Mission: 2:45 am Hamburg Marathon

Hello everyone,

last weekend the marathon took place in Hamburg. My buddy Moritz from Bamberg was also there. After six months of meticulous preparation, he is usually a triathlete, he resolved to crack the 2:45 hours. An ambitious but also realistic goal for him. So you see, we don't always only think of "triathlon", namely sometimes of "running" 😉

In the following he describes how he felt before and during the marathon:

It's 5:15 a.m. on Saturday. Today we are finally going to Hamburg. 16 weeks of training are now behind me. I don't have to tell anyone that this winter was long, icy and blessed with a lot of snow.
To get the car I do the penultimate unit and walk 2 km to the parking lot. Shortly afterwards we can start. Tom and Lukas, my companions, are already in a good mood in the car and so the first hours on the motorway fly by.

The starting documents were available this year in the port of Hamburg - in shed 52. A customs officer kindly helped us with the search. On her benevolent: "Moin, Moin" - I countered with a Bavarian: "Grüß Gott". Apparently, my greeting encouraged the customs officer to send us straight to Shed 52 without any further exchange of words - the women of the north are probably not the most talkative. (to all women of the north: he doesn't generally mean it!)

Since I'm not a fan of long hikes at athletes' fairs, we stayed in Schuppen 52 for about 10 minutes and then made our way to Bremen. In Bremen we stayed with a friend from Nuremberg times. While Tom was still doing his 2.30 a.m. run on the Weser, we chilled the afternoon at a lake fed by the Weser. In the evening we turned on the grill and started eating the chicken, somehow stopping at Nutella and hardly eating any chicken.

After another Nutella roll we went to Hamburg. Of course we got lost on the approach to the center of Hamburg and suspected the people of Hamburg that they must have moved the Elbe tunnel 20 km further north during the night. Yes - now I was excited!

At 8:45 am I entered my start box B. Ok, that was really way ahead. In front of me there were a maximum of 400 people out of 18,500. Whether my stated target time of 2:50 was not a little optimistic. Aren't there much faster people here? No matter what courage dat courage! (Hey Moritz, didn't you tell me that you stated 2:45! Editor's note) After speeches by the tiger Darius Michaelshwesky - or something like that - (I doubt it will be written that way if you mean the boxer 😉 and other personalities from Hamburg, followed by the German national anthem. The whole thing is a little dramatic - but if it has to be.

At 9 a.m., the longed-for starting shot finally came. Anyone who thought that there was a marathon here and that the famous "500 meter sprinters" didn't exist, I have to warn you at this point - they exist and they lurk everywhere. I estimated that after 2 minutes I was passed back to about 600 place because I ran the first kilometer in 4:07 and didn't try to get a lead on my competitors.

Then of course it was time to overtake first. After about 3 km I met an Englishman. We agreed on our target time of 2 hours 45 minutes and decided as long as possible; to accompany the other.

At km 5 we were at 19 minutes and 15 seconds. Actually, this was too fast for both of us - but everyone knows what I'm talking about - if it rolls once - then let it roll. We were able to catch up with a group of 20 men / women relatively quickly. There were also some top women in here. So after a comparatively quiet 10 km we went down to the Fischmark for the first time. Down to a mass of people - solar mountain at 1.5 km. A line of spectators, you hear bells, rattles, the clapping of people - it's like a RAUSCH !! At the 10 km mark we went through with 38.00 minutes and again I was too fast.

Meanwhile I missed Tom and Lukas. At km 13 to 15 km I heard the familiar voices for the first time. But something seemed to be wrong because I heard Tom cursing loudly. This should be cleared up later in the day.

Shortly after km 15 and 57 minutes and 30 seconds on the clock we ran through a tunnel. (was that the famous Elbe tunnel?) We were still around 15 men / women strong and I was now in the front row. Some jokes were of the opinion that the acoustics of the tunnel could be used to sing. Unfortunately, I couldn't get involved in these barriers. The echo of the footsteps on the walls of the tunnel was fascinating. Trap, trap, trap - like a rhythm, a heartbeat - simply captivating.

