39. Geraer Silvesterlauf 2008: 11km – 42:46min (3rd place)

December 29, 2008

On the last Saturday of 2008 I participated in a local race in Gera instead of doing my tempo-run alone at home. I just made the decision to compete the evening before the race, so there was not much of a preparation (neither physical nor mental) and for me it was a good training run without going to the limit. The course was a very hilly one, with a lot of forest ways and some single trails with uneven underground. Furthermore the ground was frozen and that’s why I didn’t want to risk any injury. Surprisingly there also were some really good competitors (e.g. Christian Seiler-4th place in German halfmarathon nationals 2008) and I couldn’t match the speed of the two front runners.

More important for me will be the international Trierer Silvesterlauf on New Year’s Eve. I got invited by the race organisers to stay in Trier from 30.12.08-01.01.09 and will race against a talent-loaded field, with e.g. Beijing 10.000m Bronze medalist Micah Kogo and other national and international top-class athletes. I’m already very excited to run in the “German Sao Paulo” as the race is known because of its atmosphere.