German elite marathoners to face each other in the upcoming Düsseldorf marathon

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.