Sun, Apr 7, 2013 - 21K - 02:24:49
2013 Berlin Half Marathon
When we left for the race, it was -1°C (30°F) with sun shining and a clear blue sky, and turned out to be refreshing race weather although quite chilly wherever there wasn't sun. Some people were dressed for sun, some for extreme cold, at 5K people started taking their jackets off, but when we would run in the shade of building they would put them back on. But overall, nice, face-warming sun with very cool air which made for a refreshing run. Our running plan was to do 7-minute kilometers and by 5K we were 3 minutes under pace, at 10K we were still 3 minutes under, at 15K still 3 minutes under pace, at 20K still 3 minutes under pace, and we finished 3 minutes under pace: a very solid and steady race with no issues. I ran out ahead and hovered around Gisi who stayed clipping along right alongside me, I also managed the waters and the gels (we each took three at 10K, 15K, and 18K) so we could keep our pace up, which worked well. The 31,000 runners were in good spirits, as always, lots of cheering going on pretty much the whole way, a very fun race today. One runner from Kenya, Jacob Kendagor, was able to get under 1-hour with a 00:59:36, missing the Berlin Half Marathon record by 40 seconds and the world record by 73 seconds. Above all, congrats to Gisi for training for and mastering her first half marathon, very nice. 
 
sun, blue sky, and icy air: 
 
snow not melting: 
 
sun that warmed your face: 
 
 
 
31,000 runners: 
 
ready to run: 
 
 
 
 
 
everyone was dressed differently, from hats and scarves to no shirts: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
victory pack with surprise: 
 
 
 
At 2:00 PM Berlin time, I threw the baton to Pete who exactly at that moment 7:00 AM Texas time, jumped in the water to start his Half Triathlon in Galveston. It turned out that after doing a 00:48:25 swim and a 2:51:04 bike, he ran a half marathon within four seconds of our pace: 2:24:53, awesome! It was a grand day for Tanguay family sports!