During the first weekend of May, on a sunny beautiful day, I decided to torture my mother-in-law and entered her into a 10km race. Her race entry was actually a Christmas present from Stefan and I, because she is a new runner and we thought what better gift for a runner than motivation? Stefan’s dad has been a runner for years. And Stefan ran for a while before Mack was born, until he was injured. But the girls in this family have never been so big on the sport until last fall. Stefan and I of course started training together. But when I beat him during our first race, he gave up smoking. And my MIL decided that as long as he wasn’t smoking, she could be running.
Just eight months later — we ladies looked like this, ready to kick up some dust:
What would an all girl race be without pink port-a-potties??
The 30th Avon Berlin Women’s Race (30. Berliner Frauenlauf) is a rather cool event put on every year by SCC Events. It happens to cover quite a bit of ground around the Tiergarten, where we usually run 3 times a week, and it’s very close to home which is extra nice. IMO there’s nothing better than being able to arrive only shortly before an event to run — and then being able to head back home afterwards to your own shower and couch to relax on. 😉
Much like when we went to the Berlin Half-Marathon, we took the U-Bahn just a few stops to get to the starting area which was not nearly as crowded with runners as other events — but I have a feeling that many of them were up there further in advance and kind of made a day of it. This race starts rather late in the day at 6pm so I had to pay attention to what I was eating all afternoon, but all in all, I don’t mind running in the afternoon versus the early morning ones. With any race, you have to think about your prep steps and when you can eat and what. We usually run early in the morning (although when we first started it was in the early evening) so everything worked out just fine.
This particular 10km makes several loops in and around the largest quadrant of the Tiergarten, but the tracks didn’t necessarily overlap completely. When you start, you are running on the street, then you run south of the Siegessäule twice on the same path and back into the Tiergarten, but the rest takes various turns and twists until you get back out to the stretch you start/finish on.
With all the changes going on and switches in the track, I was a bit concerned that people would end up on the wrong path or that things would get chaotic. But as usual, the SCC Events organizers had a great grip on things and everything was well orchestrated. By the time we got back to a point that we’d already seen, there were people standing in a new spot to redirect us toward the right area, which was really great. This event also had bands along the way and cheering sections, which are always a great help in boosting morale!
Speaking of cheering, I had a great cheering section there for a change and this was Mack’s first race that she got to attend with us. In the past, we’ve had her stay at home with a babysitter because it was either too cold and she would have been standing around for a long while waiting. But since Stefan was running the following day, it all worked out. Aside from her being exhausted of course — but sometimes little girls just have to tough it out. 😉
One of the things which I thought was cool about this race is that despite the low price tag of only €19, you get a tech shirt for free (which I think is one of the only local races where that is the case) AND a goodie bag. I forgot to take a photo of what was inside the goodie bag, but I have to admit that I wasn’t all that impressed. Avon provided a bottle of lotion and one of body wash, there was a small bag with a handful of Californian pistachios in it (one of the weirdest things in the bag IMO), a catalog for Avon stuff and a random flyer or two for things which I can’t even recall at this stage. Personally, if I had known what was in the bag, I would have left it there. But even that part of the event was really well organized, and you didn’t even have to stand in line to grab your bag.
After milling around for a little bit and picking up our goodie bags, it was time to put on our game faces. We picked up our race numbers and the shirts the day before the race at a completely different location. It wasn’t required that you wear your new pink shirt for the event, but it seemed like a nice idea to wear it and blend with the crowd. It was a different sort of camaraderie that you don’t really get a most races with everyone wearing their own gear.
Because there were around 7,000 women running, I wanted to get somewhere near the front of the pack. There were no official starting blocks for this race, so you could get as close to the start line as you wanted. I’m sure my MIL wasn’t too certain that she wanted to be that close to the starters who tend to run pretty quick, but she followed me in trust anyway. 😉
As we stood there lining up, more and more women begin to pack into the starting gate. Although we could still see the Brandenburg Gate way behind us as we stood there, it seemed like there were women as far as the eye could see. And they were literally of all ages and walks of life. Before things kicked off, you could join a free Zumba session, held by one of the local women’s gyms, and there was also a little wave thing done to get everyone pumped. The atmosphere was really nice and relaxed, but I was definitely ready to get going when that gunshot went off!
