by RBR Admin
Alina Reh wins in Berlin with an internationally high class time.
Photo: Helmut Winter
Starting line-up at intervals: Johannes Motschmann (front right) was the eventual winner,
Mark Milde, the Berlin Marathon Race Director, runs to his right.
Photo: Cecilia Wenig / Race News Service
Alina Reh ran a fast 10k in 31:26 on 7 June. We thank Jörg Wenig of www.race-news-service.com on the story.
Alina Reh runs top time over 10 km with a German road running comeback in Berlin
German road racing has come back, and Alina Reh has achieved an internationally high-class performance over 10 km in Berlin: The 23-year-old runner of SSV Ulm stormed on a flat commute in the southeast of Berlin at a time of 31:26 minutes. In rainy conditions, she missed her own best time by only three seconds. Alina Reh showed once again that she has the potential to break Irina Mikitenko’s (30:57) German record. With her time in Berlin, Alina Reh now takes a remarkable seventh place in the current annual world best list. Johannes Motschmann (SCC Events Pro-Team Berlin) won the men’s race with 29:11 minutes.
After some high-class 10 km races had taken place in the first months of the year, the Berlin run with the title “Berlin 10k Invitational” was the first race worldwide since the start of the corona pandemic to produce internationally relevant times. The only other top athletic run that has taken place in recent months has been a 5 km race in Norway. In Stavanger, Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a national record over 5 km over 13 km in 13:28 minutes.
The current corona rules were complied with in the Berlin pilot project “Return of the Road Run”. In order to ensure this, the organizers had not announced the race in advance. The local media also knew nothing about the “Berlin 10k Invitational”. So there were almost no spectators on the track.
The race took place in the southeast of Berlin on a paved, completely flat forest road. A total of eight men and seven women started plus pace-maker. The men started two minutes ahead of the women, and the starting positions were shifted so that there was a corresponding distance between the runners.
The set-up with the commute, the wind-protected course and a total of three turns over the entire distance looked a bit like a small format of the “1:59 Challenge”, in which Kenya’s superstar Eliud Kipchoge was the first runner in the Vienna Prater last October to run the marathon ran under two hours. The Berlin track was officially measured in advance, and judges from the Berlin Athletics Association also stopped the times.
The “Berlin 10k Invitational” was put on its feet by Mark Milde, the race director of the Berlin marathon, Christoph Kopp, who among other things committed the elite athletes to the Frankfurt marathon, and Helmut Winter, who was responsible for several national and international races implement the time displays for the elite runners on the track. Athletes and coaches were grateful that after many cancellations – the German Athletics Association (DLV) had only canceled all road racing championships for 2020 on Friday – the initiative was taken in Berlin and a run could take place.
“It was a nice experience to be able to run a race again. I am happy with the time, although I originally wanted to achieve a result in the range of 31:00 minutes, “said Alina Reh. The fourth in the European Championship over 10,000 m from 2018 had set itself apart from its competitors immediately after the start. Led by a pacemaker, she reached the 5 km mark after 3:45 p.m. Although she contested the race from full training, Alina Reh was able to make significant gains in the final phase. She even ran the last kilometer in 3:02 minutes. “I hope there will be more races,” said Alina Reh.
Behind Alina Reh, Katharina Steinruck (Eintracht Frankfurt) also performed well. The marathon runner finished second in 32:41 and missed her best time by just two seconds. A personal record was set by Caterina Granz (LG Nord) Berlin, who finished third after 32:47. Fourth and fifth place went to Deborah and Rabea Schöneborn (both LG Nord Berlin) in 34:28 and 34:32 respectively.
“It was finally a race again. Now I’m knocked out and really happy about my performance, “said Katharina Steinruck, who drove from Frankfurt to Berlin at short notice to start the 10 km run. “Everything was well organized, we were well shielded and some waiting drivers even cheered us on,” said Katharina Steinruck. “I hope that this race has now set an example and motivated others to do something too. We saw in Berlin today that it is feasible to run a street race. “
The men’s race was comparatively less crowded. Here Johannes Motschmann (SCC Events Pro-Team Berlin) won with a personal record of 29:11 minutes.
Nils Voigt (TV Wattenscheid) came second in 29:24 ahead of Fabian Clarkson (SCC Events Pro-Team Berlin), who finished after 29:36. “I’m happy about a personal best, even though I actually wanted to stay under 29 minutes,” said 25-year-old Johannes Motschmann, whose specialty is the 3,000 m obstacle course. Over this distance, he wants to qualify for the Olympic Games next year. “I was glad that I could run a competition again, because that is something different than just training. The race showed that something is possible with innovation. I thought it was a shame that all German road racing championships were canceled. “
Text: race-news-service.com
Photos: Helmut Winter, Cecilia Wenig
Video: Cecilia Wenig
