In this post I want to proceed with my series about nice running events, preferably marathon runs. My experiences obviously are entirely my own, but I preferably would like to provide as realistic a picture as possible.
The city of Braunschweig is located in the state of Lower Saxony and it is the second largest city on the area. I have been in Braunschweig a couple of times – both due to the business and pleasure, but every time the recreational activities have been on my mind… Until this I have participated at the local marathon event twice. As far as I know, the event is organised yearly on the last Sunday of October, and I aim at participating this year as well (the run will be arranged on 30th of October, 2016).
I usually prefer running events that are not fully crowded. For that reason I really wanted to give a try in Braunschweig. On the other hand, then there’s the penalty included that most probably you have to run at least parts of the race alone. I and my family usually travel to Braunschweig on the day before the race and stay in a local hotel so that it’s nice to start on the Sunday morning. By choosing a hotel in the downtown, the distances to the central restaurants and also to the starting location are very comfortable, even for the children.
The route of the marathon is half marathon distance that the marathon runners do twice. This is not a big problem as two rounds are not mentally very demanding, whereas more rounds would be… My general strategy is to run the whole race at a pretty constant pace and this has worked out well – I have done some of my best runs in Braunschweig. What is good to know, however, that the route is not completely flat, but contains a few uphills and downhills, but in the end this has not been a considerable limitation.
The race starts at Kohlmarkt in the city centre. The very first few kilometres are spent on the streets of the city centre and gradually the route proceeds to more rural areas, mostly on sand/gravel roads and even at some parts on forest paths. Then there are parts run at the side of a conventional asphalt road and then change to the landscape beside a small lake. The final kilometres follow once again the roads and streets back to Kohlmarkt, and then there’s another round left to run.
As the event is organised pretty late in the autumn, the temperatures are mostly pretty good for marathon running. There may be a considerable risk for rain as always in the northern Germany. The organisation seems pretty professional and in my opinion everything works satisfactorily – there are enough drinking stations on the route, the showers in the school located nearby were surprisingly clean and not too crowded. All in all, I really have liked it in Braunschweig and I’m already waiting for this year’s event.