What does the fabled marathon have to do with Berlin during these COVID times? Maybe nothing, maybe everything, but obviously something, hence this feature. To get to the bottom of it all, we must travel 5,657.67 miles (not as Pheidippides did, thankfully) to San Francisco, where a technological revolution aims to bring together the marathon runners of the world.

The San Francisco Marathon Virtual365 Tracking App (a mouthful, best just refer to it as the SFMV365 app, save that breath for the running) allows budding marathon runners across the world to take part in their own city, in their own country, in their own time zone, bridging the gap between runners in these times of social distancing, lockdowns and uncertainty. A variety of leaderboards on the app allow you to test your times against runners in your city, country, continent, age-group and more, giving real meaning to the tagline; run globally, compete locally. It isn’t all just about running for running’s sake either, as those posting the best times could find themselves in the running for a slot upgrade at the eventual in-person San Francisco Marathon.

But again, we return to the question, what does this have to do with Berlin? Well, it should be no surprise that our marvelous home city is one of the featured locations involved in the Globetrotter Adventure Series, along with vaunted destinations like Paris, London and Tokyo. Those looking to compete in the German capital will find no shortage of times to beat.
A huge range of runs is available, covering everything from (gulp) ultramarathons ($188) to short training courses ($39), with a full price list available on the website. Simply choose your race, check when you need to submit your time, and make plans to run for miles, be it around your neighborhood or in the comfort of your own home (running 26 miles around your home is not recommended though, not great for the mind and/or the behavior of your pets). The massive abundance of wearable devices (FitBit, Strava, Apple Watch etc) will time your run, allowing you to submit your result and set about icing up those poor, poor feet.
Sounds easy, right? In theory, it couldn’t be more simple, but good luck running a marathon. Such things are never simple, just ask Pheidippides. On your marks, get set…
Below you can find other marathons in Berlin and a selection of runs in other cities we are covering - and if you want to see where you can run a virtual marathon worldwide, go and have a look at worldsmarathons.com.
Berlin Marathon
After a yearlong break due to the Coronavirus, the race is now happily back in its traditional spot of the last weekend of September. The annual Berlin Marathon promises to be a fun-filled day of impressive physical endurance and city-wide celebrations. The marathon dominates the weekend in Berlin with a wide variety of races including specific races for men, women, youngsters and wheelchair marathon runners. More info and a link to their website you can find here.Rimi Vilnius Marathon
Exceptional running festival in the Baltics Danske Bank Vilnius Marathon will take place for 18th time on September 12th, 2021. It is the biggest running event in Lithuania with the distances for every kind of runner’s experience.Are you ready for the 42, 125 k marathon challenge? If the number frightens you, choose a half-marathon, 10k, or 5k. Introduce the kids to the joy of running by starting with the 200m distance. Everyone can run, so get your running shoes and explore Vilnius Old Town with friendly, like-minded people!
Comments