May 10, 2009
The 10th Mainz Marathon included the German Marathon Championships 2009 and due to the absence of 2008 champions Martin Beckmann and Susanne Hahn new National Champions were crowned.
Results are here.
Mens race:
After two national titles over the halfmarathon distance, the 24-year old Stefan Koch reached his aim of securing the title over the full distance. “With the performance in general I’m satisfied, with the time not at all. After 15K I already felt that I get problems and after 25K I really had to fight.” he stated. Koch ran a PB of 2:15:38h in last years Berlin marathon and wanted to go for this PB in Mainz but conditions were a bit warm and the course is not the fastest. Anyway, with his time from Berlin he is a hot candidate for the German marathon team for the World Championships 2009.
Silver went to Peter Rodewald, who ran a tactical intelligent race. He improved his PB around 1 minute to 2:23:16h.He stated: “Most important was to secure the medal and not to take too many risks. With more opponents a better time would have been possible.” Bronce medal was taken by David Karl in 2:23:59h.
Womens race:
Bernadette Pichlmaier, last years bronce medallist in the marathon championships took the leading position from the start and was pretty much unchallenged. On mothers day the 40-year old mother of 2 kids reached her aim of going into the top three and running close to her PB of 2:38:00. Her finishing time of 2:38:44h was 3 minutes fast than the time for second place finisher Julia Viellehner.
In her marathon debut the 23-year old Viellehner ran a brave race and stated that the marathon was “exhausting but nice”. Bronce went to Birgitt Bohn, who ran a negative split of (1:21:17+1:20:49=2:42:06). Romy Spitzmüller faded towards the end of the race after being in 2nd place shortly after halfway. The hopes for the qualification for the world championships team were not fulfilled as she came home in 4th place with a rather disappointing 2:43:02.
May 9, 2009
Germanys athletics federation DLV nominated eight race walkers for the European Cup in Metz (FRA) on May 24 2009. For the Germans it will be the last chance to qualify for the IAAF World Championships 2009 because one day later (25th of MAy) the teams for both race walking and marathon will be officially announced.
For the already qualified André Höhne and Sabine Krantz it will be an important test in the world championship build-up. Both already reached the qualification standards in spring competitions and can be seen as superior to the national opponents.
The complete German team:
Women
20 km: Sabine Krantz (TV Wattenscheid 01)
Men
20 km: André Höhne, Carsten Schmidt (both SCC Berlin)
50 km: Maik Berger (SCC Berlin), Christopher Linke (SC Potsdam)
Junior Women
10 km: Charlyne Czychy (SC Potsdam)
Junior Men
10 km: Hagen Pohle (SC Potsdam), Carl Dohmann (SCL-Heel Baden-Baden)
May 7, 2009
Because of his injury problems, European 10.000m Champion Jan Fitschen wants to decide already next week if he still has a chance to get fit right in time before the home World Championships. “It’s getting more difficult every day. I know that it might not work out to participate in Berlin.” Fitschen stated to German Press Agency.
After 17 years of competitive sports the plantar tendon issue is the first big injury for Fitschen and already in the past there were several doubts if he can get fit for the World Championships.
May 5, 2009
On Sunday 3rd of May Irina Mikitenko, two-time London Marathon winner and THE german marathon hope for the World Championships in Berlin had a first feel of the official marathon course for the IAAF World Championships.
Mikitenko witnessed the official measurement of the 10 km long lap course in the midle of Berlin city. The official measurement gave the result that there was only a deviation of 3meters on the 10km loop. About the course Mikitenko said: “The course is flat and quick and as a runner coming from the track I like it. At the lap course the spectators will be even closer but at the end of the day every runner will still be alone against the 42,195m” .
Only one week after regaining her London title the 36-year old stated that “London is already behind me now. I will have one more recovery week with my family and then the preparations for World Championships will start.”
Mikitenko can now rightly claim to be currently the top female marathon runner in the world after winning in both London and Berlin in 2008, clocking the fastest time of last year when she ran 2:19:19h to win the latter race, and despite missing out on competing at the Olympics due to a injury reasons.
She hopes to make up for her absence in the 2008 Beijing Olympic at the IAAF World Championships on home soil in Berlin this summer, with the women’s marathon being on the program on August 23, the date of her 37th birthday.
May 4, 2009
Sundays Düsseldorf marathon met most of the expectations, especially in the mens field, as 2 men went sub-2:14 and 5 went sub-2:20.
mens race
André Pollmächer delivered a personal best mark of 2:13:09 to finish in 3rd place overall. In his second marathon after Frankfurt 2008 he improved by 1:09min. The time of 2:13:09 is also the fastest by a German marathoner since 2000! Pollmächer stated: “I felt fine today and surely there is more to come next time. I want to continue to improve…”.
Together with Martin Beckamnn and Falk Cierpinski, Pollmächer passed halfmarathon in 66:07min and disengaged from his competitors shortly after. Martin Beckmann was also rewarded for his courage by clocking a personal best of 2:13:42h for 6th place. Beckmann commented: “Actually I did not want to start that fast, but running alone would have been stupid as well. Until kilometer 20 I felt fantastic and thought that the time would be even faster.”
Falk Cierpinski was rather disappointed with his 8th place in 2:17:12h but a hip issue hampered the training for the last five weeks, after coming back from an altitude stay in Kenya: “I could not do faster or longer runs for five weeks”. The fastest German marathoner for the last 2 years now wants to concentrate on the home world championships.
