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Berlin Marathon
Berlin-Marathon
2005 Berlin Marathon
The 2007 Marathon took place on September 29 / 30 and was Berlin's largest ever. The next Berlin Marathon will take place on September 27 / 28, 2007. (Note that from 2009 onwards, the Berlin Marathon will probably take place during July, not on the traditional last weekend of September). The 2007 Berlin Marathon results can be viewed on the official website here. LinkThe marathon's official site is at http://www.berlin-marathon.com/. Berlin Marathon Route / CourseThe marathon begins and ends at the Brandenburg Gate and is of course 42.195 km in length (measured according to AIMS/IAAF rules). A course map is available for download here. Berlin is a very flat city with few noticeable hills, none of which lie on the marathon's route, making for very fast times. The majority of the course is located within the former West Berlin, but takes in the main sights in the former East Berlin's city center. The course starts off westwards through the Tiergarten, passing the Victory Column into the Charlottenburg district before looping back north and eastwards through the Moabit area. Crossing the former path of the Berlin Wall at Invalidenstrasse, runners continue via the Torstrasse and Karl-Marx-Allee, crossing the Spree near Treptower Park. The marathon passes back into the former West Berlin at Border Crossing Heinrich-Heine-Straße, curving through the Neukölln and Kreuzberg districts. Between kilometers 22 and 23 runners pass Rathaus Schöneberg, site of Kennedy's famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech (will they be handing out free doughnuts?), then head out into the comparatively suburban district of Steglitz. The course turns west then northwards, reaching Olivaer Platz at the western end of the prestigious Ku'damm shopping boulevard. Continuing up the Kurfürstendamm, the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is visible at kilometer 34, at which point the course bends into the Tauentzienstrasse, passing Berlin's premier department store KaDeWe on Wittenbergplatz. Around Nollendorfplatz the gay community might be out to cheer runners on, who pass by towards Potsdamer Strasse and then Potsdamer Platz, once more crossing the line of the former Berlin Wall into the Leipziger Strasse, before reaching the Spreeinsel. Here runners can check out the ruins of Erich Honecker's Palast der Republik and the former GDR State Council Building before reaching Unter den Linden, Berlin's monumental boulevard. From there on the finishing line beyond the Brandenburg Gate is visible straight ahead. Previous winners
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