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Speaker 2: Thank you, New York. Today, we're reminded of the power
Speaker 2: of community and the power of coming together. Athletes, on
Speaker 2: your mark.
Speaker 3: The first woman to finish for the second straight year
Speaker 3: here in the New York City Marathon is Miki Gorman, a smiling
Speaker 3: Miki Gorman. And why not? 2:29: 30, the time for Grete Waitz.
Speaker 4: Look at the emotion of Shalane Flanagan as she comes to
Speaker 4: the line. Pointing to his chest, pointing to the USA
Speaker 4: he so proudly wears across his chest, a great day for Meb Keflezighi.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hello everybody and welcome to Set the Pace, presented by
Rob Simmelkjaer: Peloton. We are the official podcast of New York Road
Rob Simmelkjaer: Runners. Great to have you with us this week. I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer: your host and New York Road Runners CEO, Rob Simmelkjaer.
Rob Simmelkjaer: With me, my co- host as always, Becs Gentry. And Becs-
Becs Gentry: Hello.
Rob Simmelkjaer: How is it going? How's the training going for this
Rob Simmelkjaer: worldwide marathon bonanza you're getting ready for, these seven marathons
Rob Simmelkjaer: in seven days on seven planets, whatever it is? How's
Rob Simmelkjaer: it going?
Becs Gentry: Well, I mean, I feel like your training right now
Becs Gentry: is edging you towards understanding what I'm doing again. You
Becs Gentry: had a hiatus and you're back into the realms of
Becs Gentry: understanding this marathon training, but thank you for asking. It's
Becs Gentry: going well. I'm on a very appreciated drop- down week
Becs Gentry: in the intensity of my training, which came as a
Becs Gentry: surprise on Sunday night. My coach was like, " Oh, we
Becs Gentry: should be doing a drop- down week." I was like, "Ah,
Becs Gentry: this is fantastic. I'll take it." So I actually snoozed
Becs Gentry: my alarm this morning and was like, " I'm going to
Becs Gentry: push my workout back because I can." And it was
Becs Gentry: really nice and I will say having a full rest
Becs Gentry: day yesterday, my legs felt fabulous today for my run.
Becs Gentry: I really felt strong. And I know our runners who
Becs Gentry: are a few weeks out of Berlin, like yourself, or
Becs Gentry: nine weeks out from New York probably really in the
Becs Gentry: thick of it for both of those races. You're at
Becs Gentry: the end of it almost for Berlin and you're really
Becs Gentry: champing at the bit of greatness for New York. But
Becs Gentry: take those rest days because as much as you feel
Becs Gentry: like you might be missing out from your training, it's
Becs Gentry: going to do your body and your mind a lot
Becs Gentry: of good. So take it from one here who just
Becs Gentry: had one and really appreciated it.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Becs, for people training for fall marathons, that drop- down
Rob Simmelkjaer: week may be a new concept to many people. And I
Rob Simmelkjaer: give Runna, the app that we're partnered with in New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York Road Runners, credit because it also programmed in a drop-
Rob Simmelkjaer: down week for me last week. I didn't know what
Rob Simmelkjaer: was going on. I was like, " Okay. It doesn't seem
Rob Simmelkjaer: to want me to run very much this week." I
Rob Simmelkjaer: didn't entirely follow it. I ran a few more miles
Rob Simmelkjaer: on Saturday than it asked me to, but only a
Rob Simmelkjaer: few more because I wanted to run the New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runner's 12- mile training run-
Becs Gentry: There we go.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... in Central Park on Saturday, which was a great time, by the
Rob Simmelkjaer: way. I ran it with our coach, Roberto Mandje. The
Rob Simmelkjaer: two of us ran together the whole way, had such
Rob Simmelkjaer: a great time. Roberto is such a great-
Becs Gentry: You looked very happy.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... pacer and a great partner out there. We had
Rob Simmelkjaer: a lot of fun, but that was the end of
Rob Simmelkjaer: my, quote, unquote, " drop- down week." Becs, what is that drop-
Rob Simmelkjaer: down week? Why should people do that?
Becs Gentry: Good question. It is essentially a period of time that
Becs Gentry: your body gets its rewards, is a really nice way
Becs Gentry: of putting it. All this hard work, all of the
Becs Gentry: energy that you're putting into your training, it needs... Your
Becs Gentry: body is it that I'm talking about. It needs some time to absorb all of
Becs Gentry: that, in order to make the changes, the adaptations of
Becs Gentry: greatness that you're striving for. You can keep going. Of
Becs Gentry: course, there are definitely people, but most of them are
Becs Gentry: very highly trained, very experienced runners, who just keep going
Becs Gentry: and they might be on a training program that would
Becs Gentry: get them to peak at a race. That's something you
Becs Gentry: might hear, a terminology in the running world. But for
Becs Gentry: most of us, especially those of us who have other roles in life,
Becs Gentry: having a drop- down week is just your intensity decreases.
Becs Gentry: Your duration of your runs will probably decrease. And it
Becs Gentry: gives your body that ability to take a big sigh
Becs Gentry: of relief and say, " Ah, okay, this isn't all tough.
Becs Gentry: This is going to be fine." And the goal of
Becs Gentry: it is that you come out of your drop- down
Becs Gentry: week stronger, re- energized, and ready to continue training on
Becs Gentry: that uphill cycle towards your race day. So really enjoy
Becs Gentry: it. Get that PT in. Get that rest in, and
Becs Gentry: reset your mind because gosh, the first time I did
Becs Gentry: a drop- down week, it really helped my mental health
Becs Gentry: I think more than anything because I came into it
Becs Gentry: quite fazed by the addition to my daily schedule of
Becs Gentry: this marathon training. And I came out of my drop- down
Becs Gentry: week ready to go back to it because I saw
Becs Gentry: the changes of, oh wow, I feel fantastic. I really
Becs Gentry: want to run again. I really want to run long
Becs Gentry: again and I can run faster. So that was the reward.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I love it. I love it. Well, for everybody out
Rob Simmelkjaer: there knee- deep in training for fall marathons or whatever
Rob Simmelkjaer: it is you may be training for, that's a good
Rob Simmelkjaer: tip. So an app like Runna or something like that
Rob Simmelkjaer: is a great way to make sure you get in
Rob Simmelkjaer: the rest that you need as you get ready because
Rob Simmelkjaer: we want to see you at the starting line. We
Rob Simmelkjaer: don't want you injured. We want you there. So everybody,
Rob Simmelkjaer: keep it up. Hopefully, you're out there listening to us
Rob Simmelkjaer: on your long run this weekend. We got a lot
Rob Simmelkjaer: of them happening right now around the New York City
Rob Simmelkjaer: area and beyond, so I'm out there with you. I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer: doing 18 plus this weekend, so I'll probably be running
Rob Simmelkjaer: with you as you listen to this podcast. Yes. Why
Rob Simmelkjaer: am I running? Because I'm running Berlin as I announced
Rob Simmelkjaer: last week. And thanks for everybody out there, the words
Rob Simmelkjaer: of support. Thanks for the donations as well. As I
Rob Simmelkjaer: mentioned, I'm running in support of Team for Kids, our
Rob Simmelkjaer: youth and community program fundraising vehicle here at New York
Rob Simmelkjaer: Road Runners. You can find my page on my Instagram, rtsimmel.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I would love to have your support as we try
Rob Simmelkjaer: to continue to grow our programs to get kids and
Rob Simmelkjaer: adults running in New York City and beyond. It's my
Rob Simmelkjaer: first marathon in over 10 years, so I have a
Rob Simmelkjaer: lot of questions, and here today to help answer some
Rob Simmelkjaer: of those questions, the race director of the BMW Berlin
Rob Simmelkjaer: Marathon, my friend, Mark Milde. He'll be our guest in
Rob Simmelkjaer: just a couple of minutes and he's going to tell
Rob Simmelkjaer: us all about what it's like to race 26. 2
Rob Simmelkjaer: miles through the landmarks of one of Germany's most storied
Rob Simmelkjaer: cities. This is a race that has such a fascinating
Rob Simmelkjaer: history, just like the city in which it is held,
Rob Simmelkjaer: so I can't wait to talk to Mark. His father
Rob Simmelkjaer: founded this marathon back in the early '70s of course,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and Mark's going to take us through that incredible history
Rob Simmelkjaer: and the family history as well. And then after that,
Rob Simmelkjaer: of course Meb will be with us for today's Member Moment with
Rob Simmelkjaer: Paola Marte. Paola is a Team for Kids mentor, a
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York Road Runners volunteer, and a four- time TCS
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York City Marathon finisher. Paola is going to have
Rob Simmelkjaer: some great advice for those of you training for this
Rob Simmelkjaer: year's marathon. And then of course, we'll have our Meb
Rob Simmelkjaer: Minute. We're on week seven of the 16- week training cycle
Rob Simmelkjaer: for this year's race. Meb is going to help us
Rob Simmelkjaer: focus on what we should be prioritizing with nine weeks
Rob Simmelkjaer: to go, so stay tuned for that.
