This weekend brought us back to Berlin, and a meetup with our good friend Marlene visiting from Doha, Qatar! I was excited for the inline marathon, but I must admit that training was something that hadn't been a top priority. The self-powered commute to and from work (bike / skate) was about the only regular 'training' that I had going... But here we go...
This year I was successfully registered as a male (last year I tore up the women's category!), and the expo was held at the closed down Tempelhof airport... and skating was permitted on the tarmac! I quickly got in and out of the expo, trying not to spend hundreds of euros on all of the great skating paraphernalia... even though I really wanted to splurge. I can ALWAYS use more wheels...
So the day of the race the three of us were out touring the city, and someone asked me what time the race starts, my response was something along the lines of “Umm... I think 4:10”... definitely lacking confidence in that response. After seeing numerous other skaters all geared up carrying their skates, I started to get a touch concerned about what time the 'actual' start of the race was... so I headed back to the hotel to verify (and catch a nap) while the ladies did some more sightseeing.
Of COURSE I was right (am I ever wrong, rhetorical question)... and so I skated down to the start around 2:45 with the dog in my arms, which obviously drew some looks... and met up with Marlene and Andrea. After some great coaching tips from both of them and strategizing where they would see me, Andrea sent me off with some famous last words “don't fall”. GREAT! Since I've had an incident in every race in Europe that caused me to re-introduce myself to the asphalt, those were some encouraging words... let me tell ya!
We were all corralled like livestock after warming up, and the inevitable forever wait ensued. The pro women started, with Cecilia Baena expected to win that battle (who did)... then the pro men started with another Colombian Diego Rosero the expected winner there (he came in 12th)... then came our start. In most of my previous races I ended up with slower times because pacelines got away from me at the start, or I got pinned at the start between slower people. I was determined to not let that happen this race, so I took note of who was around me, and the likely ones to follow and the ones to definitely steer clear of... BANG!!!
And they're off...
PURE UTTER CHAOS! If you've never been in or seen the start of an inline marathon... it is unreal. I imagine it is similar to the swimming start of a triathlon. Arms all over the place... skates clinking, balanced and unbalanced people trying not to fall. Fast people trying to go around slow people, slow people trying to convince themselves they are fast enough to keep up...
A few kilometers down the road the madness settled for a little bit... and we managed to form some pretty ginormous pacelines. An '80s arcade guru looking at the race from the sky would have compared it to Battletoads, watching the skaters bounce back and forth between pacelines... like it was the action level of Battletoads with them jumping back and forthe between walls...
I was feeling pretty good and was loving the feeling of a race, and settled into a pretty nice groove. After watching the other skaters and feeling them out, I was ok with this pace... but knew that I could go faster. I kept my eyes out for any fliers, because I was definitely going to chase. That plan didn't quite work out so well, as I made a move on a corner to gain some spots on the paceline.. but instead realized that I was about to pass the whole paceline and there wasn't another paceline within seeing distance. So my options were to settle in with this paceline or hop onto the lead and pull for awhile and try to push the pace; knowing that this would exhaust me, but hoping that I could find respite in the paceline.
I opted to go with the latter and hop to the front and see what we were working with. I had only been on the front for about 2 pulls, the front 3 skaters were rotating and pushing the pace (while about 80+ skaters sat back there and sucked wheel...) when a rec looking skater with his capri pants, wifebeater and rec skates came flying by with a london speedskater in tow. Since I was at the front and was willing to go faster I gave chase. I'm sure the people at the back of the paceline loved that idea, as the slinky effect can be unreal back there...
I caught up with two skaters (as did enough of the pacline for it to still look ginormous) and started talking with the London chic. I was excited, someone else that spoke English as a native language... and evidently the “rec” skater spoke English as well. We settled in for a bit, and then we decided that the three of us would try a break... but we on the front pulling! Definitely not the best time to try it, but we went for it anyway... yeah, didn't work so well. We're 0 for 1 now on breakaways... We tried a few more with no success... but then we gathered strength with another London Speedskater joining us up front, and then a few other faster skaters came up from the back, and the pace quickened. We started gaining ground on pacelines that were now within sight... and then 6 of us broke away and started hammering away...
We were setting quite a pace and passing pacelines ahead of us as skaters tried to hop on... as I started to wonder where in the race we were... I knew we were further than 20 km (where I saw Andrea and Marlene for the 2nd time), and thought we were getting close to the end. I saw my first km marker at 32 km.... did the quick math and realized that I only had about 3 miles left. Yes! One Hains Point loop, and I'm done!... Next marker at 33 km, only 9 km to go... WAIT?!?!?! 9 km! That's like 5 some miles... oh goodness.. Okay, reset the brain, no longer one HP lap... now it's two... at a wicked grueling pace.
I was still feeling good, but knew that sooner or later the lack of energy and food would kick in.. and evidently my mind didn't want to reset or my body didn't get the memo that I had to skate 42 kilometers today and not ~36... because shortly after my grave miscalculation I let the fliers go, and stepped into a paceline we were passing, and tried to settle in.
My skates had been bothering me since about km 22 and had really become noticeable after dropping off the fliers, and sitting in a slower paceline. Every time I set down either skate, the ball of that foot contacting the ground would make me wince.... it was quite an experience for the last 6 km! I proceeded to step out of the paceline and decide I'd just finish alone, and just enjoy the experience. (Or that's at least what I'm going to tell myself!)
I watched a few pacelines pass by, and thought about catching them... but opted not to for one reason or another. I really enjoyed the last bit of the race... although it wasn't as intense as being in a paceline, constantly calculating and watching... it was so enjoyable to have a road all to myself enjoy the sights of Berlin, the friendly people out cheering on the skaters... just a great way to end the race. I gave all of them thanks as I skated by and it encouraged them to cheer me on... what a reciprocal event! As I came skating through the Brandenburg Gate I was alone. About one guy 50 yds ahead of me, and that was it... I came through the Gate and Andrea and Marlene were over to the right screaming for me!
I skated through the finish area “hamming it up” (as quoted by Marlene) and enjoyed my 'alone' time.... evidently I even made the jumbotron at the finish line!
I finished up with a time of 1:23:00, quite an interesting time an exact minute! It was about 6 some minutes slower than last year's pace... but I loved every minute of it.
The Berlin folks run one hell of an event and with over 7,500 skaters... it's a must-do for all passionate skaters.
