level goal is the minimum performance they could live with knowing that they tried their best.
My goals for my 2023 WMM campaign line up as follows:
“A”: Run in and finish each of the WMM in less than 4 hours.
“B”: Finish all six of the WMM within a cumulative time of 24 hours (i.e. average less than 4 hours for the six events.)
“C”: In 2023, finish each of the six WMM faster than any of my prior attempts on that course.
“D”: Run in and finish all six of the WMM in 2023.
My “A” goal was dashed right at the start with my 4:16:38 in Tokyo. And with Tokyo, Boston, London, and now Berlin in the books my cumulative time for the four races to date is 16:33:48, which means I would have to average 3:43:06 in Chicago and New York City to reach my “B” goal. Not gonna happen.
If I get to the start lines of Chicago and New York City, I will make it to their finish lines and get my “D” goal at the very least.
Can I achieve the “C” goal?
Maybe. So far so good. But, my previous best for Chicago is 4:11:48 and for New York City it is 4:30:32. Chicago will be tough with only two weeks of rest after Berlin. But I was able to run a 4:01:59 in London after only six days of rest following a 3:57:47 in Boston.
It’s possible but I sure would like it if everything lines up perfectly for me on October 8. Forecast calls for early rain, a high of 68, and a low of 55. Those are high-ish temperatures but, then, rain would be, oh, so very nice.
I am running for Team Fox again this year. You can donate to my New York City Marathon campaign (click this link). I could use your support. If you share the passion that The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) and I have for finding a Parkinson’s cure please consider contributing. All donations are meaningful and greatly appreciated.
Alternatively, if you would like something tangible in exchange for a contribution, consider purchasing my book Run With It: A True Story of Parkinson’s, Marathons, the Pandemic, and Love. It was named as a Finalist in the 2022 Wishing Shelf Book Awards. It also received an Honorable Mention in the Eric Hoffer Awards and was rated “RECOMMENDED” in the US Review of Books.
All profits from its sale are donated to MJFF. It can be found on my author’s website and Amazon. It’s cheaper on my author site (for domestic shipping), a larger percentage goes to MJFF than for Amazon sales, and you get the option of having it signed by the author.