Becs Gentry: No matter your summer plans, Peloton is your partner in
Becs Gentry: reaching your running goals. With a variety of running and
Becs Gentry: walking content and features, you can do everything, from tracking
Becs Gentry: your walks outdoors with the Peloton App, to hitting your
Becs Gentry: pace targets during interval and progression runs on the Peloton
Becs Gentry: Tread. Whether you're running a favorite racecourse from home or
Becs Gentry: exploring new routes outside this summer, Peloton supports your running
Becs Gentry: journey every step of the way. All- access membership is
Becs Gentry: separate. Learn more about Peloton Tread at onepeloton. com/ running.
Becs Gentry: Find the Peloton App in the Apple, Android, and Google
Becs Gentry: app stores today.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Today's guest is Mark Milde, the race director of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: iconic BMW Berlin Marathon. With the marathon celebrating its 50th anniversary
Rob Simmelkjaer: this year, Mark has a lifetime of experience when it
Rob Simmelkjaer: comes to this race because his father founded it 50
Rob Simmelkjaer: years ago, and he's lived a lifetime as part of
Rob Simmelkjaer: this marathon. Of course, it's known as being flat and
Rob Simmelkjaer: fast, but there's so much more to the Berlin Marathon.
Rob Simmelkjaer: The history that it has seen, I think, unparalleled among
Rob Simmelkjaer: all the marathons in the Abbott World Marathon Major series,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and I am thrilled to have Mark. We sit on
Rob Simmelkjaer: the board of AWMM together, so I see him often,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and now I get to have him on my podcast
Rob Simmelkjaer: a few weeks before I attempt to run his marathon.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Mark, thanks so much for being here.
Mark Milde: Yeah. Thanks for having me and hello to everyone.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hello. Hello. I know we've got a lot of New
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yorkers and other listeners to our podcast who are getting
Rob Simmelkjaer: set and ready to run Berlin in the 50th anniversary. I
Rob Simmelkjaer: guess my first question for you is just how is it
Rob Simmelkjaer: going to be special this year? I mean, the 50th anniversary is obviously
Rob Simmelkjaer: a big, big deal. I know that you and your
Rob Simmelkjaer: colleagues, Jurgen Locke, and others are working hard to make
Rob Simmelkjaer: this a great event. Are there any special surprises or
Rob Simmelkjaer: things people can look forward to this year for the
Rob Simmelkjaer: 50th anniversary of the Berlin Marathon?
Mark Milde: Good question. Obviously, somehow these numbers, if there's an anniversary
Mark Milde: coming up, if it's 25, 50, or 100 even which happens at some
Mark Milde: races, it's somehow magical and draws the people and the
Mark Milde: attention towards all these races. And we are trying to
Mark Milde: play on this or to make this a very memorable
Mark Milde: race, and having had seen you guys, I mean, I think you
Mark Milde: are now in your 54th year or 53rd year, I'm
Mark Milde: not 100% sure, and our colleagues in Boston even had their
Mark Milde: 125th anniversary. So we're picking up things and ideas from
Mark Milde: everywhere, and we obviously cannot change the basic rules of
Mark Milde: the marathon. I mean, it's not going to be 50, 000
Mark Milde: meters now because it's 50 years. Although, this might be
Mark Milde: a tempting idea. No. Rest assured, it's going to be
Mark Milde: no more than 42,195 meters, which is obviously the normal
Mark Milde: duration of the marathon, and-
Rob Simmelkjaer: 26. 2 miles to us Americans, yes.
Mark Milde: Yes. Of course. Of course. So that's going to be unchanged, but along
Mark Milde: the course, we want to do some things which makes
Mark Milde: it more special. Again, you should not expect mountains or
Mark Milde: hills or anything that you have to climb, but-
Rob Simmelkjaer: Nobody wants that, Mark. Nobody's coming to Berlin for mountains or hills.
Rob Simmelkjaer: We're coming for flat.
Mark Milde: That is true. We are trying to put up the
Mark Milde: numbers of music along the route. We will have 90
Mark Milde: bands playing music, and we have some balconies, we hope,
Mark Milde: where people will be putting out the music that they
Mark Milde: are listening to which is on the radio. So we are hoping
Mark Milde: on the cooperation of the Berlin people and trying to make it
Mark Milde: attractive for them as well to follow this race and
Mark Milde: to be part of this anniversary. And we are trying to engage
Mark Milde: with the Berliners as well in the lead- up in
Mark Milde: the run to the race. So we are going to have a
Mark Milde: kind of exhibition area just at the Brandenburg Gate, which
Mark Milde: will open up on the 17th of September where we'll be
Mark Milde: showcasing the history of our race and a little bit
Mark Milde: also of the marathon foot race, where there's a possibility for
Mark Milde: the Berliners and for the visitors to engage and get
Mark Milde: into touch with us and with the marathon. It's called
Mark Milde: the MOVE and Home of the Marathon, where we're going
Mark Milde: to have this on display, where we will have some
Mark Milde: memorabilia or some nice pictures and photographs of the history
Mark Milde: of our race, which as you stated before, has been
Mark Milde: quite a journey from where we started and what happened
Mark Milde: in Berlin in the last five decades. This is also
Mark Milde: the theme of our opening ceremony, which is also something new
Mark Milde: and something special, which will be happening on the Friday
Mark Milde: before race day. We will have a big stage at
Mark Milde: the Brandenburg Gate where we will be celebrating these five
Mark Milde: decades of running excellence in Berlin.
Becs Gentry: Wow. Oh, my gosh, this absolutely sounds like a race
Becs Gentry: not to be missed. I am a little bit envious
Becs Gentry: of both you and Rob right now, Mark. Your father,
Becs Gentry: Horst Milde, founded the race in 1974. What has it been
Becs Gentry: like having this race as part of your life growing
Becs Gentry: up and all the way through until today?
Mark Milde: Yeah. No. Yes. Obviously, the marathon, until a certain time, you could say it was a family
Mark Milde: member because, I mean, my parents had three kids. I'm
Mark Milde: in the middle, the guy in the middle. As far
Mark Milde: as I can remember, obviously, I can't remember the first
Mark Milde: and the second running of the race, but I remember
Mark Milde: that at a certain time, that was a time obviously
Mark Milde: before computers. If you want to make a copy of a
Mark Milde: paper that was written on a typewriter, then you had
Mark Milde: to go next door to a store to get it
Mark Milde: copied or duplicated or I think they called it Rank
Mark Milde: Xerox back at that time. So I remember that we
Mark Milde: kids were being used or had to work in folding
Mark Milde: up these letters for press releases. Back then, it was
Mark Milde: not an email blast being sent out, but they were
Mark Milde: sent out as letters. These were kind of things where
Mark Milde: we were starting as little kids to help out my
Mark Milde: father and the team. I mean, obviously, he didn't do
Mark Milde: it by himself. There was a strong team of other
Mark Milde: runners. I mean, my father was a former runner. And
Mark Milde: a strong team of other runners putting up this race,
Mark Milde: and they did it on a voluntary basis. They were
Mark Milde: all members in that club, and back at that time, there
Mark Milde: was no wages and money involved, so it was more
Mark Milde: something you did out of your own ambition. You wanted
Mark Milde: to do something for the club or for yourself to improve running or to
Mark Milde: bring running. Obviously, at first, not into the city. It
Mark Milde: was more like our race was happening like in New York,
Mark Milde: it started in Central Park. We were in a state, wood,
Mark Milde: which was also in the western part of Berlin, so
Mark Milde: the road that we were running on was under the
Mark Milde: protection of trees, but next to a highway. So it's
Mark Milde: kind of something different than obviously how you would plan
Mark Milde: a race now 50 years later. And then it was
Mark Milde: thanks to Fred Lebow and the New York Road Runners
Mark Milde: who were able to move from Central Park to the
Mark Milde: five boroughs that at some stage, we took that example
Mark Milde: and said, " Okay. New York is doing this." I mean,
Mark Milde: New York is one of these small cities in the world
Mark Milde: where we can easily refer to and say, " Okay. If
Mark Milde: you can make it there, we can make it here
Mark Milde: as well." Now, that's obviously a little bit easy to say,
Mark Milde: but I mean, the history runs a little bit deeper.
