frankfurt Marathon

Hi

I was wondeing if anyone ran this yesterday, and how they founf it?

Look at doing it next year, but just want to make certain the course is very fast / flat.

Cheers

I haven´t run it, but the course is really fast and flat as a pancake. Wilson Kipsang was only 4 seconds from breaking the world record there last year. The height difference is 27,8m, to be compared with some other city marathons:

Brighton - 105m

London - 85m

Liverpool - 151m

Manchester - 55m

Milton Keynes - 102m

Sunderland - 125m

Berlin - 76m

Amsterdam - 44m

Chicago - 151m

New York - 176m

Boston - 107m

Paris - 114m

Hi folks, I ran the Frankfurt Marathon on Sunday.

Very flat and very fast course, only one small rise that I can remember. The start does seem to go through and around the city for about 8 miles but once out of town it is great

It has a great setup at the start however not so great at the finish. You finish in the Festhalle, which is great but then get moved through to receive your medal then outside for refreshments to which you have to go looking for, you do not get a bag full of goodies at the finish, it is a case of go and see what you can find. Once you have got your drinks, banana etc, it is then a case of back into the Festhalle to retreive your bag and then to the showers before the massage, problem being it is not all on one level. Showers are not for those who like there modesty, it is a case of everyman for themselves, massage however, very worth while and lasts a good 20 minutes.

Germany I can not faulter, great people and great transport system. The Golden Leaf Hotel is worth staying at (we got it for £11 a night), seems quite a way out but is only two mins on the underground into the city centre.

Any other questions feel free to ask.
 

Frankfurt is also on my list of possible autumn marathons.

It certainly has a reputation as being well-organised and super-fast.

What did you think of the city, Steve?  The interweb seems to describe it as an expensive, high-rise finance centre, which doesn't sound like a fun place to spend a city break (I like to make a little holiday of my foreign marathon jaunts).

Hi Njord...well I have to admit, i liked it Every city is the same I feel, does not matter which country you are in, it is what you make it. The city is a little high rise but every city is...yes it can be expensive also, it is like anywhere these days, take a look around and you find good deals. We stayed at the Golden Leaf Hotel, great hotel, paid only £11 per night each (ok breakfast cost 12 Euros extra but again you expect to pay this anywhere). It does cost 4 Euros for the Underground, but we did not pay anything all the time we was there, as on the first day we thought you could pay on the train...we did not see 1 conducter to check tickets so worked out very cheap transport They say there is a 40 Euro fine but again no conducter.

The people in Frankfurt are very helpful and friendly and everyone we asked for directions gave us the time of day to help. Great race, great people and I am sure you would enjoy it. There is a zoo, great parks, swimming pools, also good for shopping.

Thanks for those comments, Steve - appreciate it.

I'm a huge fan of Berlin - the marathon, the city and the people - but I don't want to keep going back there EVERY autumn.  So somewhere like Frankfurt or Munich appeals as an alternative.  Munich is probably the better city for tourism, but it sounds like Frankfurt has the better quality marathon (IAAF Gold Label rated, which is a guarantee of sorts).  Will be interesting to visit somewhere new either way. 

Completely agree with you about a place being what you make it - good mindset and good company trump anything your surroundings can provide.

Frankfurt deffo on the agenda for next year

I ran it on Sunday and did a massive PB...as did everyone else I know!

Finish inside the Festhalle was awesome - red carpet, disco lights, tinsel showers, pom-pom girls, greatest hits of the Hoff on the speakers...

I did Berlin last year, and burned up in the late summer (Sep) heat...FFT didn't get higher than 2C - much better for mara racing 

Teknik wrote (see)

pom-pom girls, greatest hits of the Hoff on the speakers...

I think the only way a German marathon finish can top that, is if the Hoff is there in person backed by The Village People and the German national football team from 1994 (surely I'm not the only one to remember that...).

I couldn't really fault the organisation, it was super slick.  Pasta party and post-race refreshments (hot tea, soup, organic apples and bananas, sports drinks and as much beer as you could drink!) more than met with my expectations.

As for the course, my only gripes were that there were a few twists and turns and a couple of cobbled sections towards the end otherwise it was very flat.  Standard was good, comparable with London even though it has 1/3 the number of runners - lots of people finishing in the 2hr30s and 2hr40s.  Temperature was ideal for me, not the kenyans!

for an idea of the over-the-top finish, click the link

http://www.asics.de/runnerstv/?r=6893&e=FM12M&n=Nick+Woolnough&nt_f=03:49:40&ct_f=14:00:53&nt_s2=00:27:01&nt_s3=00:54:32&nt_s4=01:21:32&nt_s5=01:49:17&nt_s6=01:55:16&nt_s7=02:16:30&nt_s8=02:43:57&ct_s8=12:55:10&nt_s9=03:11:17&ct_s9=13:22:30&nt_s10=03:38:37&ct_s10=13:49:50&nt_s11=03:49:14&ct_s11=14:00:28&=13&player=1&ll=asics_loadlogo.png&cct=1000000000000000000000000000000000000000&k=finishtotaal&l=EN

this is not the 2h30 or 2h40 crew!!

Hi,

I also ran this years Marathon, which my first one. I really loved every minute of it. Organisation is great, flat race and the Cinnamon cake at the end is heavenly. I will definately go back again. The only thing ishi for me was the cobble streets. I didn't like running on them cobble stones at all. However, the public support was amazing. They even managed to read and pronounce my mouthful name and cheer me up( I must have been running too slow for them to be able to get time to read it from above my race number.

I strongly recommend this race.

Next One of Poland's Marathons. Has anyone done it?

This sounds great!!!!! Love the finish - looks bonkers!

I love it Teknik and signed up a few weeks ago. Flights are booked and hotel sorted. Can't wait for it!