2013 Spreewald Half Marathon Race Report

Ever since I had seen the funky green pickle race medal of the Spreewald Half and Full Marathon at the Berlin Half Marathon Race Expo a few weeks ago, I wanted to run the race to get my hands on this strange medal. When my schedule cleared out and I was still in good share from the Berlin Half Marathon with about 2 weeks of recovery I knew I just had to take the chance.

The race takes place in the rural Spreewald Region on the outskirts (i.e. 90 minutes drive) of Berlin. The region, much like Berlin is flat as a pancake and the regional specialty – could you have guessed based on the medal is pickles.

I am not one for getting up super early, but since registration closed at 8am and I signed up last moment it was time to jump in the car by 5.30am.

The Race Expo & Packet Pickup

The Spreewald Marathon is a running event which goes over the whole weekend, and in fact not only includes running and the usual inline skating, but also biking and canoeing. There are two separate half marathons (one on Saturday and one on Sunday) but the full marathon is only on Sunday.

I arrived at the location and registration and packet pickup took place in the gym of an elementary school. Everything was quite efficient and within just a few minutes I had paid for my registration, filled out the form an had the race packet in my hand. Very smooth and no waiting. It was also nice that the race fee was not hugely inflated just because I decided to register last minute.

The “Expo” naturally was not the grand affair which we had experienced for the Berlin Half Marathon a few weeks prior, but a few outdoor tables and tents had the usual race goodies of discounted shoes and shirts. There was however a multitude of food stalls selling their fares which made waiting around for the start of the half marathon very difficult because they all smelled delicious.

Race Day

Things at the Spreewald Marathon were clearly much more small scale than the HUGE Berlin Half we had done two weeks ago, but things were really well organized. A lot of port-a-potties and plenty of room to hang out during the waiting time before the race was very pleasant.

Since I had to be there quite early to make it for the late registration cut off I had time to walk around a bit and enjoy the scenery. The race started with the inline skaters and I had a great time watching them race through the finish and then got to watch the medal ceremonies. Those guys and gals are seriously fast.

Even this early in the day it was clear that this race is a major event in the region and a lot of love and effort have been put into it to make sure that runners are having a great time. All of the volunteers had a smile on their face and were ultra-efficient at all times. We even received encouragement from the local cheerleading squad cheering on the skaters and runners as they neared the finish line!

This race was just a little over a week after the bombings at the Boston Marathon so the mood was somber right before the start as a moment of silence was observed for those injured in the tragedy.

The Course

The race got underway promptly at 10 and given the lack of starting blocks led to a bit of pushing and shoving as about 2000 people made their way through the little town of Burg. Only a very small portion at the start is in an actual village and the rest wanders through forest and fields, which makes this a very welcome change to the urban running we usually do.

The course itself is extremely flat and fast and I would guess more than 85% consists of paved paths. There are short sections where the path continues along compacted dirt paths and even a few gravel paths along the way.

Along the paths there are a few pedestrian bridges to cross a few of the canals. Even though these were short the up and down definitely took a drain on the energy levels.

One thing which I found interesting was the quality and frequency of the rest stops. These folks really went all out. I have been to some buffets with fewer choices of food and drink. These guys really had everything at the refreshment points from water to energy drinks, fruits and chocolate. Also, there were 5 stops along the route which was a nice change from the Berlin Half Marathon where refreshment stands are few and far in between.

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One thing I found a bit strange was one woman who was shadowed by her husband/support team on a bicycle. I somehow found myself going exactly their pace the entire way and thought the guy on the bike was a bit of a hassle on the narrower paths and bridges. But just a minor inconvenience.

One thing which hurt was the road signs – from the start the signs did not match up with my Garmin (i.e. the 1km sign was at 1.4km and the 2km at 2.4km according to my Garmin) – ok, cool – at least they are consistent. As I was nearing the finish line I was a happy camper making it around what I thought would be the final turn. Unfortunately I was greeted with a sign saying “1000m to go”, WTF? That sucked!

The Medal

I was so excited to have broken through the magical, mythical two hour mark on my second half marathon that I nearly forgot the whole reason I had decided to run this race in the first place – the medal. From the finish line you had to bust a u-turn to get into the line for medals and refreshments.

As you can probably guess, the local speciality of the region is a pickle (and yes – they are REALLY yummy) and that is of course why the medal is a HEAVY solid metal, painted green and gold pickle on a band. It is not beautiful, but it’s totally awesome.

At the medal station there was even more refreshments and of course even cut up pickles to enjoy – and tons more selection of stuff to eat and drink. I didn’t hang around long enough to really take advantage of it, but a few pieces of fruit and something to drink definitely hit the spot.

The Good, the bad and the ugly

This was a really great race. At EURxxx entry fee it was cheap, well organized, great vibe and a beautiful country side run which offered a total change of scenery from the urban jungle that is Berlin. It was great to see that so many people who had farms and houses along the route had garden parties and BBQ’s set up along the roadside to check out the action and cheer on the runners.

While this is not likely one of those “WHOW – IN YOUR FACE” type of races with a scenery such as NY or Berlin, I think in terms of smaller events this one is definitely worth running, even if it’s just for the bling.

You do feel like a star with the friendly service, people cheering you on from along the road and tons of refreshment tables along the way. Gonna have great memories of this one!