Mark Milde: I mean, West Berlin was divided also in three parts.
Mark Milde: There was British, French, American, and English part. And at
Mark Milde: some stage in 1981, the French military operation said, " Okay.
Mark Milde: We are going to organize a 25K race and we're going
Mark Milde: to do into the city." And the Allied forces still
Mark Milde: had some special rights in the city, so here, the
Mark Milde: German or the Berlin police could not say no because it
Mark Milde: was something that they were in charge. So when that
Mark Milde: happened, my father, he went to the police and said, "
Mark Milde: Okay. If you allow these guys to do it, you
Mark Milde: also have to allow us to do it." So that was kind
Mark Milde: of what you guys did in New York. For example,
Mark Milde: I think also, back at that time, the Stockholm Marathon
Mark Milde: was also run in the whole city. So these were the
Mark Milde: examples that my father and the others were using to
Mark Milde: get the permission of the city to roll it all out.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow, incredible history, and two things strike me from that
Rob Simmelkjaer: story. Number one, we all know the impact of the
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York City Marathon, but the impact that going to
Rob Simmelkjaer: the five boroughs had on other marathons like yours in
Rob Simmelkjaer: Berlin really does strike me as, yeah, you had an example.
Rob Simmelkjaer: If they can do it in New York, we can
Rob Simmelkjaer: do it here. But then the political element, and your
Rob Simmelkjaer: father, Mark, he had to know the political rules of
Rob Simmelkjaer: the road to make something like that happen, which was
Rob Simmelkjaer: incredible, given where Berlin was at that time, a divided
Rob Simmelkjaer: city, with these quadrants that the different Allied forces still
Rob Simmelkjaer: controlled. Now, I'm curious, by the time the '80s came
Rob Simmelkjaer: around, Mark, and Berlin ultimately became reunified, you were certainly
Rob Simmelkjaer: old enough to know what was going on. What was
Rob Simmelkjaer: that time like? I mean, we all know those of
Rob Simmelkjaer: a certain age can remember what those days were like
Rob Simmelkjaer: in the late '80s and the early '90s when the
Rob Simmelkjaer: Iron Curtain was falling and the Berlin Wall was falling. And
Rob Simmelkjaer: this marathon had been obviously a West Berlin affair because
Rob Simmelkjaer: that's where it had to be. Although, I read that the start
Rob Simmelkjaer: was close enough to the wall and to the Brandenburg
Rob Simmelkjaer: Gate that East Berliners could see it. They could actually
Rob Simmelkjaer: see or were aware of what was going on. That
Rob Simmelkjaer: first time that the race was able to run in
Rob Simmelkjaer: an undivided Berlin, what was that like?
Mark Milde: That was obviously a very special moment for everyone involved.
Mark Milde: It was the first time that we made a big jump.
Mark Milde: I mean, there was obviously big attention and everyone wanted
Mark Milde: to witness it and be part of it, and you
Mark Milde: were right. I mean, we were starting beforehand and the
Mark Milde: wall and the Brandenburg Gate was in the back of
Mark Milde: the runners, going out in the direction west. West Berlin
Mark Milde: was big enough to hold the marathon race, but then
Mark Milde: after the wall came down on the 9th of November,
Mark Milde: very soon, runners from the east showed up and the
Mark Milde: British journalist, which was at that time very close to
Mark Milde: us, was calling up and saying, " Hey, you have got
Mark Milde: to do this next year. You have to run through
Mark Milde: east and west." And it sounded in a way easy,
Mark Milde: but it was not that easy because Berlin and Germany
Mark Milde: was not unified until a week after the race, so
Mark Milde: it was still a race through two cities or two
Mark Milde: countries in other words. So that was kind of very
Mark Milde: complicated to organize. Obviously, if you want to take a
Mark Milde: deeper dive into that subject, I would advise you to
Mark Milde: talk to my father because he was all in this,
Mark Milde: but more or less, in a nutshell, the organization back
Mark Milde: at that time was able to develop a new course which
Mark Milde: started into the west and now heading into the east,
Mark Milde: running through the Brandenburg Gate after three kilometers. And then
Mark Milde: there was a part... I mean, it was not like, "
Mark Milde: Okay. Berlin is now unified. Now, let's do 50- 50% of
Mark Milde: the course in the east and in the west." No.
Mark Milde: That did not really work out because we always had
Mark Milde: the ambition of having a competitive and fast course, so there
Mark Milde: was always something in the back of our minds. And
Mark Milde: at that time, if you go deeper into the east,
Mark Milde: so to say, somehow there are inclines. It goes uphill,
Mark Milde: so that's why we kind of circled around that, and then
Mark Milde: ran back into the west. So I would say maybe
Mark Milde: 70% of the course is run in western territory and
Mark Milde: the other in the eastern territory. But back at these
Mark Milde: days, it was obviously interesting to see how over the
Mark Milde: years it also developed because I mean, Berlin was changing
Mark Milde: or buildings were built along the course, so the city
Mark Milde: landscape changed. But in the first year, which was a
Mark Milde: very special race, many of the resources that had been
Mark Milde: in place for the old marathon were still being used,
Mark Milde: so the finish line remained the same, and along the
Mark Milde: course, we made these changes. But it was, I mean,
Mark Milde: an oversubscribed race. A lot of people were coming. It had a big media
Mark Milde: impact, obviously. Everyone wanted to see this and it was
Mark Milde: for everyone involved a very special race, a special day.
Becs Gentry: I'm sure it really was, and something that everyone will
Becs Gentry: remember how it's changed and evolved over the last 50
Becs Gentry: years. We can talk about the history especially of Berlin
Becs Gentry: for a very long time, but I think a lot
Becs Gentry: of people want to talk about this year. And from
Becs Gentry: the elite perspective, this is the first time since 2014,
Becs Gentry: as far as I know, you may correct me on
Becs Gentry: this, that neither Eliud Kipchoge or Kenenisa Bekele are going
Becs Gentry: to be in the race on the men's field. And
Becs Gentry: I want to know what are you thinking because there are
Becs Gentry: some really fantastic names out there in the elite field
Becs Gentry: on both the men's and the women's who may not
Becs Gentry: necessarily be the big names that everybody knows, but boy,
Becs Gentry: that's some good times. So what are your thoughts on
Becs Gentry: the elite field this year?
Mark Milde: I think it's always tough in an Olympic year to
Mark Milde: get these big names. I mean, as you were saying,
Mark Milde: neither Kipchoge nor Bekele are here which gives us a
Mark Milde: chance to build up possibly new faces. The new generation
Mark Milde: can now jump into the limelight. I mean, it is
Mark Milde: good that the marathoning business, so to say, has some
Mark Milde: duration, so athletes can come and compete at a high
Mark Milde: level for a long time, which allows the people and
Mark Milde: spectators and also the media to know them better. I
Mark Milde: mean, Kipchoge was winning our race five times, Kenenisa, two
Mark Milde: times, Haile Gebrselassie, four times, so these were some big
Mark Milde: names which were also recognizable by not only the runners
Mark Milde: coming to Berlin, taking part, but also after a couple
Mark Milde: of years, the normal Berliner. Obviously, not everyone, but a
Mark Milde: lot of them would be able to understand and recognize
Mark Milde: a person like Haile Gebrselassie. I was walking out on
Mark Milde: the street with him in August and people would stop
Mark Milde: us. So that's always nice if these big names are
Mark Milde: there, but in such a year, it's a little bit
Mark Milde: more challenging. But as you said, we are having the
Mark Milde: new crop, if I may use that word, coming up
Mark Milde: and we want to bring them or get them to
Mark Milde: know the Berliners. I have one athlete which I'm looking
Mark Milde: forward in seeing in the race, which I think debuted
Mark Milde: in New York and it's Kibiwott Kandie. And he has not done
Mark Milde: so well on the marathon distance, but maybe he has
Mark Milde: to learn how the marathon is.
