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At the end of September, the German capital hosts one of the biggest running events in the world: the Berlin Marathon.
More than 40,000 runners take part in the Berlin Marathon each year. They come from around 120 countries, making for a truly international and diverse crowd of runners and spectators.
The most popular places along the route are the Victory Column (0.6 km), the Federal Chancellery and Reichstag (6.5 km), the Friedrichstadtpalast (8 km), the Platz am Wilden Eber (28.5 km), Olivaer Platz (33.5 km) the Memorial Church (35 km), Potsdamer Platz (38.5 km), Unter den Linden (41 km) and of course the finish at the Brandenburg Gate (42 km).
In addition to the runners, wheelchair athletes (start: 8:45 a.m.) and handcyclists (start: 8:58 a.m.) will also be on the Straße des 17. Juni on Sunday (start: 9:15 a.m.). The skaters will take to the course on Saturday (start at 3:30 p.m.), and the Mini-Marathon (3:10 p.m.) and the Bambini Run (start at 11:00 a.m.) will also take place on Saturday.
There will be significant traffic disruptions during the events. All spectators are advised to use the U-Bahn and S-Bahn. On Saturday afternoon and Sunday, the streets along the marathon route - particularly in Tiergarten and Mitte - will be closed almost continuously until the end of the event. There will also be road closures in Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Schöneberg, Steglitz, Wilmersdorf and Zehlendorf.
After the 40,000 starting spots for the 2013 BMW Berlin Marathon were filled in just three and a half hours, a new registration process was introduced for the first time for the 2014 Berlin Marathon. Following a pre-registration phase in which all interested participants were registered, a lottery was held to assign the starting spots. This process has proven successful and will continue.
© dpa
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