Berlin Marathon
- Rob M
- Sep 25, 2025
- 6 min read
Round Table is always proud to share the amazing stories and achievements of our members. In this blog, one of our Tablers, Col Devitt from Mold & Buckley RT 399, takes us through his unforgettable experience running the Berlin Marathon in support of Anthony Nolan, from the training and fundraising right through to crossing the finish line.
Col writes: "Sometime before Christmas last year, Anthony Nolan got in contact with me. I had previously failed to secure a London Marathon spot with them, but they wanted to know if I fancied joining their Berlin Marathon team instead? I didn’t need asking twice! The next 10 months or so whizzed past in a blur of training and fundraising. Raffles, auctions, pin badges, Burns Suppers and BBQs all added to the charity pot. The final figure of £5,700 made me the top fundraiser on the team, with the honour of wearing a special Anthony Nolan vest!
Friday 19th September
The Day started at 3 am for the trip to Manchester Airport for my 6:05 am flight. I had chosen, in retrospect, a rather daft route to Berlin, flying to Brussels, then Hamburg, then the ICE Bahn from there to Berlin. After a quick fry up (essential for air safety I find), I headed to the gate and boarded my first flight. Delays meant we were almost an hour late taking off, but we managed to land in Brussels only 25 minutes behind schedule. However, with my two flights being as far apart in Brussels Airport as possible, and some very thorough Belgian Passport control, I missed my flight by a matter of seconds!
A quick rebooking and I had a flight to Berlin booked. Just in 6 hours time……….
Thankfully, the flight to Berlin was relatively uneventful, and I was soon on the S-Bahn to Messe Süd for the Marathon Expo.
Despite there being several thousand people there, the queues moved really quickly, and I soon had my race number and some goodies. I even treated myself to a couple of bits from the expo!
Back on the S Bahn, and it was straight to my apartment on Oranierburger Strasse. The Apartment was literally outside the S Bahn stop, so I went into my room and unpacked. The public transport in Berlin is absolutely fantastic, regular, clean, and best of all, free to those taking part in the marathon!
One of the great things about Round Table is that almost wherever you are in the world, there will be a friend you’ve yet to make! And tonight was no exception. Another quick trip on the S Bahn and I met Raffaela and Erin from Berlin Round Table in a Bier Garten for some beers and pizza, which was much needed after a long day! We swapped in badges and had a good chat about Round Table, Berlin and everything in between.
Saturday 20th September
Saturday morning, I was up bright and early and headed out for breakfast. After two of the worst cups of tea in my life, I set off on my quest for the morning to build a Berlin Marathon Lego figure! Along the way, the streets were packed with people either on runs of their own, or joining many of the shakeout runs organised by running clubs, sports brands or some of the sponsors. When the Marathon comes to Berlin, it really takes over!
My walk to Postdamer Platz and the Mall of Berlin took me past the Berliner Dome (Cathedral), the Brandenburg Gate and the incredible Holocaust Memorial. Arriving at Postdamer Platz, I was able to see the official 5km shake-out race going past, with just the 10,000 participants! Unfortunately, Lego were no longer doing the custom printed mini figures, but a lovely girl in the store did give me a small block holding a trophy as a good luck gift!
A quick bite to eat later, and I met Dylan, another Anthony Nolan runner, at Hauptbahnhof. We had arranged to go to the Olympiastadion to watch Hertha Berlin play. Again, despite how many people were travelling there, the S Bahn didn’t feel overcrowded and we were soon at the Stadium. The atmosphere inside was incredible. In a second division game, there were in excess of 55,000 fans in attendance, and the ultras on the West Curve didn’t let up all game. Surreally, the club anthem is to the tune of Rod Stewart’s Sailing, and hearing a packed stadium sing it was really quite something!
Hertha weren’t great and eventually ran out as 2-0 losers to the visiting FC Paderborn. Next up on Saturday’s itinerary was a meeting at the Bundestag with some more of our fellow Anthony Nolan runners for a photo together with the Antony Nolan Banners.
It was great to meet up with some of my fellow team AN runners and find out more about each other and why we were running for the cause! We then took a short walk around to the Finishers village, to find our names on the wall of fame, and have a quick drink in the beating late afternoon sun. A carb-packed dinner followed, by an early night to get plenty of rest for
Sunday 21st September
Despite pre-race nerves, I had managed a decent night's sleep and woke up feeling good! I scoffed my usual pre-race meal of porridge, followed by some protein bars, apple juice and plenty of water, because today was going to be a hot one! I put my kit on, reread some lovely messages from my girls back home and then made the short S Bahn ride to Brandenburger Tor, and entered the Event village. With 56,000 race entrants, this could have been chaos, but was once again well managed with us soon separating into various areas depending on our start times. As a first time marathon runner I was in group K, the last to start, and so waited nervously nibbling on my Kendal Mint Cake until 10.40 am, when it was time for our wave to go. DJs kept everyone pumped up before the start with Viking thunderclaps, dancing and of course a warm up, not that it was needed much in what was now approaching 25 degree heat!
With the sound of an airhorn, our wave started through Tiergarten, towards the Siegessäule or Victory Column, where we split to go each way around the roundabout. The race then took us through the North of the city and eventually past Alexanderplatz and the shadow of the Fernsehturm. The lack of cloud cover and the sun reflecting off the buildings was already making the going very tough, and the first water stop was hit with reckless abandon!
The course continued out through Kreuzberg and Schoneberg, with the sun not letting up. Each water station was a huge relief, and a chance to cool down with a cup of water poured down the back, or a shower under a fireman’s hose! The kilometres went by, and as I passed 33k,m we turned onto Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s main shopping street. I now knew there was less than 10km to go, and each passing KM point brought me closer to the finish. All along the streets had been busy with locals shouting encouragement and waving banners, but now the streets were packed. With temperatures now in the high 20s, the organisers had sensibly put in extra water stops, which we’re more than welcome. Postdamer Platz was passed at 38km. Less than a parkrun to go!
The course now took a few turns, and we navigated around to Unter Den Linden and the finishing straight. The Brandenburg Gate is often seen as the finish line, but don’t be fooled! There was still another 800m to go. I somehow managed the fastest km of my entire race as I hit the blue carpet and finally passed over the finish line at 5 hours, 56 minutes and 3 seconds. Not as fast as I would have liked, but given the conditions, and the 7,000 that didn’t finish, still something to be proud of!
Exhausted, I collected my medal, goody bag and a couple of Erdinger’s and limped my way back to the apartment. A quick shower, an awful tram ride ,and I met Dylan and Dave, my fellow AN runners, for something to eat and some more than well-earned beers!
Unfortunately, the toll of the day and one of the best steaks I’ve ever had meant there was no room or appetite for further beers, so we all made our way back to our rooms for the night.
A really wonderful weekend, going running and Round Table, two of my favourite things! A real honour to have taken part in a Marathon Major, representing a charity which means an awful lot to a lot of people in Round Table. The legs are still not fully recovered, and some of my running kit probably needs disposing of in an industrial incinerator, but would I recommend it? Absolutely!"
YiT
Col Devitt
Mold & Buckley RT 399
A huge thank you to Col for sharing this brilliant account of his marathon journey. Congratulations on raising an incredible £5,700 for Anthony Nolan and for completing one of the world’s most iconic races, a true example of Tabling spirit in action!
Find out more about Round Table and Anthony Nolans close history here:
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