Becs Gentry: His halftime is a 57 and some change, I think.
Mark Milde: 32, yes. Yeah. Yeah.
Becs Gentry: Yeah. Ouch.
Mark Milde: Yeah. Ouch. That's right. So we're hoping that he, now that
Mark Milde: he learned how to run this distance, is a little
Mark Milde: bit more experienced and maybe does something which we hope
Mark Milde: can join these great first times we had in the
Mark Milde: past. We have also another runner, which might not be
Mark Milde: at the moment so famous. His name is Stephen Kiprop.
Mark Milde: He only also has two or three marathons under his belt,
Mark Milde: but he ran at 58 half- marathon in the old
Mark Milde: shoes, so in the shoes before the one with the
Mark Milde: carbon plates-
Becs Gentry: No more shoes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Wow.
Mark Milde: So that is-
Rob Simmelkjaer: What we used to call shoes. Yeah.
Mark Milde: Shoes, yeah. This might be another guy who could with the new
Mark Milde: shoes run 57 minutes. We have one guy, Tadese Takele. He
Mark Milde: was third last year running in his debut 2: 03.
Mark Milde: He was not able to run this spring. Yes. So
Mark Milde: we think if the weather is okay, and people pushing
Mark Milde: from behind like Rob, that this will make them go
Mark Milde: out in a healthy and good pace. And then we
Mark Milde: will just see if some Berlin magic is happening again.
Becs Gentry: I think it will. I'm looking at Rosemary Wanjiru on
Becs Gentry: the women's side. She's taken recently a couple of minutes
Becs Gentry: off of her marathon time. I think in Tokyo was
Becs Gentry: her fastest time now. And if we think about the
Becs Gentry: weather, I ran Tokyo this year and it was cool
Becs Gentry: in the morning, but it turned out to be quite
Becs Gentry: a warm day, which is quite a similar thinking. If
Becs Gentry: Berlin has a good day, it can be like that.
Becs Gentry: It's very cool when it starts and it can turn
Becs Gentry: into a warmer run. So fingers crossed for these, as
Becs Gentry: you say, the new kids on the block coming up
Becs Gentry: into this flat and fast race, that they can shine
Becs Gentry: and keep taking minutes and seconds off their PRs.
Mark Milde: Yeah. I mean, on the woman's side, we got Tigist Ketema. She gave
Mark Milde: her debut this January in Dubai, 2: 16:07, which is-
Becs Gentry: That's a tough one.
Mark Milde: ... not jogging.
Becs Gentry: No. And in that heat as well and dryness is...
Mark Milde: Yeah. Yeah. So it's going to be interesting to see
Mark Milde: how she will do here in Berlin. Yeah. So we're
Mark Milde: excited with these challenges of other big- time marathons like the
Mark Milde: TCS New York City Marathon. I mean, that's kind of
Mark Milde: also competition still between us as Abbott World Marathon Majors
Mark Milde: brothers and colleagues. I mean, there's a healthy competition between
Mark Milde: us of being the biggest, the greatest, the fastest race.
Mark Milde: I mean, Rob being here not too long, I think
Mark Milde: he already learned that there is this competition, and if
Mark Milde: someone is doing something good, others are trying to do
Mark Milde: something similar or maybe even better. So I mean, we
Mark Milde: have a pretty good cooperation between us. There are no
Mark Milde: real secrets. If one of us is doing something which
Mark Milde: the other organization likes, then we are very quick in
Mark Milde: exchanging plans and helping others to have the same experience
Mark Milde: as we have.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Absolutely. No question about it. The Abbott World Marathon Majors,
Rob Simmelkjaer: I think it's more of a club and a cooperative
Rob Simmelkjaer: group than it is a competition, but of course, there's
Rob Simmelkjaer: always some friendly competition, especially around pro fields. I think
Rob Simmelkjaer: in New York we have a bit of an advantage
Rob Simmelkjaer: in an Olympic year just having that extra five or
Rob Simmelkjaer: so weeks of distance between the Olympic marathon and New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York, so we are obviously thrilled to get in the pro
Rob Simmelkjaer: field, both of our defending champions coming back, and lots
Rob Simmelkjaer: of excitement around our pro field as well. Becs, Mark
Rob Simmelkjaer: Milde is to me the hero of the Abbott World
Rob Simmelkjaer: Marathon Majors. And the reason this is the case is
Rob Simmelkjaer: it's really a little known fact that the Six Star Medal,
Rob Simmelkjaer: which of course has become the absolute goal of so
Rob Simmelkjaer: many marathoners, so many runners around the world are organizing
Rob Simmelkjaer: their lives around getting this Six Star Medal, well, it
Rob Simmelkjaer: was Mark who some years ago first even had the
Rob Simmelkjaer: idea in his mind to start tracking how many runners
Rob Simmelkjaer: had run all six of these races. Before there was
Rob Simmelkjaer: a medal, before there was anything else, Mark started tracking
Rob Simmelkjaer: this all on his own, is my understanding, and put
Rob Simmelkjaer: together... I believe, Mark, it was a piece of paper.
Rob Simmelkjaer: It was a certificate that you would send runners who
Rob Simmelkjaer: had completed all six of these marathons, and then that
Rob Simmelkjaer: later turned into what we now know as the Six
Rob Simmelkjaer: Star Medal. So Mark really to me is the brains
Rob Simmelkjaer: of the operation when it comes to the Abbott World
Rob Simmelkjaer: Marathon Majors. Mark, take us back to that. What first
Rob Simmelkjaer: prompted you to start thinking about that and start collecting
Rob Simmelkjaer: the names of the people who had run all six of these races?
Mark Milde: Well, if you think about this, I mean, obviously it
Mark Milde: is something in a way obvious that people and runners
Mark Milde: and winners could try to collect all of these races.
Mark Milde: So in the end, I mean, I would not say,
Mark Milde: okay, I invented this. It is something that we kind
Mark Milde: of thought was also worthwhile to pursuing it. Back at that
Mark Milde: time when World Marathon Majors was founded, it had a
Mark Milde: stronger focus on the elite side of the sport, so
Mark Milde: we were collecting or recording the times of the winners
Mark Milde: and then making an aggregate. And over two- year periods,
Mark Milde: we had the winner and the most successful marathon runner
Mark Milde: on the earth in that period. And then it was kind of
Mark Milde: because we in Berlin, having the so- called Jubilee Club
Mark Milde: where we record the names of people who have finished
Mark Milde: our race more than 10 times, so if you do
Mark Milde: this and you're a member of the Jubilee Club, you
Mark Milde: get your own personalized bib number, which all the years
Mark Milde: that you enter and the future years, it's your number
Mark Milde: to keep. It's protected for you. It has a different
Mark Milde: layout or different a color, background, so this is some
Mark Milde: special thing for these runners. And combining the idea and the
Mark Milde: experience we had with this Jubilee Club and the drive
Mark Milde: of collecting things, it made it such in a way
Mark Milde: obvious choice to do something also, not only for the
Mark Milde: elite runners, but for the average runners. I think at
Mark Milde: first, we were calling it in the paper. I just
Mark Milde: looked at recently, the Fitness Club Runner. I think that
Mark Milde: was kind of how we were trying to call it.
Mark Milde: So I think over a period of two, three years,
Mark Milde: I was putting this idea forward to my race director,
Mark Milde: colleagues, and well, I mean, after the third time, they said, "
Mark Milde: Okay. Well, if you want to do it, then please
Mark Milde: go ahead, do it. You organize it on the Berlin
Mark Milde: side." Back at that time, I mean, the World Marathon Majors was also
Mark Milde: a smaller operation. I think there was just one person,
Mark Milde: general secretary, who was doing everything, and otherwise, the races
Mark Milde: would do some stuff for the good of the group.