Unfortunately, my legs started to make themselves felt. While the Englishman was still gliding lightly along, I felt that I was slowly losing my looseness. At the next refreshment station I took the opportunity to refresh myself and eat a piece of banana. I could no longer close these meters that I lost. It was slowly starting to get lonely around me. I had given up Tom and Lukas - I felt that something had gone wrong - other runners preferred to stay in my slipstream. Finally, I asked them to join the pace work. At km 21 we are through in 1 hour 20 minutes and 40 seconds. While I covered the initial kilometers with a bouncy, my step became hard and my foot stepped relentlessly on the asphalt.

A Kenyan woman appeared in front of me. I ran up on her to encourage her to stick with me. She did not miss this chance for 3 km. Somehow that made me proud. Me and a Kenyan girl in the slipstream - good feeling. But unfortunately it flew past me at km 25 and I couldn't follow it. At some point in this area my brother suddenly appeared. He told me that the bike broke and he offered iso (Cola, I don't remember) and bananas. That amused me a little.

My plan was that up to 25 km it should feel like a tough training run and then things really get down to business. Unfortunately, at 27 km, I had been hard at it for far too long. It is interesting how flashes of thought shoot through your head at such moments - come take the subway home or just stop, it already hurts - but you outsmart these thoughts, run through the next nest of moods and endure the pain that pull through the thighs. Somehow I managed to keep my pace up to 30 km. I was still on the move for less than 2 hours 45 minutes. Every now and then someone comes past me, or I overtake another.

Usually at km 32 they say “The man with the hammer.” I know him now, but have renamed him: “The man who blows the wind in your face.” I knew from the start that it would be windy . But walking against the wind on a four-lane road, alone on a wide corridor, was mentally just as hard as a hammer. Unfortunately, I had to experience the realization that Hamburg is not flat at the same time. Nevertheless I somehow managed to run to km 35 between 4 min 7 seconds and 4 minutes and 30 seconds. While there is not much left of these kilometers in memory, the last 7 km were just awesome.

The bear was tapping in Hamburg Altona Bhf. I kept hearing my name, words of encouragement, deafening screams and I saw Tom for the first time in 15 km.

Now the Red Bull shock and Coke afterwards. All in a trellis of an incredible number of people. While it was only pain up to that point, cramps were now on the horizon. So I decided to reduce the pace further - inevitably 😉

It was one of the best decisions in the entire marathon. Now it was just a party. I, still alone on eternally wide streets and people fixated on me and my misery - there was no one else there. I tried not to make any abrupt movements or to change my step in any way. No knee lift but the marathon creep step. This gave me the opportunity to take off my hat and thank the people for their great support. I applauded back and joked with you as soon as I could.

This experience cannot be described - this is sport - that's why you torment your way through the winter - tear your ass up - do not drink alcohol - usually go first to some parties - and the cuckoo still knows. (Moritz, of course you forgot to study, right) These 7 km answer the question about WHY? This is your stage - you are the rock star - the people show you your well-deserved respect. You smile - they smile. It is a give and take. I live for these moments. Of course, sport is not the only way to gain this experience. But sport is a special opportunity that everyone can do in order to gain this experience.

At the finish line I finally get the cramp that encourages the moderator in the finish area to shout through his microphone: "And Moritz also manages to pull his right leg over the finish line."

By the way, the time was 2h 49min and a few squashed. I ended up in 105th place - that's for statistics fans. Read the lines in front of it and you will know what is important to me. I had the opportunity to totally exhaust myself and to totally feel myself with an incredibly great audience. I have the necessary talent and the will to train and the discipline to call up this time performance. But in the end I am only grateful for this experience.

Hamburg - my pearl;)
Moritz Hartmann - TriRockets Bamberg