Marathons for My Daughter: The 2024 Berlin Marathon

A Travelogue from the 2024 Berlin Marathon

Berlin day 1
I flew overnight from JFK Airport in New York to Berlin Brandenburg Airport. I arrived at my hotel around 10:30am and promptly napped! After settling in to my room, I headed out to pick up my bib. I took the U-Bahn (part of Berlin’s metro system) to the expo, which was held at the old airport-turned-event space, Berlin Tempelhof, the center of the Berlin Airlift of 1948–49.

At Tempelhof

Berlin day 2
My daughter Helen and her friend Olivia arrived! They were on their way to visit another friend studying in London, but first spent few days in Berlin to keep me company and cheer me on during the marathon. We had a full day! We took the S-Bahn to Berlin Central Station and from there walked to the Reichstag Building, the home of the German Bundestag (parliament).

Helen and Olivia at the Reichstag

Then we walked to the Brandenburg Gate, through the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, to Potsdamer Platz where we had dinner. Then I doubled back to the Brandenburg Gate for the Opening Ceremony of the marathon. It was the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Marathon, so there were many extra celebrations during the race weekend.

Brandenburg Gate

The Opening Ceremonies

Berlin day 3
We carbo-loaded at a pre-race lunch with the Children’s Tumor Foundation NF Endurance Team!
Otherwise this was a self-imposed No Sightseeing Stay TF Off Your Feet Day. After having the Best Day with Helen and Olivia the day before, my legs were paying for it. I rested in the afternoon and H and O went exploring in Kurfurstendamm.

Our Team!

Pre-Race Gear Check

Berlin day 4
Marathon Day!
What an experience! Over 50,000 people running together! All on the same course as elite marathoners and world record holders. I got very emotional at the start—standing next to people from all over the world in a beautiful foreign city, after so much punishing preparation, full of pent-up energy, excitement, and nerves. I broke down when they played the theme song from Chariots of Fire. I mean, come ON. I was crying such that the woman next to me asked if it was my first marathon. “No,” I sobbed. “It’s my twenty-first!”

A few things I’d never experienced in a marathon before:

-Starting dance. Before the starting countdown, the organizers led us in a little dance! (Hands to the left x 7, hands to the right x 7, step to the left x 7, step to the right x 7…)

-Distance marked in kilometers. A marathon is 26.2 miles, but it’s 42.2 kilometers. Somehow that made it seem longer?

-Cheers in German! Our first names were printed on our bibs, so I heard a lot of “Super, Kristina!” (sounds like Zoopah!) and “Lauf, Kristina!” (“lauf” being the German word for “run”).

-Original spectator signs:
“Live Lauf Love”
“You gave birth—you can run another 17K!” (at kilometer 25)

-Running through the Brandenburg Gate at the finish!

-Participating in a world record! We learned after the race that there were 54,280 finishers at the 2024 Berlin Marathon. The organizers announced, “Never before have more finishers crossed the finish line in a marathon race than at the 50th BMW BERLIN-MARATHON! With this verified record result, the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON is now the biggest marathon in the world!”

Lydia, our NFE Team captain, greeted me at kilometer 34

Helen took this video of me approaching kilometer 35!

A quick hug before finishing the last 7 kilometers <3

At the finish in front of the Reichstag

Our goody bags contained more chocolate items than usual :)

That evening we celebrated with our NF Endurance Team at the Biergarten Café am Neuen See in the Berlin Tiergarten, the city’s central park.

That's not really my beer, but it is my streuselkuchen :)

Berlin day 5
Helen, Olivia, and I had a big, post-marathon breakfast at our hotel, followed by a day at the Berlin Zoo. We finished the day with an evening view of the city from the Reichstag dome.