Mark Milde: So Berlin, I think, it was 2011 or 12- ish, we started taking it
Mark Milde: more seriously, and yes, you're right. The first thing when
Mark Milde: people signed up to us had said, " Okay, I did
Mark Milde: it," and then they had to send in their certificates to
Mark Milde: prove it that they actually did it or we were
Mark Milde: looking at the databases, and then we were sending out
Mark Milde: a certificate of these. Back at that time, five races, and
Mark Milde: then Tokyo joined, and then we had the first Six Star
Mark Milde: Finisher, and I think the name Six Star Finisher was
Mark Milde: also framed a little bit later. So it kind of
Mark Milde: all took place over a period of a couple of
Mark Milde: years, and now, yes, we are here and I'm obviously
Mark Milde: happy with others as well who chipped in the ideas
Mark Milde: in this operation to have such a successful program. And
Mark Milde: it really keeps runners moving around the world for the
Mark Milde: sake of this medal and we have seen people or
Mark Milde: runners having this medal tattooed onto their body, which is
Mark Milde: then of course something so special.
Becs Gentry: I love that. That's incredible as well. So from a
Becs Gentry: Six Star Finisher over here, thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I mean, it's visionary really when you think about it, Becs. Right?
Becs Gentry: It is. It really is.
Rob Simmelkjaer: To have that vision at that time, Mark, you're modest. I'm
Rob Simmelkjaer: not going to be as modest for you, but you
Rob Simmelkjaer: saw the power in that. It really changed the sport in
Rob Simmelkjaer: so many ways from the recreational runner's point of view
Rob Simmelkjaer: because yes, the elite field is always exciting to talk
Rob Simmelkjaer: about, but when we talk about what makes marathons and
Rob Simmelkjaer: the sport of running so special right now, it is
Rob Simmelkjaer: the mass participation, athlete, people like me who are flying
Rob Simmelkjaer: across the ocean to go, and in my case, collect
Rob Simmelkjaer: my second star. But there'll be a lot of people-
Becs Gentry: They're on the journey.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah. I guess beginning the journey, finally getting out of New
Rob Simmelkjaer: York. But there'll be so many people on that plane
Rob Simmelkjaer: with me, and I've already been talking to so many
Rob Simmelkjaer: of them on social media since I announced I'm running
Rob Simmelkjaer: Berlin, who are excited to go from New York, from
Rob Simmelkjaer: Chicago, from Boston, from all around the United States, and
Rob Simmelkjaer: all around the world, to collect this star and get
Rob Simmelkjaer: one step closer to having that Six Star Medal hung
Rob Simmelkjaer: around their neck. And that is something that I don't
Rob Simmelkjaer: think anybody clearly saw. You saw it and it really
Rob Simmelkjaer: changed the sport. And Mark, I think it also benefited
Rob Simmelkjaer: your race so much, right? Because-
Mark Milde: True.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... Berlin is obviously a great world city, but if
Rob Simmelkjaer: it weren't in this group of major marathons with Boston
Rob Simmelkjaer: and London and New York, you may not see the
Rob Simmelkjaer: kind of international interest that you guys have. I'm sure
Rob Simmelkjaer: you have a lot, but how has being a part
Rob Simmelkjaer: of the Abbott World Marathon Majors really changed the BMW
Rob Simmelkjaer: Berlin Marathon?
Mark Milde: Something that you were just pointing out or, I don't
Mark Milde: know, discovering, but it put us in a spot. We
Mark Milde: were founded in 2006. Back at this time, I mean,
Mark Milde: we had a sold- out race, yes, but the number
Mark Milde: of runners taking part in our race was already high
Mark Milde: because, I mean, Europe obviously is a smaller place. It's
Mark Milde: easier and accessible from many countries, but the numbers of
Mark Milde: overseas runners and especially numbers from the Americas have grown
Mark Milde: very strongly. We could see that back in these days, we
Mark Milde: usually also traveled to the New York City Marathon Expo
Mark Milde: and making promotion of our race, and we saw these
Mark Milde: many Mexicans, Brazilians, South American runners taking part in the
Mark Milde: New York City Marathon. So after they had done this
Mark Milde: three, four times, they were probably looking what else is
Mark Milde: there to discover, and then they found our advertisement of
Mark Milde: the six World Marathon Majors or back at that time, five World Marathon
Mark Milde: Majors in the program of the New York City Marathon
Mark Milde: and seeing us at the expo. And I think that made them
Mark Milde: click and our numbers, not overnight, but over the years,
Mark Milde: increased from the Americas and especially South Americas. And nowadays,
Mark Milde: we used to get the highest number of runners from
Mark Milde: Denmark, which is the neighboring country up in the north
Mark Milde: from Germany, and they came here already back in the '80s
Mark Milde: because there was not such a big marathon they were
Mark Milde: having there, and the alcohol was cheaper over here. So that
Mark Milde: was kind of the explanation why so many Danish runners
Mark Milde: came to run in Berlin. They came down here and
Mark Milde: after the race had a pretty good time or during.
Mark Milde: I mean, probably even before the race. Now, the number
Mark Milde: or the Danish country or runners count has been going
Mark Milde: down, and now we have the most runners from the
Mark Milde: United States. I think this year, we've got 8, 000 coming
Mark Milde: for this weekend to run with us, and the number
Mark Milde: of Brazilians is also high and Mexican runners. So still
Mark Milde: I think Berlin was put into the conscience of the
Mark Milde: Americans by being part of the World Marathon Major. So
Mark Milde: yes, it has, with this program, definitely lifted the interest
Mark Milde: in runners from all over the world to come to
Mark Milde: us and take part in our race, so it's also
Mark Milde: a movement which created a strong demand.
Becs Gentry: We love it. It comes from knowing running as well to
Becs Gentry: be able to create something like this, for you to
Becs Gentry: understand what this journey means to a runner to accumulate
Becs Gentry: all of these miles in these different cities. It really
Becs Gentry: is amazing. So talking about understanding runners and all of
Becs Gentry: the history that goes with Berlin, we have a first-
Becs Gentry: time Berlin Marathoner here in the form of the wonderful
Becs Gentry: Rob. Let's talk through the course. For anyone out there
Becs Gentry: who hasn't run Berlin, obviously, it is deemed as one of
Becs Gentry: the fastest of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, alongside Chicago.
Becs Gentry: I've done all six and I personally think Berlin is
Becs Gentry: flatter for some reason. I just remember it being just
Becs Gentry: flat, flat, flat, flat, flat, and my legs were incredibly
Becs Gentry: sore in a whole new way the next day. What
Becs Gentry: advice as the race director would you give our first-
Becs Gentry: time Berlin Marathoners out there?
Mark Milde: Well, I guess the way how you described it, and
Mark Milde: maybe it is in the heads of many runners that it
Mark Milde: is such a quick race and that they want to
Mark Milde: use this as a qualifier for Boston or just run
Mark Milde: their personal best. I mean, it's to probably not to
Mark Milde: start out like a world record- breaker, but try to
Mark Milde: be modest and really do the speed that you can
Mark Milde: do to also more enjoy what we offer alongside of
Mark Milde: the course. And then if you've got still enough power
Mark Milde: in the second half, then go for it. I mean,
Mark Milde: you were saying that it's flat, flat, flat. It is.
Mark Milde: I mean, although, we are 32 meters above sea level
Mark Milde: and the highest point is 52 meters above sea level,
Mark Milde: which is 20 meters and the incline is gentle, I
Mark Milde: mean, there are two three bridges where it's a little
Mark Milde: bit steeper incline and then decline. But compared to especially
Mark Milde: in New York with these bridges, our bridges are so
Mark Milde: little, so small, so that is not the problem. But
Mark Milde: nevertheless, and also depending a little bit on the weather
Mark Milde: conditions, you can usually do good here. But also my
Mark Milde: advice would be to run a negative split. I think
Mark Milde: that's something which gives you also a better feeling during
Mark Milde: your journey through Berlin. I mean, we want you to
Mark Milde: have a journey of joy and not a journey of
Mark Milde: pain, so we doing our best to help you with
Mark Milde: this matter. Also, there might be a change or something
Mark Milde: different. I mean, I'm not 100% sure if that is now done at American
Mark Milde: races. I remember when I was running New York in
Mark Milde: Boston, which is also some time ago, that there was
Mark Milde: no food along the course, and I tended to get
Mark Milde: hungry during my races, so I was happy to grab
Mark Milde: a banana or an apple. I mean, nowadays, we have gel.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Any other little tips and tricks like that? Because I've
Rob Simmelkjaer: also had people tell me about water, that it might
Rob Simmelkjaer: be a good idea. Some people bring water on the
Rob Simmelkjaer: course with them in Berlin. How often are the water
Rob Simmelkjaer: stations and how easy is it to get water along
Rob Simmelkjaer: the course?
