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Berlin Marathon - Berlin Hotels .com

Runners, mark your calendars: The Berlin Marathon, held at the end of September, is a wonderful chance to tour 26 miles of historic Berlin. The race, which is known as one of the easiest and fastest marathons in the world because of its flat course, starts and finishes in the heart of the city. The first person to win the marathon in 1974 -- Gunter Hallas -- still runs the race to this day. He and his fellow runners are cheered on by more than one million fans. Numerous world records have been set and broken on this course. For example, in 2007 Haile Gebrselassie beat the former world record of 2:04:26, set in 2003 by Paul Tergat, by a mere 29 seconds.

In addition to being what seasoned marathoners call a fast race, the course of the Berlin marathon follows the lines of the city's history. Runners pass landmarks such as the Reichstag, which housed the original parliament of the German Empire, Potsdamer Platz, the "heart" of Berlin, and the Berliner Dom before running through Brandenburg Gate, a great symbol of Berlin and one of the city's old gates, to reach the finish line and celebrate victory with a beer.

URL: http://www.real-berlin-marathon.com/events/berlin_marathon/2007/index.en.php