German 10K Road Race Championships 2008: 30:34min and 17th place

September 21, 2008

On September 13th the time of waiting for the first race was finally over. After a 5-week training camp at the altitude of Kühtai (Austria) and St.Moritz (Switzerland) we went directly to Karlsruhe to compete in the first competition of the autumn. Finally the road racing season started – Yeah!

The race went surprisingly well and I was lucky to run the 2nd-fastest 10K-time of my life. Only in 2003, when I ran 30:04min to get second in the Junior category of the German Road Racing Championships, I was faster. Considering the training I did in the weeks before the race I couldn’t expect to run that fast. The training at altitude consisted of very marathon-specific training and I never really did a 10K-specific build up – the fastest kilometer I ran at altitude was 3:15min. In the 10K-championships I averaged between 3:03 and 3:04min/km. And even better is: It felt pretty ok!

After a chaotic start (the start was only 4-5 meters wide and it took around 5miutes to get everyone back to the starting line) I had at least 50 other runners in front of me because I was only in the 5th or 6th row. I didn’t want to be on the very front of the start, because I thought I would not run that fast and finish in the TOP 20. Anyway, even with this bad starting position the pace went out reasonable fast and I covered the first kilometer in 3:03min. Of course I picked up a lot of other runners who started in front of me and after the first of 4 rounds I was still in about 35th position. So I continued the steady pace and split kilometers of 3:03-3:05 most of the time. After 15:15 I went through the halfway mark (5K) and by that time I started to get somewhat more anxious if I could hold the pace all the way. So I ran the next 2K a bit more carefully and with control. At around 7,5km I realised that the legs were still fresh and I focused on some guys that were running in front of me. I closed another couple of gaps, overtook some more guys and kilometer 9 was already there. At this point a guy passed me, who was running behind of me pretty much the whole race and on the last 500meters I decided not to challenge him because I didn’t want to finish the race with a cramp or some tight muscles. Berlin marathon was/is still to come and the marathon is my main aim. Maybe this way I lost approx. 2-4 seconds but it was not worth it. I rather crossed the line, knowing that there is still something in the tank. Anyway, it was a great time and placing 17th I can say that I am in contention to the best German road racers.

Chaotic start to the men’s race at the German 10K Road Race Championships – the officials don’t have any control. I am deep inside the pack and will have to overtake a lot of guys to find my final position.

At around halfway: I am rolling good and can still catch a lot of guys.

After crossing the finish line: The 3 “Finnish runners” (from left to right): Miika Takala (30:09), Erik Haß (30:34) and Jonas Hamm (31:30).