Irina Mikitenko wins with German record of 30:57min while Falk Cierpinski German takes the mens title in the German 10K Road Race Championships

September 16, 2008

Women’s race:
Irina Mikitenko was the big story at the German 10K Road Race Championships, that were held on September, 13th in Karlsruhe. Mikitenko destroyed a talented field, including the German Olympians Sabrina Mockenhaupt and Susanne Hahn, finishing with a new German Record and a World-leading time of 30:57 min. With this time she became the 8th fastest runner ever and improved her former German record by 31 seconds (previous record: 31:28min, 2003). After back problems stopped her from competing at the Olympic marathon in Beijing, Mikitenko continued training in St. Moritz (SUI) and came back stronger than before.
Immediately after the start, Mikitenko took charge of the field and only Sabrina Mockenhaupt could follow for the first kilometer. After 2 of the 4 rounds and a 5K-split of 15:27 Mockenhaupt had to decrease the pace but still finished with a PB of 31:50. Mikitenko continued with the record-setting pace and felt good all the way (“I thought I should just try to keep the pace, which went very well. I had no problem.”). In 3rd place Susanne Hahn ran a lonely race, clocking 32:53min with a bigger group finishing 1 1/2 minutes later.

Men’s race:
The competition in the men’s race was much more open and tight. Several runners were in contention until the last round. At the end Falk Cierpinski, son of the double Olympic Marathon champion Waldemar had the best legs and won in 29:14min. Surprising 2nd place was Steffen Uliczka (29:17min) ahead of Alexander Lubina (29:19min). Altogether 8 runners ran sub-30minutes on the flat course with only few corners.

Irina Mikitenko en route to the German 10K-Record in Karlsruhe (13.09.2008)