29. Bietigheimer Silvesterlauf 2009: 11,2km – 35:44min (15th place)

January 1, 2010

On the last day of 2009 I ran Germanys second biggest New Years Eve race in Bietigheim. After 2007 it was the second time for me there, so I already knew the great atmosphere (4.000runners in one race+several ten-thousand spectators). This time I was traveling with a big group, that also included Carolin Tuch, Peter Rodewald, Marc Schulze and his girl friend as well as my parents. We were invited by the race organiser, which meant we could stay in Bietigheim form 30.12-1.1., avoiding the stress of traveling for several hours on race day. The organisation was once again perfect – great thanks for the organisers!!

For me it was a first serious test and the first fast workout since several weeks. I only had three weeks of continuous training in my legs and that’s why I cannot be dissapointed with my performance. Even if I was a couple of seconds slower than 2007 the race was a confidence builder for me. Averaging 3:11min/km without any speed training is reasonable and the gap to the big guns is not too big. I could run at around 13th place for most of the race but on the finnishing straight two guys caught me and I could not respond. After all tenth place was only 25seconds away. The most important thing for me was and is, that I’m still healthy and pain-free now and can continue my build-up for the 2010 season. In the future I will add some speed work to my training and then I hope to have a better kick and a faster leg turnover.

Results of the race have been published earlier already.

bietigheim_group