The first run was intended to be on Friday morning, going from Dana's home village in Germany over the Dutch border into Holland. I wanted to cross an international border on a run but as it was a) stinking hot, b) around 20k there and back and c) my holiday, I ended up staying home and reading instead.
However, I had a backup plan. We took the train to Berlin on Sunday, and Monday morning Dana and I walked from our hotel to the Tiergarten, a whacking great park in the middle of the capital. I'd earmarked this as another run, and after missing my earlier run, this was going to count. (Also, by running on the first morning of our stay in Berlin I could drink as much as I wanted for the rest of our stay without feeling guilty!)
I started on the western side of the park, and had a rough idea to head east as I planned to finish in front of the Brandenburg Gate, but had no set route in mind. I mostly stuck to the paths, but occasionally running through the flat green garden areas - it was a nice proper parkrun, without worrying about barcodes, times or other runners! I made up my route on the fly, darting hither and yon whenever I saw something that took my interest (such as the Beethoven monument). I kept to a fairly even pace, slower than my usual 5k runs as I had a busy few days ahead of me, only speeding up to look good in front of tourists.
Round past the Holocaust Memorial, which was a sobering sight during my run, and I realised that I was coming in a kilometre short - I wouldn't finish in front of the Gate. Across the six lanes of traffic, pausing in the middle for a selfie in front of the Monument - it was a convenient break, as there were cars coming - and through for my first run in the northern half of the park. I took a left, past an adorable red squirrel, and across the face of the Red Army War Memorial (commemorating Soviet soldiers who lost their lives in World War II - unfortunately this ended up in Allied areas of Berlin during the Cold War, so couldn't be accessed by Russians!). I briefly raced a rider on a Ducati who sportingly waited until his traffic light turned green before blasting past me, and finished in front of the Reichstag building. I wanted to run up the lovely stepped entrance, Rocky style, but the steps were barriered off and German police have guns, so decided not to!
My final tally was 5.1km in 36 minutes and 59 seconds - not a bad time for a relaxed run. I was also pleased that my watch had stopped messing about and timed me properly!
As a postscript, I'm planning on running at my usual parkrun tomorrow morning, as it'll be the first step on my training plan towards Brighton 2018 - yes, I'm running the Brighton marathon next year!
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