Tiergarten 5k

So last week on Wednesday I was thinking about how I wanted to go for a run after class. Normally when I do any type of cardio I’m usually jump-roping or swimming, but that Wednesday for some unknown reason I was feeling a run. I had a decent day of classes: Multicultural Berlin from 10:15-11:45 and then German Literature from 12:15-3:45 and about halfway through my literature class I was ready to unwind. We took a half hour break and I was coming back from the bathroom when I overheard Katrin (head of classes and student services) talking with another student about running a 5k that day.

I was intrigued (and luckily for me it seemed like the other student didn’t want to) so I hung around trying to gather a little more information. I had heard correctly (even after all this time in Germany it is never a bad thing to double check) and the IES Abroad Team (my study abroad program)  needed an extra runner because one of the runners was sick that day.

Talk about the perfect situation to overhear. I told Katrin that I would like to participate (seeing as I was going to go for a run anyway) and that I only needed to go back to my apartment and get my running shoes. She, of course, was ecstatic to have someone fill the spot and gave me all the details including where to meet (right outside the Bundeskanzleramt building), what leg of the race I was running (5th which was anchor- or last for those of you non-sport types), and that we would be having a little picnic afterwards. She also gave me a map of the race and told me she would see me about 7 PM (about 5 hours from then).
Awesome! I was in a 5k in 5 hours! This was especially exciting for me because I knew I would actually go for a run (instead of taking the lazy way out) and I knew it would make me run fast – nothing like a race to get ya going, right?

Map of the 5k that went throughout Tiergarten, sorry for the funny color! (see my other Post Großer Tiergarten for more info about the park)

 

So I found the group shortly after the start of the race (6:30). Since I was the 5th leg I didn’t need to be there right at the beginning. Our first runner was Katrin’s husband who went a fast 19 minutes. The other people on the team included a professor of mine (whose class I had earlier that day),  Nadin (a faculty member of the IES Abroad architecture school), and Barbara (another faculty member of my IES Abroad program)

A picture of the Runners post-race

It was a good race and as my first 5k I was excited with the final time: 22.26. I was able to run with my watch and take my splits for each kilometer and realized I didn’t go fast enough on the 4th km (split a 4:53) because I went a lot faster in the 5th km (3:53). It was a great experience and I’m glad that I overheard Katrin’s request for a runner.

The after-race picnic! Lots of bread and cheese, yum!