I ran my first marathon at the weekend (Berlin). Think that the 2 things that I learnt were 1) it is worth carrying drink - in Berlin the water was in cups and found it v difficult to take more than a couple of gulps and then only about half actually found my mouth. Also the first few water stops were mayhem (albeit that Berlin generally was v well organised) and would have been nice to have just run through the early stops - the later ones were easier as by that time, I was running with runners of a similar pace; and 2) if as in Berlin, all first time runners are lumped together at the back, you will spend the first 10km having to weave in and out and constantly change pace - found myself getting a bit depressed when I knew that I'd quickened my pace, but the splits stayed the same!!
Good luck for the weekend!!!
