Lottery Win Takes Student to Germany

When the shot was fired for the first wave of runners to start, Jesse Fajnzylber (‘25) thought to himself, “I’m never going to run a marathon again.” Two days later, after having tucked his first marathon neatly under his belt, he was thinking about how he could improve his finish time.

A competitive runner since high school, Jesse ran the Berlin Marathon in Germany on Sept. 26. He typically races half-marathons and 5ks, so racing a full marathon — 26.2 miles — was definitely outside of his comfort zone.

The Berlin Marathon is part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a series of six marathons where professional runners compete. Because this was Jesse’s first marathon, he couldn’t simply register to participate. At the urging of a runner friend, whose personal goal is to compete in all six marathons, Jesse entered the lottery to be invited to participate and was chosen.

According to Jesse, the most challenging part was twofold: From a mental perspective, he felt overwhelmed because it was not just his first marathon, but also one of the largest marathons, typically attracting some 35,000 runners on average. Jesse was placed in the first wave of runners and recalls that it didn’t really register that his placement was anything special. (Runners are placed to start based on their expected finish time.) When he realized that he was among just 300 runners, walled off from 25,000 more, he thought, “I’m in way over my head.”

Then there’s the physical aspect of running a marathon. “A marathon is a beast of race,” he says. “I felt really good the first 18 miles, running at a six-minute pace, but I could tell things were going to start falling apart quickly.” At about mile 19, both of his knees were hurting, his quadriceps were locking up, and he felt a physical lull like never before.

“I was desperately trying to keep moving forward as fast as I could and stay as close to my previous race pace as possible. I couldn’t have moved any faster,” he says.

When Jesse crossed the finish line, he thought he may have placed in the top 1,000, but he was too exhausted to really think more about it. He finished the race in 2:48, placing 479 out of 25,000 people.

Considered one of the easiest marathons because the route is generally flat and weather usually good, the Berlin Marathon has been held annually on the last weekend of September since 1974.

Once Jesse recovered from the race, he and his traveling companion spent the rest of their short time in Berlin visiting Museum Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site where one can tour five world-famous museums, and relaxing near the Spree, Berlin’s major river. They also explored downtown Berlin and the “hipster area” around their hotel.

Jesse’s advice to other runners is to work up to your distance goal. “Start with a 10k or half marathon so your legs get used to running the absurd mileage of a marathon,” he says. “Take breaks in between races, a week or two to let your body recover and to mentally recover from the focus of a race.”

As for his next marathon, Jesse hears his hometown of Boston calling. Another of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, the Boston Marathon is held every spring. “I should run that one in 2023,” he says.