I did something new for this race which was to carry a small point and shoot camera with me. The camera is a bit on the old side, and the photos it takes are nothing compared to my Canon DSLR — but it gets the job done and extends the life of this camera for a while. But both Stefan and I have definitely decided that taking photos while running is awesome and totally fun. So I’m fairly sure that once this camera passes away, we will get another point and shoot — but that it will be one of the cool new “tough” cameras that don’t mind getting a bit damp or being dropped from a few feet off the ground. While I have seen some (obviously) crazy people running with DSLR’s around their necks, I don’t intend to be one of those people. Ever.
When they let us start, I was out of there like a shot. It was rather incredible to see just how fast some of these women were going –and although I thought I would hold my own pretty well, there were some super fast ladies in the pack. Since this is held in early May, you never know what the weather will be like. On this particular day it was absolutely dream weather with lots of sun, it was nice and warm and it was just beautiful.
I did at one point kinda wish I had been wearing shorts, but it was definitely not like the Berlin Half-Marathon experience where I was figuring out ways to repin my number just so I could shed a layer of clothing so I wouldn’t overheat. The most problematic part of all this really is that we have barely been able to train in weather like this. So determining what to wear is always a bit of a head scratcher. Regardless, though, I was having a great time! 😉
Once we got into the Tiergarten, the paths were rather nice and you only run on pavement for about half the race. The rest is dirt and gravel. There’s a lot of shade and the park itself is gorgeous (so nice that they had a photo shoot going on with models in huge Victorian-style dresses) so unless you’re running with a couple thousand other women, you almost feel like you are in the middle of nature and not a huge metropolis.
There were lots of supporters around and actually more than I expected. Some of them had some great signs, like “If you can read this, you’re not running fast enough” or “You shouldn’t be reading, you should be running”. And a few women running in front of me actually had shirts on that really inspired me to keep going. I think I might have to consider getting a shirt with a smiley face and “Keep smiling” on the back — or something else inspirational for the folks behind me. To the one woman who had “No excuses” on the back of her shirt — thanks!
I reached the finish line in just under 56 minutes (55:56), which was pretty much in line with what I was hoping for. I would have liked to get under 55 minutes total, but I did something stupid at this race which was running without my own water. I figured there would be enough stops on the way, but I was completely wrong. I totally missed the first one because I was on the wrong side of the path, and by the time I got to the next one, I was really parched. Running in warmer weather than usual without my own water was just plain dumb. I won’t make that mistake again.
Since a lot of the race was on dirt paths leading through the Tiergarten, it got rather dusty. I’ve never seen my shoes dirtier than this…and you can only imagine what it was like to run through with all the dust kicking up. But thankfully there were only one or two areas where it was extremely dusty and it didn’t interfere much with breathing. It did make my mouth more dry though lol.
Thankfully, even after the race, my mother-in-law was still talking to me. And she totally did an awesome job! We were all so proud of her. And still are of course! Entering her in the 10km race versus the 5km made her have to train harder — and this was the longest distance she had ever run. But it also helped her to push to new limits and erase the “I can’t” from her head — and I think that the personal victories you make are some of the most important ones during races like these!
Mackenzie’s favorite part of the race? Grabbing a sip of free non-alcoholic beer from Erdinger. To be honest, it’s one of my favorite parts of the events as well. I wouldn’t want to be near a real beer right after a race — but all the nutrients and electrolytes that a good, cold wheat beer provides are just what you need to get your body back on track!
All in all I think this was a great race and I would definitely recommend it to others. Just don’t forget your sunglasses or your water!
