Team Motiv8 athlete Sandeep Gadekar choose the Berlin Marathon 2022 as his 2nd official and timed full marathon, and finished in a well earned  3:37.

His training cycle was beset by frequent bouts of illness due to work pressure and stress, yet Sandeep doggedly fought back every time, never losing his focus and goal of running this World Marathon Major race. A slightly aggressively executed pacing strategy caused him cramps and fading late in the race, but he will emerge stronger and wiser from this race experience, with his eyes firmly set on the next target race.

About issues he faced during the training, Sandeep said:

“During training, I had challenges in balancing training with work life and exhaustive office hours. I also faced medical issues, so my training was not always 100% upto the mark.”

Commenting on race day, he said:

“It was my very first international race. The monkey on my shoulder was all the health issues which I carried in the training cycle.But I decided to give my best come what may. I was strong till 35k, but post that cramps popped up and all was hell then. It was a struggle to the finish after that”

When asked how he kept himself motivated during training despite the frequent setbacks, he said:

“In the entire cycle I kept telling myself that I will not give any excuses. I was always focused on and targeting to break my PB and give my best”

Immediately after the finish, Sandeep had these thoughts:

“It was a day with lots of mixed emotions, getting through the Brandenburg gate was with tears. It was my official full marathon PB by 15 minutes (though last virtual was 3.23). At the same time, a bit disappointed at the final time.  But I was already determined to come back far far stronger!”