September 29th, 2006 : 2006 Berlin in-line marathon

I feel I have to expand on my previous, expletively titled, “article”.

Last Saturday, 23rd September, I took part in the 2006 Berlin in-line marathon. I say ‘took part’ as ‘competed’ would be pushing it – although my time was respectable I finished some three quarters of an hour behind the eventual winner.

Still, 26 miles of flat, pristine German tarmac and 8000 skaters means an unforgettable experience – even more so starting right at the back of the pack and spending the race carving through the traffic. And I managed to drag my by then exhausted bones over the line with a time of 1 hour 45 minutes and 46 seconds putting me firmly in 2185th place. Go me.

Not wanting to break a habit, I also managed to draught with another skater more or less the full distance; a skater who turned out to be none other than Camberley’s web master general Dan, who was looking for a time of around 2 hours and got himself over the line just a few seconds behind me for a time of around 1 hour 46 minutes. Having never met Dan before, I was pretty awed at the coincidence of picking up another Brit, let alone repeating my Goodwood roller feat of collecting a Camberley skater. Thanks for tagging along Dan, catching me when I tried to stack it, and saving me from what could have been a bit of a lonely marathon after I lost Erika and François in the first 2km of carving through the skate traffic.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 29th, 2006 at 1:00 pm and is tagged as Holidays, Stop whining and get on with it (LIFE), skating, sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “2006 Berlin in-line marathon”

  1. François murmured:

    You are far too modest Howard; your time was more than respectable! But next year, I want to see a sub 1:30 young man! Also, you finished 2184th not 2185th. This is a German marathon –-you have to precise, Ja.

    What puts all of this into perspective though is that Haile Gebrselassie finished the running event the next day in 2.05.56. It makes the best skating times look a bit feeble.

    I am delighted to hear that you are building on your reputation to lend a draught or two to our fellow skaters. I’ve just checked the LFNS route for tomorrow (going up AND down Hampstead hill). Would you be available for me to draught you up Hampstead hill? Not wanting to take advantage of you good nature, I will naturally return the favour down-hill back to the park.

    Also, you get bonus points for spelling my name correctly.

    October 5th, 2006

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