Karen Darke | Athlete | Speaker | Author

The Berlin Marathon: fast, flat, wet, and the biggest field of handbikers I’ve ever seen. 175 to be precise, from racing recumbents to handbikes clipped onto wheelchairs, with teenagers to pensioners at the helm.

It was the kind of wet that sprays water up your nostrils and dirt into your eyes, and dripped cold into your bones, my hands on the cranks numb even before the start. The route takes a tour of Berlin, but I saw nothing but the draft bar of the bike in front. Occasionally I pushed out front, faster, sensing the pace of the group to be too slow but then wishing I hadn’t as the icy air slowed me and soon I’d retreat back into the shelter of the chain gang again, hurtling through the wet streets, concentrating not to crash.

I didn’t see any other women, didn’t know how many were there. I crossed the finish line beyond the Brandenburg Gate and saw the blond ponytail of Ursula Schwaller (Swiss), the World Champion. So I hadn’t won, but I was second, 1 min 47 seconds behind her. I should have, could have, gone faster, but then I’m sure so could she. It was the wettest Berlin Marathon in history (its only apparently the second to have rain) and left athletes blue-lipped, shivering and retreating for hotels, but despite all that, it was for sure the greatest race I’ve experienced on a handbike yet, and testimony to the growing popularity of the sport.