It started out from a discussion some months back about doing a boys trip away to a marathon in some exotic European city. We finally plumped for Berlin and Big I, Iso, db, MJ, DS, Cake & Jim H, duly signed up to enter. We were a bit taken aback to find that Linda K had also entered! How did she get on a boys trip? I would love to give you all a full report of our long weekend in Berlin, but I'm sure you all know the expression "what goes on tour, stays on tour", so I can't!!!! Well okay, I'll give you a flavour of what was the first of what will hopefully be an annual Up & Runners away trip. Friday 26th September was D day for most of us. We met early in the morning and drove to Dublin for our flight to Berlin. We got to our hotel, the curiously named Hotel Berlin, Berlin, by late afternoon and after checking in we headed straight to the Expo which was located some distance away. Number & bag collection proved pretty straightforward although those arriving on the Saturday morning didn't have it quite so easy. Personally I found the Expo a bit overwhelming, it was so big. There was a medical centre at the Expo where you could get one of the official marathon doctors to look over you and give you a health check. MJ had been very sick with food poisoning the previous weekend and still didn't feel right so he decided to get checked over. After doing some tests the doctor asked Michael to show him his race number. He then told him he was holding on to it and that Michael would not be allowed to run. I know that MJ was gutted about this. A real bummer having trained and gone to the effort & expense of getting to Berlin. But I think in the cold light of day it was for the best as in the long run your health comes first. It was then time to eat. Boy did that become an experience! We came across what was no more really than a cafe doing pasta & pizza. Some of the party discovered that pepperoni does not mean the same in German as it does here. The pizzas were covered in about 50 hot green chilli peppers! Another pizza was covered in more vegetables than you could grow in a large garden! Jim, being the sensible one, had a nice dish of pork & pasta in a mushroom sauce. Next day MJ, db & myself, in company with our non running companion, Paul, took a walk over to the start/finish area close to the Brandenburg Gate. It was pretty busy as there were kids inline skating races going on. At that point the nature of the whole event we were going to be involved in came into focus. I didn't see the main marathon inline race, but I understand it was really worth watching. I returned to the hotel to rest and get my gear sorted out for the big day. The hotel was well set up for the marathon so all 9 us partook of the pasta buffet they had laid on. We retired to bed early so as to be up at the crack of dawn and get well fuelled up with the buffet breakfast in the hotel. At 7am seven rather nervous Up & Runners headed off on the 15/20 minute walk to the starting area. With 40,000 people running it is amazing how well this is all organised. Clothes were changed, bags dropped off, last minute fuelling carried out and most importantly, nearby bushes were watered, and we were ready to go our separate ways to our start pens. The race goes off in 4 or 5 waves 2 minutes apart so easing some of the congestion at the start. At a couple of minutes before 9, Haile Gebrselassie was introduced to a huge round of applause and then the elite runners were off. A few minutes later db & myself wished each other good luck and we were off. Most of the first few miles were spent dodging around people as we tried to maintain an 8 minute 30 second pace. We stayed together to about 14K were I lost db at a water station. Truth is he was running stronger than me at this point and I was going to have to slow down a bit. I still felt pretty strong though and was still fairly confident I would PB and maybe hit my target of 3.45. A mile or so further on and this all was out of the question as the wheels came off. From about 16K I thought I wasn't going to get round and the truth of the matter is that it's all pretty much a blur from there. I did get a bit of a lift seeing MJ & Paul at 21K & again at 36K but nothing else registered, even the scantily clad samba girls I saw photos of later! How did I miss them? When I did Dublin last year I got a real kick from the gels I was using. This didn't happen in Berlin. Perhaps I was 2 or 3 weeks short on the training, or maybe I was just too quick at the start. I do have some memories of the finishing straight. I wish I was stronger and able to finish with a spurt and really get a feel for the atmosphere, but alas, it wasn't to be. The finish takes you through the Brandenburg Gate and on for a couple of hundred metres where you run through stands at each side of the road. After crossing the line my legs gave up. I had to hold on to the guy beside me or I would have been on the ground. I know I had given it all I could! 4 hours 1 minute 7 seconds. Not what I was aiming for, but I'll take it. And no one can take away my medal, and what a cool one it is too!!!! There'll be other chances for PB's! To hear later that you have just taken part in a race where the world record has been set gives you something to talk about to the grandchildren! I can't relate other peoples race memories, but I feel huge sympathy for MJ who wasn't able to run and for db who had his race badly disrupted with injury. You guys will have other opportunities as well. And the rest? PB's from them all!!!! Absolutely brilliant stuff. Unfair really to pick out anyone, but Ivan at 3.12 and Linda knocking such a chunk off her PB, hard to beat. Well done everyone. After the race we headed to the hotel for a celebratory beer and then out for food and more beer. A great time was had on this and the following day & night. All contributed to make this first Up & Runners away trip a fantastic experience. I leave you with the picture taken at about 2 am on Tuesday morning. db spent most of his time in Germany on a high as he thought they had covered the city with all these DB signs to welcome him! Heck, they even had a huge glass building with DB on the top. We didn't want to tell him that DB it the sign for Deutsche Bahn, the German railway!!!!! The less said about this, the better!