BMW BERLIN-MARATHON AbbottWMM Six Stars Journey

The 2023 BMW-BERLIN MARATHON was brilliant. Marathon Tours & Travel did a great job and the event was well organized. Jeff and the MTT crew were helpful and supportive. We stayed at the Marriott which was excellent. All in all, I give the Berlin Marathon with MTT a 5 star rating and would highly recommend it.

Thanks, for all the hard work you and your team did to coordinate the Berlin Marathon. I did not realize Marathon Tours had that many folks attending, so after attending the welcome reception, I had a new appreciation for all the work your team had between COVID impact last year and then coordinating this year.

I had a very memorable trip and I just wanted to say thank you and GREAT JOB to your team. I look forward to doing more marathon trips through you, as I continue my 6 star Abbott quest.

MTT made everything easy at my first international marathon, especially considering the COVID challenges. I have participated in many US marathons on my own, but I think I would have had a difficult time in Berlin on my own. Thanks!

I’m writing to just say “thank you” for absolutely everything to make Berlin just amazing… over the past 2 years I cannot imagine the stress and gazillion emails you’ve responded to and you ALWAYS answered each one of mine (and I ask a lot of questions!) so timely and with patience and above all, information! I’m appreciative! You helped calm a lot of nerves heading into this trip and I’m grateful to have MTT in my life!

I heard there was great value with MT&T. Not only with money but with time and stress level. Typically my wife plans everything. This time, she was able to enjoy, relax and just watch me run.

Incredible first experience traveling with Marathon Tours that sets a very high standard of travel, knowledge and expertise.

I used to manage a charity team and do similar logistics, planning, communications etc. I really like that Marathon Tours gives the opportunity to meet other runners and share the experience of running an incredible race at an international destination. It reminded me of the charity team, and the camaraderie that is built from a shared goal. I was very happy to connect with other solo travelers.

I liked the fact that everything was planned out for us. This is my first trip with Marathon Tours. Usually, I do all the planning of where to stay that is close to the finish, which can be super stressful, so this was so so easy.

Nichole was fabulous. A hero to me and Grace. So much worry over the virus, lodging, transportation, expo, etc. But her and her team got us where we needed to be. I felt like all I really needed to do was Race. Unforgettable experience and MT&T made it that way. I look forward to more adventures in running with them, especially in pursuit of the 6th Abbott Star!

My favorite thing about Marathon Tours is that you put the runners and their health, safety and comfort as your number one priorities!

This is just a quick note to remind you of the incredible services that each of you offer, and I myself have just been so thankful for all of you over these years. As a wife, mother, professional and runner you have brought such peace of mind to my life. I am so thankful to know that when it comes to the one activity of me that brings me joy, I know I can count on all of you for help when I want to do something adventurous!

Thank you for all that you do to make people’s dreams come true and support them even when they just have to wait a bit longer. In the end, Marathon Tours and their agents are always going to be ready and willing to make sure that each person gets the best of the best! I just wanted you to know that for some of us, our experiences with marathon tours holds deep meaning in our lives because of all the goodness you have contributed.

Nicole Langone has been extremely communicative and helpful throughout my entire process. Just wanted to throw a kudos out there and also thank you for doing your best during this troubling time. I look forward to running with you soon!

Thank you, thank you, Nicole, and the entire staff of Marathon Tours. The trip to Berlin was so well organized and every detail was well planned. From the welcome night, the tour of Berlin, the transport to the Expo, transport to the fun run, the pasta dinner and the post-race party, the organization was superb. I thoroughly enjoyed the race and your hospitality was excellent. I am still on a “high” and I look forward to another race with Marathon Tours. Please thank everyone at marathon Tours. I really appreciated all your efforts.

At this point marathon tours is the only company I look to when considering a marathon because your service is impeccable. I sincerely appreciate the timely personal responses on email in advance planning for a trip and knowing you’ll see a friendly, helpful face upon arrival in a completely new country. I trust and know that I have support on the ground, and have as such recommended marathon tours to many friends in my running team. Thank you for all you do!

I loved how the things I am least good at organizing myself was handled for me…. I never had to search for anything or locations or something … it was all planned… I could enjoy as much with the group as I wanted or as little. I was in control of my experience, but Marathon Tours was there whenever I wanted or needed any interaction or guidance. For a large group, it’s such a great, personal, exciting adventure. The other thing I really love is how all of the runners/guests are just one big team and Marathon tours enables us to all come together and embrace and celebrate (the MT employees included) the joys, accomplishments, challenges, and hard ships of running. I had no idea how much I would love doing races as a team of people, not just the solo sport I’ve always known it to be.

I am blown away with Marathon Tours… I’m a really experienced traveler and always try and avoid group stuff because it stresses me out, but marathon tours handled everything so well, and so personally. I was one of three people in the group who returned to a hurricane having hit the area, but for the days I was there, MT did a great job with kindness and compassion. I stood back as all of the employees made their ways around the room engaging with everyone. It’s really like nothing else. And the tour was fantastic. That type of thing makes me cringe usually. It was so organized and planned, the guide was awesome. It was just so nicely done. So personal. I cannot say enough good stuff about my experience on this trip. Thank you all so much.