Behind the trio of Cierpinski, Beckmann and Pollmächer a fight was expected for the last ticket for the world championships between Uli Stedl and Tobias Sauter. After passing halfway in 68:31min together the 25 year old Sauter had a better second half and finished in a PB of 2:17:27h, only 15 seconds behind his training partner Cierpinski. With this performance it is much likely that Sauter will be the 5th man (behind Pollmächer, Cierpinski, Beckmann and Stefan Koch) in the team for the World Champs. The more experienced, 37year old Steidl had to pay some tribute to a sub-optimal preparation because of a hip-flexor injury but still ran a 2:19:44. However, he most probably will not be able to represent Germany in the 2009 World Championships a second time after 2007 in Osaka.
womens race
The story in the womens race was Susanne Hahn, who clocked a PB of 2:29:26h to win the overall female classement. With this time she stayed clearly under the qualification time of 2:32:00h and will therefore most probably represent Germany in Berlin for the World Championships. The 31 year old concluded the race, saying: “I had hoped for a better result, but at the end I was happy to have improved my personal best by seven seconds. All went well for 30km, but then my legs became very heavy”.
Unfortunately the closest competitors of Hahn dropped out of the race due to injury reasons. Defending Düsseldorf champion Melanie Kraus had to give up after 8K already after she pulled a thigh muscle in her stretching routine just before the start. Claudia Dreher dropped out at km 13, but she already started the race with a foot injury.
So the 2nd place went to marathon debutant Melanie Schulz. After running the first half in 1:17:18h, Schulz hit the wall after 35K and missed her target of 2:35h quite clearly.
Results were posted already earlier..
May 2, 2009
The Metro Group Düsseldorf Marathon 2009 (03.05.2009) will – at least partly – be streamed on the internet. At the page of center.tv a stream is available from 9.00-10.00 AM (start) and 11.30AM -2.00 PM (finish). All times are Central European Summer Time, i.e.GMT + 2:00h.
Notes/Instructions: For me the stream did not work in Firefox and I had to use Internet Explorer. You have to click on “Web-TV starten” to get the stream working.
A radio stream will be available from 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM at wunschklang.com.
May 1, 2009
German race walker Sabine Krantz clearly went under the qualification standard of 1:31:40h for the Berlin World Championships 2009 by becoming second in the Coppa Città di Sesto (ITA) Race Walking meet on 1st of May. With a time of 1:29:03h she was beaten only by the Norwegian Olympic Silver-medalist Kjersti Plätzer (1:28:50h).
One week after winning the German Championships, she covered the 20km in the second-fastest time of her life. The 28-year old walked an offensive race and set the pace for the early stages of the race and only at the end the high pace took its toll. Nevertheless she fought until the end and still finished ahead of some of the strongest race walkers of the past, including Olympic Bronce medalist Elisa Rigaudo.
The result was a big relief for her and now she can continue the preparation for the home World Championships without too much of stress and pressure.
In the mens race André Höhne got 6th place with a time of 1:23:56h.
May 1, 2009
This weekend’s Düsseldorf marathon (3rd of May) will feature most of the German top marathoners and in the race for the qualification for the home world championships in Berlin 2009, this race is supposedly the most important and competitive one.
In the men’s race only Stefan Koch is missing from last year’s top five marathoners. Koch will run the German Championships in Mainz (10th of May), one week after Düsseldorf. Until now Falk Cierpinski (2:13:30, Berlin 2008), Andre Pollmächer (2:14:18, Frankfurt 2008) and Martin Beckmann (2:14:30, Frankfurt 2008) seem to have the best chances for making the team for the World Championships.
Andre Pollmächer, who only ran his debut in last year’s Frankfurt marathon is the pre-race favourite for most people, including long distance head coach Detlef Uhlemann. Falk Cierpinski had some hip issues during his preparation but nevertheless he is aiming for a sub-2:13. Martin Beckmann had a close-to-perfect preparation and gained a lot of self-confidence by this fact.
The two “dark horses” in this race are Tobias Sauter and Uli Steidl. The 25-year old Sauter had a fast development in recent years and his last year performance of 2:18:24 (Essen) put him to fifth place in the 2008-rankings. He might also profit from the training camp together with Falk Cierpinski and Martin Beckmann in Kenya this March. Uli Steidl, a US-resident and former world championships participant for Germany is the only one who has no marathon time in the qualification period for the world championships (01.08.2008-24.05.2009) so far. With his experience, the 37-year old is nevertheless a challenger for the ticket to Worlds even if some problems with his hip-flexors occurred during his preparation.
The women’s race will also include a lot of talent and is going to be just as exciting as the mens race. Melanie Kraus wants to repeat last year’s victory. With a 2:28:20h she already ran the qualification time (2:32) and has the best chances for making the team. Susanne Hahn also ran sub 2:32 last year, but the time was set before the qualification period. However, after a fine 1:11:44 halfmarathon she seems to be the biggest competition for Melanie Kraus.
Claudi Dreher also has chances to make the team but her personal best of 2:27:55h is already 9 years old. A marathon debut will be given by Melanie Schulz, who won the German Halfmarathon Championships 2009 only two days after coming back from an altitude stay. Her aim is 2:35h, which might be enough for the team if the other women cannot produce better times.
April 28, 2009
Susanne Hahn proved in good shape before the upcoming Düsseldort marathon (3rd of May) where she is trying to run the qualifying time for the 2009 Berlin World Championships (2:32:00h). At a small track meeting she clocked a 9:13,90min for 3.000m. This time is only one second short of her personal best and for a marathoner it is a pretty good speed base.
April 28, 2009
German Steeplechase Olympian Antje Möldner placed 4th with a time of 13:35 over the 4,25km-race in the 32th city run in Luzern/SUI. The race was won by Brit Helen Clitheroe.
In the mens race (8,71km) Jan Förster was 10th in 26:01min, 1:11min behind the Kenyan winner Stanley Salil.
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