ahead of me. At

ahead of me. At kilometre ten or eleven I could see him in the distance. And then we came closer and closer. I hoped that we might still be able to catch him. And that‘s how it happened. In addition, I managed to finish in the top ten of the overall ranking and to improve my best performance by 57 seconds with a time of 1:01:45 hours. For some, this improvement may have come as a surprise, but not necessarily for me. In New York, I ran 1:03:05 two weeks before. But the course in Berlin is much faster. That‘s why I knew I could run under 62 minutes on a good day in good weather. „The spectators spurred me on“ The weather in Berlin might not have been ideal, but it wasn‘t as bad as I feared. For the first ten kilometres I was well protected by the other runners around me. After I picked up the pace at kilometre 15, I was alone. I felt the wind, but the spectators and their cheering gave me such a boost that it didn‘t hurt any more. I had hoped to achieve such a time. But it was a great relief to actually run it. It was amazing how many spectators came to the course despite the cold on a Sunday morning. That helped me incredibly,

and I‘m thankful for the people who cheered me on. In general, it‘s always a great feeling for me to run in Berlin. I‘m part of the new Marathon Team Berlin and I‘m in the capital as often as possible, but I‘m currently studying in Bochum. I spent the first half of my marathon preparation in New York and am now preparing the remaining weeks before the Hamburg Marathon in Germany. and have set myself a goal of finishing under 2:11 hours. I ran my best time of 2:12:18 hours in Rotterdam in October. In summer, the World Championships in Eugene (USA) and the European Championships in Munich are coming up. As they are only about a month apart, we marathon runners can only compete in one event. „I also feel like a Berliner“ And as I‘m part of the Marathon Team Berlin I also feel like a Berliner when I compete in the capital. Running here through the centre of the city, with all the spectators and the great atmosphere, that is really something special. The GENERALI BERLIN HALF MARATHON was a very good assessment. Things will get really serious for me on April 24, when I start at the Hamburg Marathon. I have trained a lot