BMW Berlin Marathon★

Going into this marathon, I’ve never felt more prepared. I trained for 12 weeks, peaked at 70 miles per week, and focused heavily on hitting my weekly volume goals while balancing what my body was telling me. I trusted my gut, had a smooth taper, and arrived in Berlin feeling very proud of the work I put in.

Race morning was looking mostly good, though I was a little worried the temperature might heat up later on. I arrived at the start area around 7:45am and made my way to the corral about an hour before our scheduled 8:45am start. The corrals were surprisingly full already, but everything moved seamlessly. After a quick restroom stop, the countdown kicked off right on time with pyro effects, and just like that, I was underway for my 9th marathon and my 3rd World Marathon Major. My primary goal was to shoot for a 3:05:00 finish.

There was a bit of a bottleneck before crossing the timing mats, but once I crossed the start line, I was flying right away toward the Victory Column. My first kilometer was a bit too fast, which freaked me out a bit, but what reassured me was that my breathing was totally normal and relaxed. Settling into a slower pace, I locked onto the three blue lines painted on the road and did everything I could to follow that shortest path.

Through 5K and 10K, my pacing was right where I wanted it to be. The spectator support was loud from the start, lining the streets with plenty of bands and DJs along the route. The water and aid stations were a bit chaotic, most had tables on only one side of the street, making them tricky to navigate. But I managed to grab water and douse myself to stay cool as the sun started beating down.

I crossed the half marathon mark at 1:32:04, right on pace. A few moments later, my watch notified me with a prediction from the Berlin Marathon app projecting a 3:07 finish, which freaked me out. (I later realized it was just calculating that based on the short split between 20K and the half, rather than my actual average pace over the course of the whole race so far.) Right around then, the sub-3:00 pace group from the corral behind me caught up to me. Knowing they had a great cushion, I stuck with them for a few kilometers, letting the energy of that big pack pull me through some of the middle kilometers.

At 30K and 35K, I was still holding the pace, but the effort was getting tougher as the heat crept up. By the time I reached the final 5K, it shifted into a pure mental game. I found myself talking out loud to keep my head in the game: “Matt, how bad do you want this? If you want it, you’ve got to hold on.” I counted down the time left and repeated my favorite mantra, “don't think, just run.” Even as my form started to feel like it was coming apart in the closing miles, I refused to let go.

Turning onto Unter den Linden with 1K to go, I spotted Andrew cheering in the crowd, which was the ultimate boost. Running through the Brandenburg Gate was an absolute dream, and I pushed straight down the final stretch to the finish line, completely overwhelmed with emotion.

I crossed the finish line in 3:03:21. Not only was it a new marathon PR, it’ll likely be good for a Boston Marathon qualifier in 2028. Collecting my medal and celebrating with Andrew afterward was the absolute cherry on top of an unforgettable race.