For the third year running, Team BMW Group Asia participated in the BMW Berlin Marathon, an Abbott World Marathon Major
As if the BMW Berlin Marathon was not electrifying enough the past two years that I went, this year’s 50th anniversary was of much greater fanfare. There were much more runners, there was a new official 5km run on Saturday complete with a medal, and an expanded range of merchandise including a 50 th anniversary bear and coin.
For the third year running, I led Team BMW Group Asia up to Berlin. The team consisted of 12 runners from Singapore besides myself – Melissa Foo, Kenneth Seet, Dawn Sim, Kenneth Lee, Clarissa Seow, Lucas Lim, Shin Won Tae, Ivan Chan, Wendy Yeo, Goh Booh Hwa, Martin Tan, Charles Teng – 10 of whom are new faces.
Of fitness and lifestyle influencers, as well as running community leaders, the team is more diverse this time with a school vice-principal, a firefighter, a stunt performer in the mix. The age range of the group stretched from the 20s to the 50s, giving the group a good balance.
Assembled in March, the team had its first monthly training run in April. Over the next few months, the distance for our monthly training runs got longer until we hit 30km for our final one in August. I recall the huge thunderstorm in the wee hours of the morning that threatened to thwart our last training together. Thankfully the rain slowed to a drizzle and we got it done.
I was full of excitement for this team – some were doing their first ever marathon, many were doing their first World Marathon Major and a few were going to Europe of the first time. Unfortunately, I tore my ankle ligament a month before the race and all my original race plans went out the window.
I believe that everything happens for a reason, so with my personal goals shelved for the time being, I shifted more focus to the team.
Berlin calling
There’s something about Berlin that I really like – the quaint cafes on the cobbled streets, the convenience of navigating their train lines, the beautiful architecture all around. When we arrived into the cool, chilled European temperature, I instantly felt relaxed.
Knowing that I will not be running for a personal best, there was less pressure on me and I could enjoy Berlin properly. I was even one of the first at the race expo to snatch up the limited edition 50 th anniversary merchandise, when I did not even buy any merchandise the past two years.
Everyone got in by Thursday night and we met up early on Friday morning to do some filming. It felt so surreal seeing everyone in Berlin, thousands of miles away from home. Where did the past six months go?
A quick and short shake-out run on Saturday morning and then the next thing we knew it, we were on the start line of the 50th BMW Berlin Marathon.
Race day
I was giving out hugs to everyone before the race, wishing them the best of luck for a personal best and a safe race. I knew how hard everyone has trained and the time has finally come for them to take on this major race.
For myself, my intention was to just complete the race before the cut-off time of 6 hours 15 minutes. Two weeks before Berlin, I brisk walked the Sydney Marathon and finished it just under seven hours.
That was mentally very challenging and possibly the hardest finisher medal I’ve ever earned. My ankle was slightly better by the time Berlin came around and I promised Preeti, the official BMW Group Asia in-charge for this project, that I would stick to her as long as I could. She was doing her first ever marathon and I thought having some company would help.
We started running from the start and it was all going fine until the 30km mark when we needed to walk. From there we adopted a strategy of running for 8 to 10 minutes, then walking for two minutes. The crowd was just as exhilarating as I remembered them to be, cheering us every step of the way.
This is what makes the Majors special. That helped us all the way to the finish line and the sight of the Brandenburg Gate got me feeling emotional.
Regardless of time, anyone who finishes the marathon deserves to be called a marathoner. All 13 of us runners, as well as Preeti, completed the 50th BMW Berlin Marathon without any issue and that’s the most important!
One beach clean-up and one reunion later, I find myself feeling sad that this chapter is over! I definitely recommend going to run the Berlin Marathon at least once in your lifetime, even if you are not chasing the six World Marathon Majors. Call me biased, but it really is a magical race and will give you the confidence that you can do anything in life. #BMWBerlinMarathon #BerlinLegend #TeamBMWGroupAsia