‘Ich bin ein Berliner’! - Germany Unity Day - Mauerweg parkrun #29 - 03/10/25

I met old friends like Tracy and and made new friends like Iain. Photo credit; Mauerweg parkrun.

Every parkrun country has one special day each year when individual events can hold an extra parkrun. In the UK it’s Christmas Day, 25th December, in Sweden, it's Ascension Day on 14th May, and in Germany, it’s Unity Day, which is 3rd October.

With recent protests in London and a weariness from geopolitical affairs, myself and wife agreed that we needed more than just some parkrun tourism to lift our spirits. We decided that an international parkrun adventure would fit the bill and booked a trip to Berlin, where one of the parkrun events, Mauerweg parkrun, would be holding a parkrun on Unity Day, which this year fell on a Friday.  We would then do Hasenheide parkrun on the Saturday! We felt this parkrun double header would be the perfect antidote.

Unity Day is particularly poignant for Berlin, the capital of Germany, located in the northeast of the country. It’s an amazing cosmopolitan city with parks, galleries, museums and incredible architecture. Berlin has deep roots which can be traced back to the 13th Century as part of a long historical trade routes. However, Berlin has been iconic for being divided by a wall, creating East Berlin and West Berlin. In 1949 the country split into two: the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR) and German Democratic Republic (GDR), often known as West Germany and East Germany respectively, this had a knock-on effect on Berlin. East Berlin was part of the GDR allied to the USSR thus the east was occupied by the USSR. West Berlin was part of FDR allied to the Western Allied forces (France, UK and USA). Both of these arrangements dated back largely to the footprint of respective occupations by the USSR and Western Allied forces after World War II. As tensions grew internationally, the Berlin Wall was created to stop people moving from East Berlin to West Berlin in what was a ‘Cold War’ between the USSR and ‘the West’. At the same time, there was a huge cost to local Berliners as the wall split families and communities. Sadly, many people died attempting to cross this ‘man-made’ divide. You can read about the impact of the wall by clicking here.

German Unity Day commemorates German reunification in 1990 between the GDR and FDR, creating a single German state. We wanted to celebrate this spirit of unity and community, and so it appeared did quite a few others.

Mauerweg parkrun started in March 2025 and has an average of 40 participants. They had an inclination that today was going to be special. You can read how the core team planned for today’s event by clicking here.

After our excellent time visiting the Dark Matter light installations on Thursday, we woke up mentally refreshed to a crisp morning, blue skies and a sense of excitement. 

DARK MATTER exhibition; Photo credit; https://en.darkmatter.berlin/

As we entered the train station at 0730 we spotted fellow parkrunners on the platform, obviously making their way to Mauerwag parkrun too. These were not German parkruners, these were the tourists from overseas, mainly Brits 🙂 At each train stop more and more parkrunners boarded the train; the excitement was building.  

There was such a buzz in the air as we made our way to the start area, arriving around 0800 to an already bubbling atmosphere. There were people wearing their parkrun finery including milestone shirts, DIY shirts with flags and challenges completed. There was a real excitement in the air. 

It was an incredible turnout for Unity Day. Photo credit; Mauerwag parkrun.

The previous course attendance record was 125, but as the clock kept ticking, we knew something special was happening; there were people EVERYWHERE with more joining.  

Finally, the time came for Susan, today’s Run Director, to address the assembled, and I’m grateful she’s made her speech available for me to share. 

Run Director Susan`s Speech:

We’re standing on historic ground today. The field behind us used to be East Germany. And just beyond that little patch of woods, where the houses are, was West-Berlin.

This quiet meadow here was once part of what was called the death strip. Back then, it was full of watchtowers, fences, not one but two walls, mines, and armed patrols. Our entire parkrun course is on what used to be the patrol path— where border guards once walked or drove along the Wall. Crossing it was almost impossible and deadly. At least 140 people died while trying to flee across the Wall. I was 16 years old and living in East Germany when the Wall finally came down. I still remember those weeks before it happened: my dad and my brother went to the big demonstrations, and my mom and I stayed at home, waiting and hoping they would come back safely. Just one year later, Germany was reunited. And now, look at us today: on Unity Day, running together with people from all over the world. Thank you for getting up early this morning and joining us at our little parkrun on the edge of the big city. We’re so glad to have you here with us today. Happy Unity Day, everyone!

Susan shared a very stirring speech with us. Photo credit Mauerweg parkrun.

This is precisely why we’d decided to come to this event, on this special day. Standing next to parkrunners of all shapes, sizes, nationalities and ethnicities. With the words of Susan in our ears, and for me the famous quote of John F Kennedy from 1963 Ich bin ein Berliner; we did what we have come to love to do, we ran and walked 5k together. 

The volunteer team had created 600 finish tokens, but it wasn’t enough, as 868 people completed the event —a record number for any event in Germany.

People came to Mauerweg parkrun from all over the world including Sutton Coldfield :)

My fellow parkrunners were a collective lycra colour-clad delight and the volunteer team had brought balloons and laid out a spread to marvel at. The day’s official run report, written by Claire Wynarczyk, can be found by clicking here. It includes some fabulous pictures of the day. 

I was so glad I’d taken my daughter to be part of it. This special event had been truly special.

Stay well and happy running, walking or volunteering. 

www.nuhorizons.uk

You can read about how parkrun was created by the founder, Paul Sinton-Hewitt, a care leaver, in his book ‘One Small Step’ The Definitive Account of how a run become a Global Movement by clicking here