Mark Milde: Well, we got 17 stations along the course, which is-
Rob Simmelkjaer: Oh, that's good. That's very good.
Mark Milde: Yeah. I mean, I think in some courses, they do it every mile, but
Mark Milde: we're starting it out at 5, 9K, and then we
Mark Milde: start to do it every two and a half kilometers,
Mark Milde: so there is enough drinks and water out there. I
Mark Milde: think it should be sufficient. I mean, for some people
Mark Milde: who think that they are not... A couple of years,
Mark Milde: we had an issue. We had a nutrition... What is
Mark Milde: it called? Drink supplier, which gave some of the runners
Mark Milde: some stomach problems. But now, we are using Maurten, which
Mark Milde: is an international-
Becs Gentry: We love it.
Mark Milde: ... drink. Okay. Good. So if you are used to that, then
Mark Milde: I think you should be fine. Otherwise, the water along
Mark Milde: the way is high standard, so that should also not
Mark Milde: give you any problem. But if you need something special
Mark Milde: like some extra gel, obviously, take it along.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You guys, I believe, allowed the bladders out there, right?
Rob Simmelkjaer: Is that correct? The CamelBak or something like that, you
Rob Simmelkjaer: guys allow people to run with those.
Mark Milde: Yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: So that's a big difference from New York and some
Rob Simmelkjaer: other races where those are not always permitted. So that's
Rob Simmelkjaer: a good one. Mark, any other tips around the start
Rob Simmelkjaer: or anything else that someone should want to know for
Rob Simmelkjaer: a first time like myself?
Mark Milde: I mean, yeah, depending on where you are going to
Mark Milde: be starting, I mean, we got four waves. We start
Mark Milde: at 9: 15 with the mass and elite race. Wheelchairs
Mark Milde: already go out at 8: 50, and the last start
Mark Milde: is at 10:40. So depending on that and how the
Mark Milde: weather condition is, you might want to come early enough
Mark Milde: to see what's happening and to get yourself sorted, and
Mark Milde: to enjoy our start entertainment, which is something I hope,
Mark Milde: Rob, that you will enjoy what we're doing there. I
Mark Milde: think there's something special which not all of our colleagues are
Mark Milde: doing it, that might be something that is also not
Mark Milde: so easy to replicate to other races. We got a
Mark Milde: lot of video screens in the starting area for the
Mark Milde: people who are waiting there and who are maybe not as
Mark Milde: focused as other runners. Becs, what was your time? Were you in
Mark Milde: a tunnel or were your attention of what was happening
Mark Milde: around you?
Becs Gentry: I was in a bit of a tunnel. It was
Becs Gentry: my first sub- 3 attempt and I got a 2:
Becs Gentry: 55 I think, so I was very much in the zone
Becs Gentry: of... I was actually paced. I don't know if you
Becs Gentry: know this. Run crews there, the KRAFT Runners in Berlin,
Becs Gentry: they sort of took me in the tunnel.
Mark Milde: Oh, okay, okay. Okay. So for everyone else who's not in the tunnel and who has
Mark Milde: time to kill and to wait until their start time... I mean,
Mark Milde: you probably then would've started in the first wave or
Mark Milde: second wave which goes about at 9: 45. It's one
Mark Milde: hour to go, and we do have a lot of
Mark Milde: video screens there which are able to entertain you and
Mark Milde: also inform you of what's happening. So you will see
Mark Milde: the race goes off, the elites take off, and then
Mark Milde: you're still waiting or moving forward to the next position.
Mark Milde: And you can see that okay, now, the leading guys
Mark Milde: are at 10K, and Kipchoge is in the front or
Mark Milde: is not in the front and so on and so
Mark Milde: forth. So I think that's quite enjoyable and is already
Mark Milde: kind of doing... The time wait does not seem so long.
Mark Milde: Also, our announcer is doing some crowd entertainment, which also
Mark Milde: gives you I think a good feeling of the journey
Mark Milde: you are going on for the next couple of hours.
Mark Milde: So that's I think something to look forward to, depending
Mark Milde: obviously also on the weather, but I think the last
Mark Milde: time we had really, really rain was in 2010. It was
Mark Milde: raining from beginning to end. In the other couple of
Mark Milde: years, there might have been, I don't know, one- hour episodes
Mark Milde: of rain, but usually, we do have quite good weather conditions.
Becs Gentry: It feels like it's always a sunny race, and I
Becs Gentry: can tell you from my experience, the German crowds were
Becs Gentry: there all the was, but specifically, coming back in towards
Becs Gentry: the city from about the, I'd say, the 32, 35 kilometer
Becs Gentry: mark were unreal. The noise, the party, the energy was
Becs Gentry: so very uplifting for those last few kilometers that generally,
Becs Gentry: most people are struggling. No matter how hard they've trained,
Becs Gentry: it's a tough day out there. It's a long time.
Becs Gentry: And I can still... One of my favorite photos that
Becs Gentry: has ever been gifted to me is from my Berlin
Becs Gentry: Marathon experience of coming around the corner, and there was the
Becs Gentry: big speaker system around 37, 38 kilometers, and it's a corner up.
Becs Gentry: And oh, my gosh, it was electric and I will
Becs Gentry: never forget how much of a boost it gave me
Becs Gentry: to get through that pain, to continue pushing to get
Becs Gentry: my goal of a sub- 3 hour marathon at Berlin
Becs Gentry: and follow those blue lines. So I know our listeners
Becs Gentry: here are running. Rob, I can see that your smile
Becs Gentry: is getting bigger and bigger with the nervous anticipation here.
Rob Simmelkjaer: I am not going for any sub-3s, but definitely, I've got a PR in mind and
Rob Simmelkjaer: maybe a couple of other goals, so we'll see how
Rob Simmelkjaer: the training-
Becs Gentry: It's a beautiful race.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... wraps up these last four weeks. I'm excited.
Becs Gentry: And I will say as well, a beautiful city to celebrate in after as well.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Speaking of that, I was about to just go right
Rob Simmelkjaer: there because Berlin has a reputation as a great place
Rob Simmelkjaer: to party. So once we've gotten across this finish line...
Rob Simmelkjaer: Which by the way, Mark, one tip that someone gave
Rob Simmelkjaer: me was the Brandenburg Gate is not the finish line.
Rob Simmelkjaer: You see it coming from a long way off and you
Rob Simmelkjaer: think there it is, that's the finish. That's not the finish. You have to
Rob Simmelkjaer: keep going past the gate to get to the finish
Rob Simmelkjaer: line, right?
Becs Gentry: There's a lot of twists-
Mark Milde: Yes.
Becs Gentry: ... and turns before the gate too, which threw me
Becs Gentry: through a loop was that it's kind of cobbledy, older
Becs Gentry: streets, and you are kind of turn, turn, turn, turn, turn.
Becs Gentry: Then you see the Brandenburg Gate, then you're thinking, as you
Becs Gentry: say, Rob, you heard like, " I'm done." No. It's like
Becs Gentry: seeing Central Park and like, " I'm done." No you're not.
Mark Milde: But I think I'm done is then you're almost done.
Mark Milde: I mean (inaudible) -
Becs Gentry: Yes. So close.
Mark Milde: For me, seeing them running through the Brandenburg Gate, I
Mark Milde: know it's one more minute for them to actually reach
Mark Milde: the finish line. In meters, it's 350 meters from there,
Mark Milde: so I think you can say you're done. Although-
Rob Simmelkjaer: You can start celebrating but don't stop running.
Mark Milde: Yes. Yes.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Yeah.
