Hamburg Marathon

On the 26 April I finished my first race of this year. The.Hamburg experience was fun!. I'd injured my knee and then my back and hadn't run for three weeks. Joe the physio checked me over on the Tuesday and told me that a)I shouldn't do it and b)He knew I would and so he told me to try 10k on Thursday night and if I could walk on Friday I could walk to the start line. So on Friday I made the decision to fly.

I got to Hamburg on Saturday Morning (3.30am get up) and took the train into the city. I set off walking back to the Hotel after registration and promptly found a Bock Bier Fest. It would have been rude not to but on the down side there was not a beer weaker than 7% abv. Maybe not ideal preparation for a Marathon!

Race day dawned in a grey way and after all the usual pre race preparation (multiple toilet opportunities) the gun went and after 10 minutes us 4 hour people started our shuffle to the start.

I set off at about 3:50 pace and soon enough we were on the Reeperbahn, Hamburg's sinful mile. That was seriously seedy and I felt itchy at the end. I think if I'd run any slower I'd have caught something. From then the city had to get better and it did. Hamburg is a fantastic port city and once we'd left the center very green.

The Race was great with amazing crowds and bands which really helped. Samba bands were out in force and I love hearing them in a race.

I ran nicely for about 25km, my back and knee were fine but my quads and hip flexors were starting to protest and the trace tells the story. 30 km the heavens opened and I was feeling down. At 38 km I had to start walking, but I got going again over the line.

So that was it. I collected my medal and beer and headed back to the Hotel for a shower. It was slow, 4:20 but given that 2 days earlier I thought I wasn't going, not bad.

As for the Hamburg Marathon, would I recommend it. Definitely yes!