Local Event

Training stats
We 16/05: hilly run, 9.5K, 0:51 hrs

week's total: 30K running, 254K slow biking
Su 13/05: pacemaker race, 21K, 2:05 hrs
Th 10/05: hilly biking, 82K, 5:00 hrs

It was a busy weekend with the biggest local race of the year taking place: The Ruhr Marathon, officially now called Karstadt Marathon, named after its main sponsor.

Approaching the start line in Dortmund

Organisers sell the event as the world's only "twin marathon". In fact there are 2 marathons being run, the bigger one starts in Dortmund, the other in Oberhausen, both meet in Gelsenkirchen and finish in Essen. The idea is to involve as many towns of the area as possible. However, it was the forth edition and numbers are constantly decreasing. Organisers hoped to welcome up to 30.000 participants, finally 17.000 finishers were registered, running in 21 different competitions. The marathon had just 4.200 runners. There were also a halfmarathon, 10K race, youth race, children race, walking, inline race ...

There are too many marathons in the area, they just can't be successful all of them. And runners notice sensitively that this one is a very commercial one focussed more on the sponsors' needs than on the runners' requirements.

This is a pity since it is a nice idea to run through a chain of different towns, especially as it is the area where I grew up. Therefore, I hope the event will stay alive and I will take part as long as I can.

Those of you speaking German might like to read my Personal Race Report.

S failed to finish the halfmarathon inside 2:00 hrs
but she stays happy and shows a constant smile

By the way my application for this year's New York City Marathon has been rejected. Although I accomplished the conditions. I ran the demanded half marathon time (inside 1:40 for M50) and I chose Berlin to do it because the organiser is part of the World Major Marathons. I guess I was rejected because I had already been accepted last year. - I don't really mind. I will get my number from my travel agency interAir which I work for. The only pity is that they could have sold one more number to their clients if I had my own one.