Mark Milde: That's true. I think one of our first winners was also
Mark Milde: a race for the ages, Paul Tergat. He was the
Mark Milde: first one to... We changed the course back in 2003,
Mark Milde: so he was running to the gate and I think he
Mark Milde: was not aware that the gate is not the finish
Mark Milde: line or that it's not right behind there. It's still
Mark Milde: the same distance, 350 meters to go. And he distanced
Mark Milde: himself from his competitor and I think he had 10, 15
Mark Milde: meters lead, and the guy he was beating was the
Mark Milde: pacemaker. All right? So they were on course for the
Mark Milde: world record, and then because it was still one minute to
Mark Milde: go, the pacemaker gained step by step again. And then
Mark Milde: there was this discussion, " Okay. Did the pacemaker let Paul
Mark Milde: Tergat win because it's Paul Tergat, the big champion?" And
Mark Milde: I would say, " No, it's not because he was not
Mark Milde: aware that the finish line is not the gate, but
Mark Milde: it's behind the gate." So he miscalculated his efforts and
Mark Milde: that's why he only barely hold on to beat Sammy
Mark Milde: Korir. And he finished in a world record time nevertheless, 2:04:
Mark Milde: 55, and that was 20 years ago.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right. I'm not going to make that mistake, so
Rob Simmelkjaer: those listening, keep running for another few hundred meters after
Rob Simmelkjaer: the Brandenburg Gate. Mark, what about the after- race activities?
Rob Simmelkjaer: I know that the after- party that you guys put
Rob Simmelkjaer: on is pretty legendary in marathon circles. I definitely intend
Rob Simmelkjaer: to be there. What's special about your after- party and
Rob Simmelkjaer: all the things that the runners can do to celebrate
Rob Simmelkjaer: their accomplishment in Berlin?
Mark Milde: Well, I think nowadays, already, there are not only our after-
Mark Milde: race party, but a lot of run crews, communities do
Mark Milde: celebrate on their own. But what's special about our after-
Mark Milde: party is that we are still presenting the winners of
Mark Milde: our race there and we're trying to do it in
Mark Milde: a way which is kind of engaging and fun for
Mark Milde: the people attending. So that's, I mean, the thing that
Mark Milde: we will have the runners go through the crowd, and
Mark Milde: usually, I mean, it's already uplifting. I mean, if it's
Mark Milde: one of the stars there. I mean, you're very close
Mark Milde: to meet Eliud Kipchoge, Kenenisa Bekele. That will not be
Mark Milde: the case this year, but we are going to create other
Mark Milde: stars which will enjoy the race and hopefully the dancing
Mark Milde: afterwards and all that comes with that. And I think
Mark Milde: that you can have a good time either because you
Mark Milde: did your PR or you want to drown your not
Mark Milde: PR, in a way, which still reminds you the next
Mark Milde: day that you did not do so well.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Hey, you know what, if I finish, I'm going to
Rob Simmelkjaer: be having a couple of German beers. That's all there
Rob Simmelkjaer: is to it because-
Becs Gentry: There's so much to celebrate.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... I will have run the BMW Berlin Marathon. I can't
Rob Simmelkjaer: wait. It'll be my first time ever in Berlin, really,
Rob Simmelkjaer: my first time in Germany. And I'm just so excited
Rob Simmelkjaer: and I know so many of our fellow New Yorkers,
Rob Simmelkjaer: our fellow New York Road Runners members, and people in
Rob Simmelkjaer: our running community here in the United States are so excited
Rob Simmelkjaer: for this race coming up. So Mark, thank you so
Rob Simmelkjaer: much for-
Becs Gentry: Thank you.
Rob Simmelkjaer: ... joining Becs and me, and I can't wait to
Rob Simmelkjaer: see you over there and enjoy a great, great weekend
Rob Simmelkjaer: in Berlin.
Mark Milde: Same here. Stay healthy and looking forward to seeing you
Mark Milde: and everyone else who's making the long way to Berlin
Mark Milde: this couple of next weeks.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you, Mark. Today's Member Moment features Paola Marte, a
Rob Simmelkjaer: dedicated mentor with Team for Kids, New York Road Runners'
Rob Simmelkjaer: premier charity program. Through TFK, adult runners of all abilities
Rob Simmelkjaer: raise funds for New York Road Runners youth and community
Rob Simmelkjaer: programs and receive guaranteed entry to top events like the
Rob Simmelkjaer: TCS New York City Marathon. Paola has completed four TCS
Rob Simmelkjaer: New York City Marathons with TFK, and this year, she'll
Rob Simmelkjaer: be volunteering in the start tent supporting her fellow members
Rob Simmelkjaer: as they begin their 26.2- mile journey through the five
Rob Simmelkjaer: boroughs of New York City. Now, here is Meb.
Meb Keflezighi: Thanks, Rob. Paola, welcome to the podcast.
Paola Marte: Thanks, Meb. So nice to talk to you.
Meb Keflezighi: Thank you. Good to see you. As someone who didn't consider
Meb Keflezighi: herself athletic before, how did you find confidence and motivation
Meb Keflezighi: to complete six marathons? What role did the Team for
Meb Keflezighi: Kids, TFK, play in helping you achieve this goal?
Paola Marte: Yeah. That's true. I was never a runner my whole
Paola Marte: life, so I could barely even run from here to the
Paola Marte: corner without hyperventilating. But I think that in my late
Paola Marte: 20s, I wanted to do something a little bit different
Paola Marte: and achieve some of my health goals, and just be
Paola Marte: able to train for a marathon was one of my
Paola Marte: biggest goals. So for my 30th birthday, I decided to
Paola Marte: join Team for Kids, and of course, being surrounded by
Paola Marte: the sea of green with all of these beaming, smiling
Paola Marte: faces, and everybody willing to help, I just found this
Paola Marte: huge sense of camaraderie and friendship. And it was such
Paola Marte: an inspiration for us to be working together towards a
Paola Marte: one common goal, and be able to complete the marathon
Paola Marte: together, while also helping all the kids to me was
Paola Marte: such an incredible experience.
Meb Keflezighi: Well, what a wonderful for you to do, to be part
Meb Keflezighi: of the Team for Kids and for your 30th birthday,
Meb Keflezighi: to do a marathon. You have mentioned that incredible friendship
Meb Keflezighi: you have formed through TFK. Can you share a few
Meb Keflezighi: moments where you and your TFK friends were particularly supportive
Meb Keflezighi: during the important time in your life?
Paola Marte: I was really blessed to find a lot of really,
Paola Marte: really good friends that even have gone to the Dominican
Paola Marte: Republic for my wedding, and through a lot of my
Paola Marte: toughest times, they've also been there. I have a set
Paola Marte: of... I want to call us The Fab Five. Of
Paola Marte: these girls that I went to, to run the London Marathon
Paola Marte: with Team for Kids, and also had a trip after
Paola Marte: for Barcelona. But even during the pandemic, these were the
Paola Marte: girls that I really leaned on when I didn't have a
Paola Marte: lot of other things to do in my life, and
Paola Marte: these are the ones that have been there whenever I have
Paola Marte: an issue with a relationship or an issue with family
Paola Marte: or an issue with anything that's even outside of running.
Paola Marte: These are people that have never really left my back
Paola Marte: and I never had that experience before Team For Kids.
Paola Marte: Especially finding friends at such a late game, you don't
Paola Marte: really hear in your mid 30s finding some of your
Paola Marte: best friends. Usually, your best friends come from high school
Paola Marte: or college, but these are the people that have really
Paola Marte: shown me how you can be resilient, who you can
Paola Marte: get through anything, and still have just a lot of
Paola Marte: positivity and friendship in your life.
Meb Keflezighi: I think that's what running does. It brings people together. It doesn't matter
Meb Keflezighi: what stage of your life to be able to experience
Meb Keflezighi: it. Your marathon experience have varied significantly with notable two and a
Meb Keflezighi: half hours difference between your last two NYC Marathons. How did
Meb Keflezighi: your life circumstance influence your training and what did you
Meb Keflezighi: learn from these contrasts, experiences? I'm pretty sure, I mean,
Meb Keflezighi: some of your friends might be there and it took a
Meb Keflezighi: little bit longer to socialize, but can you tell us
Meb Keflezighi: about it?
Paola Marte: Yeah. It's interesting. One of the things that I've learned
Paola Marte: through this experience is that you have to learn what
Paola Marte: state you're in. You have to learn how to love it.
Paola Marte: It doesn't matter whether you're super hyperfocused into your training
Paola Marte: or if you're just trying to squeeze it in. Right?
