Berlin Marathon. Think world records (a dozen to date and counting); a fantastic course with an iconic finish through the Brandenberg Gate; wonderful crowd support, and the totally unique experience of running on both sides of a European capital city that was officially unified on 3 October 1990, bringing East and West Berliners together in a truly moving way.

This year's 49th BMW Berlin Marathon, held annually since 1974, is on Sunday 24 September and there is still time to take part if you join an organised tour with runABC international travel partners Marathon Tours & Travel, who have been in the business for almost 45 years.

Marathon Tours & Travel has two tour packages available, both with guaranteed race entry at an additional £189. The far-from-basic package includes a choice of 4-star hotels with breakfasts; welcome meet and greet; escorted trip to the Marathon EXPO; guided orientation run including start and finish areas; pre-race dinner; post-race celebration; full support from experienced Marathon Tours & Travel staff in Berlin and ABTA bonding for peace of mind.

The BMW Berlin Marathon 2023 – Marriott Package from Thursday 21 September, is an action-packed, four-night experience based at the Marriott Berlin 5-star hotel and adds a cocktail reception (Thursday); half-day sightseeing tour with Marathon EXPO stop (Friday) and return coach transfers to the 6K International Breakfast Run (Saturday).

Both packages have the option to extend your stay in Berlin or add a post-event tour to various destinations – just contact Marathon Tours & Travel for a quote.

Last year's BMW Berlin Marathon saw 37-year-old Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge break his own world record with 2:01:09 plus a course record for Tigist Assefa (Ethiopia, 2:15:37) who ran the third fastest marathon ever with a PB by more than 18 minutes!

Berlin is one of the six Abbott World Marathon Majors and the super-fast course has produced the most recent eight men's world records, including Kipchoge's incredible pair of 2:01:39 and 2:01:09 in the last two years. Oddly, the last women's world record in Berlin was 2:19:46 by Naoko Takahashi (Japan) in 2001 – surely an anomaly that is way overdue revision.

Dive into runABC's previous Berlin Marathon race reports at our race listing here to get a feel for the special atmosphere that draws hundreds of UK runners to the start in the Tiergarten between Brandenberg Gate and Victory Column every year. This is an elite event, of course, but at its core are up to 45,000 runners of all abilities and a generous cut-off time of 6:15:00.

So, if you want to be there when the women's world record is broken (not an actual guarantee but a runABC hunch) fire up the Marathon Tours & Travel website for details or give the Manchester-based team a call on 0161 676 0390 – do it now!

Photo courtesy Marathon Tours & Travel website