In terms of the service of Marathon Tours: Everything was planned for us! I didn’t have think about anything but how was I going to get to/from the airport, and I hope I don’t get lost on my shake out runs. Coordinating with the hotel for an early start to the breakfast on Sunday morning was fantastic as well. I don’t normally eat a large breakfast on marathon mornings due to timing, but this worked out perfectly. I was full three hours prior to the race, and had a banana about 45 minutes before the start. Perfect fueling. In terms of Berlin: What an amazing city. I had only ever been to southwest Germany in the past, so coming to Berlin was an opportunity to truly immerse myself in the history – good and bad – of the country. The city did not disappoint. I used the four-hour city tour on Friday to pick out spots where I wanted to explore further on Monday (as I was leaving early on Tuesday). This was so helpful – and having a tour guide like Ulli made it even better. She was so down to earth, and genuine. I wish the folks who do the course tour for the NYC Marathon would take note! In terms of the marathon: I’ve run big marathons in the past – heck, this was #4 of the six majors for me. But it was such an incredible experience being on the international runner side, as opposed to being a runner in the NYC or Chicago races. The spectators were awesome – and it was great to hear them call out my name, even though no one had any idea who I was or where I was from. The global community of runners was so strong. And … what’s a marathon in Berlin without beer on course? Thank you to the beer stop (unofficial, I believe) at mile 25!

The City Tour was beyond fabulous. I also loved the pre-race dinner. It was spot on. I loved the camaraderie. Meeting new people during the Thursday night Happy Hour and then seeing them again and again over the weekend gave the trip added depth and meaning.

I really feel like I got my money’s worth with the social events (which I was not actually expecting) and the bus tour. You can tell you guys have been doing this for a while, a very well oiled machine.

I was amazed on how well the whole Marathon Tours package was delivered. Very professional folks, very timely communication…..this was all new to me and it went extremely smooth!!! As a matter of fact, we are now looking at Tokyo and reaching out to fabulous Nicole for help!! Woohoo!!

This is the 3rd time we have booked with Marathon Tours and they do a fantastic job. All the extra events they had planned for the runners and families were amazing! Can’t wait to book with them again!

This is my third trip with Marathon Tours and each one has been better than the next and the first one was awesome! Thank you so much for your personal touch and your dedication to making these trips fabulous!! I especially appreciate your effort in acknowledging the World Marathon Majors Finishers. It was a special race for me in that regards and the effort you put forth to celebrate with me and my family was very much appreciated. Marathon Tours rocks!! Nicole is awesome and I believe Jacqui has talked me into the Maasai marathon next summer – 7 continents here I come! Great company, great people!

The support before and during the Berlin trip, from the greeting in the hotel. The cocktail hour on the Thursday, the bus tour and the greeting at the hotel after the marathon with beer, Gatorade and bath salts were great. The post marathon social event was great too.

I had an amazing time both prior to Berlin and while in Berlin. Nicole was AMAZING in handling of all my questions and getting me the right information at the right time. I was very very impressed. I believed everything was very well organized and the staff was extremely friendly/knowledgeable. Thank you for such an amazing/unforgettable trip.

Marathon Tours were beyond awesome. They took care of everything from welcoming you, cocktail reception, tour, and pasta dinner. All I had to worry about was running the race

This was my second trip with Marathon Tours and once again it didn’t disappoint. Everything, start to finish, was well organized and the delivery was exactly as outlined. Great hotels: centrally located for easy expo & race access, and to Berlin sites and attractions. Enjoyed and appreciated the reception and pre-race dinner, bus tour, transportation to & from the 6km breakfast run, etc., etc. It was great to meet Nicole (especially after exchanging emails for so many months/years), along with Alyssa, Jacqui, etc. . Also to connect with fellow Canadians Christine and Paul. I appreciated Jeff’s personal participation in all the events and his vision for the future of the company and recognition of the staff who will make it all possible.

The whole trip was a wonderful experience! We met so many lovely people on this trip. Marathon Tours did a great job, everything ran so smoothly and was well organized. I will definitely use Marathon Tours in the future and recommend Marathon Tours to fellow runners.

I will definitely use Marathon Tours for the two majors I have left – London and Tokyo.

I was very impressed! Overall, outstanding value for this running experience in Berlin! Marathon Tours delivered in a way that allowed me to just focus on my race and not worry about other details!

Everything. I met some great people at the cocktail party that I hung out with for the remainder of the trip. All the scheduled events were well run and the pasta dinner was so convenient and delicious. The Munich leg, including Oktoberfest was wonderful.

The race itself, the international breakfast run, the bus tour (guide was great). Liked the ease of travel, the knowledge of the race that your staff had, the inside tips and advice, meeting other US runners in your program, etc. We would not have come in on Thursday if not for your staff recommendation and pre-pkgd hotel. Really glad we did… we needed all of that time to adjust to the time zone.

The hotel location was perfect the race on Sunday. It was a short walk to/from the runners village. I was glad that Marathon Tours provided buses to the breakfast run on Saturday so that we could participate in that run. It was a great way to get a run in before the race, see how the weather was going to be the next day, and run off some pre-race jitters. I went into Sunday’s race feeling much better – and I got a PR, knocking 18 minutes off my previous best. Yes, I am happy. 🙂