Sun, Feb 25, 2018 - 5K - 01:15:00
5.6 Kilometer SCB Teufelsberg Run with Hannah
Hannah and I have a tradition now to run a 5K or 10K race every couple months, and after we ran the muddy, wet, and cold SCB Grunewald race in November, we signed up for the SCB Teufelsberg Race at the end of February hoping for better weather. And although today was sunny, dry, with blue sky and no clouds, it was absolutely freezing the whole day, -7°C at the start of the race and around -3°C at noon.  
 
At 1K I could barely feel my hands and had to keep blowing hot breath on them in order that they were capable of operating the camera on my smart phone. At 1.5 kilometers, two safety pins came undone on my race bib and I performed the Herculean feat of securing the top one again with frozen fingers while running, but lost the other pin in the process.  
 
The two inclines that you have are quite steep: 50-meters altitude change in one kilometer, but for that you have a long down hill and then back up again for the finish. Hannah ran strong the whole race, never stopping to walk even on the hills and despite the last kilometer mega-hill, finished in her classic style: 50-meters before the finish line taking off like a deer that heard a rifle shot. 
 
Since she was the only person in her W20 age group, she won first place and so enjoyed being called up onto the stage, and got a big basket of goodies from allnatura including a 15-euro certificate.  
 
After the race, we enjoyed standing around next to the campfires-in-barrels and soaked in the unique atmosphere of the Teufelsberg finishing area with its larger-than-life graffiti wall murals and dilapidated buildings. We also explored the buildings a bit seeing some very large and colorful artwork as well as beautiful views over Berlin.  
 
Even by 11:30, it never got warmer than -3°C and there was no other choice but to walk all the way back to the car which was a 3K walk on a nice sunny day, but through bitingly cold air and with freezing hands. 
 
These SCB runs are small but well-organized. We'll definitely be lookings for more in the future.