Kipchoge shows off dance moves in Berlin Marathon after-party
Kenya’s ambassador to Germany Thomas Amolo (in glasses) celebrates with Berlin marathon winner Eliud Kipchoge and Kenyan fans in berlin on September 24, 2023.
What you need to know:
- This is what organisers of the Berlin Marathon had in mind when they organised a huge after party for both the fan runners and elite athletes at a popular night club in Berlin
- For some reason, my colleague Hillary Anekea and I did not get wind of this “mother of all parties” that was threatening to bring another shutdown to Berlin
- The mood was lively as the marathoners, whom I have known to be reserved back at home, readily interacted with fans as they honoured hundreds of selfie requests
In Berlin
Marathon running is punishing affair that pushes the body to the limit, and a little unwinding is necessary afterwards.
This is what organisers of the Berlin Marathon had in mind when they organised a huge after party for both the fan runners and elite athletes at a popular night club in Berlin.
For some reason, my colleague Hillary Anekea and I did not get wind of this “mother of all parties” that was threatening to bring another shutdown to Berlin, after roads and main streets had been closed the whole day to allow 49,000 participants to compete.
As we walked back to the Hotel Intercontinental Berlin, where all the elite athletes who took part in the 49th edition of the Berlin Marathon had been booked, the lobby was full of fans waiting for selfies with the superstars.
The mood was lively as the marathoners, whom I have known to be reserved back at home, readily interacted with fans as they honoured hundreds of selfie requests.
After every single interview we did, the athlete would invite us to a party. “Watu wa Nation, si tunaenda sherehe? (Nation journalists, aren’t we going to the party?),” they would say. In my five years of close interaction with the athletes, I have never spotted a marathoner in a night club. Never!
Athletes drove from the hotel in a double-decker bus to the the popular Metropol Night Club about a kilometre away. There, the energy was electric. Athletes were ushered into the VIP section amid deafening cheers but they only took energy drinks, or bottles of soda. Women’s World marathon record holder Tigst Assefa arrived, followed by men’s marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, sending the revellers into a frenzy.
Later, Kipchoge said: “Berlin ist meine zweite Heimat” (Berlin is my second home) and danced to the hit song “Sweet Caroline” by American singer Neil Diamond. Assefa and other athletes joined in.
They later signed autographs for fans, and retreated to the VIP section. What a night! We later took a taxi back to our hotel room on 129n Riemeister Street, some 13km from Berlin’s Central Business District.