Paola Marte: Just thinking about 2019, I was in that. I had
Paola Marte: caught the PR bug and everything was being super competitive
Paola Marte: with myself and I have to get a PR, get
Paola Marte: a PR. So I ended up wiping an hour off
Paola Marte: of my time in two years because I was so consistently
Paola Marte: training. And I was incredibly proud and it was such
Paola Marte: a great experience, just crossing that finish line and knowing
Paola Marte: that you had achieved this, and with the support of
Paola Marte: all of my teammates, but then the pandemic happens, right?
Paola Marte: Pandemic happens, and then you kind of lose a little
Paola Marte: bit of your attraction, and my life goals just completely
Paola Marte: shifted. I have a very demanding career. I got married
Paola Marte: during that time. I moved out of the New York City areas.
Paola Marte: I live in the suburbs now, and just completely different
Paola Marte: life circumstances, where I found it so incredibly difficult to
Paola Marte: train for a marathon the way that I would have
Paola Marte: in the past. And it was not my best of
Paola Marte: training seasons. I still showed up. I would not encourage
Paola Marte: that, but I still did show up. I was trained
Paola Marte: not at my best, but I ended up walking most
Paola Marte: of that marathon, Meb. I ended up walking it, and
Paola Marte: to me, my old self would've been disappointed because I'm
Paola Marte: super competitive with myself, but I think that it allowed
Paola Marte: me to see the experience in a completely different light
Paola Marte: because then I started earlier. I was able to really
Paola Marte: take pictures with everybody in the crowd, and I was
Paola Marte: able to talk to people on the way, and really
Paola Marte: see New York City, as opposed to being so focused
Paola Marte: on just breathe, hit the right steps the right way,
Paola Marte: just so that you can get that PR. So even
Paola Marte: having the opportunity to see the energy in New York in a
Paola Marte: completely different light, I walked into Central Park with my
Paola Marte: head up high, and I was like, " I'm just going
Paola Marte: to finish this, and I'm going to have a great
Paola Marte: time, and I'm going to have dinner with my friends
Paola Marte: after this that I haven't seen in a while." So
Paola Marte: you just have to learn how to love every experience
Paola Marte: that you have with the marathon. It's not always going to look the same
Paola Marte: and it's the beauty of it because no one is
Paola Marte: judging you. No one is judging you but yourself.
Meb Keflezighi: Absolutely. I always have told people run to win. It
Meb Keflezighi: doesn't necessarily mean to get first place, but getting the best at yourself. As
Meb Keflezighi: you alluded to, the stage of life where you are,
Meb Keflezighi: the New York Road Runners done an amazing job for the elites, for the
Meb Keflezighi: middle of the pack, and the back of the pack. My good friend in San Diego, she
Meb Keflezighi: just says, " When I'm there longer, I'm just getting my
Meb Keflezighi: money's worth, taking time, kind of taking the scenery." So it
Meb Keflezighi: looks like you did that, and for me, running for Team for Kids
Meb Keflezighi: in 2018, that's what I did. Sometimes you run for PR.
Meb Keflezighi: Sometimes you run for a cause. And just being able
Meb Keflezighi: to enjoy the environment, being able to enjoy the audience
Meb Keflezighi: and the crowd, you got to take your time and enjoy
Meb Keflezighi: the whole process. So a lot of fun way to
Meb Keflezighi: live. But what advice would you give? As busy as you
Meb Keflezighi: are, what would be one advice that you would give to
Meb Keflezighi: somebody having a balanced life and still be able to do
Meb Keflezighi: run, walk a marathon?
Paola Marte: I think remember that you're doing this for yourself, not
Paola Marte: for anybody else. Right? So don't push yourself too hard
Paola Marte: to the point where it becomes too much, I mean,
Paola Marte: to the point where you end up not enjoying this
Paola Marte: anymore. Right? Always do this because it's fun to you,
Paola Marte: because you enjoy it, because you love the camaraderie that
Paola Marte: you get from your team members that you're running with
Paola Marte: on Saturday morning or Wednesday nights or whenever it is
Paola Marte: that you're doing this. But always do it just for
Paola Marte: you. Do it for you and know that you're strong
Paola Marte: enough to get to that finish line no matter what
Paola Marte: comes. If you need to take a step back and do it
Paola Marte: slower, always do that.
Meb Keflezighi: Great advice. I think that's all about you. When you're
Meb Keflezighi: running, that's your hour. That's your hours. And when you're
Meb Keflezighi: training, when you're competing, that's all about you and the
Meb Keflezighi: judgment. Looking back on your journey from not being athletic,
Meb Keflezighi: like you said, to becoming a marathoner, what has surprised
Meb Keflezighi: the most about yourself and how has running for TFK changed
Meb Keflezighi: your perspective on what you are capable of achieving?
Paola Marte: I was always the one that in my family was
Paola Marte: made fun of. I come from a family of a lot
Paola Marte: of athletes and I was the only one that didn't do anything.
Paola Marte: Right? So I think I surprised myself just that I
Paola Marte: finished that marathon because I never ever expected that I
Paola Marte: would finish one, let alone six of them. So just
Paola Marte: being able to get to that finish line and have that
Paola Marte: confidence in myself that I could get there, that I
Paola Marte: could get there in one piece, and still smile at
Paola Marte: the end and enjoy my weekend. I just never thought
Paola Marte: that was something that would even happen. So just running
Paola Marte: in itself is a huge surprise for me.
Meb Keflezighi: That's pretty awesome. Now, how many of those siblings have
Meb Keflezighi: done marathon?
Paola Marte: Zero. I'm still, to this day, the only person in
Paola Marte: my family that has finished a marathon and I will
Paola Marte: continue to own that title for a while, so I'm
Paola Marte: very proud of that.
Meb Keflezighi: Awesome. Congratulations. That's the beauty of running from one mile
Meb Keflezighi: to the marathon. I'm so proud of you on all
Meb Keflezighi: the work that you have done for Team for Kids
Meb Keflezighi: and the family and friendship that you have built with and we're just
Meb Keflezighi: honored to have you on the team, and on behalf of the
Meb Keflezighi: New York Road Runners, I want to say thank you.
Paola Marte: Thank you, Meb, and thank you for everything that you've done
Paola Marte: for Team for Kids as well. We appreciate you more
Paola Marte: than you know.
Meb Keflezighi: Always my pleasure.
Rob Simmelkjaer: Thank you so much for joining us, Paola, and thank
Rob Simmelkjaer: you for being a member of New York Road Runners
Rob Simmelkjaer: and a TFK mentor. Incredible. We really appreciate you. Now, it's
Rob Simmelkjaer: time for the final part of our show, the Meb Minute.
Meb Keflezighi: Week seven, prioritize recovery. Recovery was important to me as the
Meb Keflezighi: workout themselves. I always made sure to get enough rest
Meb Keflezighi: and eat well to recover from tough workouts. Don't underestimate
Meb Keflezighi: the power of rest. It is where your body builds
Meb Keflezighi: and grows stronger. As a elite athlete, priority is to
Meb Keflezighi: recover, recover, so you can be ready the the same afternoon,
Meb Keflezighi: or the next day, or for your next hard sessions.
Meb Keflezighi: The first thing that goes into my stomach, into my
Meb Keflezighi: body is protein shake, and then the recovery starts with
Meb Keflezighi: ice bath, Normatec, stretching. It is literally a 24- hour
Meb Keflezighi: job when you're an elite athlete and as everyday athlete,
Meb Keflezighi: you guys are so busy. You need to do the
Meb Keflezighi: small things like hydration, nutrition, and rest when you can
Meb Keflezighi: because the recovery days are as crucial as it is for me, as
Meb Keflezighi: for you because you are always on the go, so
Meb Keflezighi: make sure you prioritize recovery as much as you can.
Rob Simmelkjaer: All right, folks, that does it for another episode of
Rob Simmelkjaer: Set the Pace. We want to thank our great guest
Rob Simmelkjaer: today, Mark Milde, the race director of the BMW Berlin Marathon,
Rob Simmelkjaer: and New York Road Runners member, Paola Marte. If you
Rob Simmelkjaer: liked the episode, please go ahead, rate, subscribe, leave a
Rob Simmelkjaer: comment, tell your friends. That helps us find others to
Rob Simmelkjaer: listen and join our community as well. Have a great
Rob Simmelkjaer: week, everybody. Enjoy the miles.