• presented by

  • 

• Partner

  • 

News

16th MINI MARATHON of the schools 2004 at real,- BERLIN-MARATHON

8,023 youth from the Berlin and Brandenburg schools

2004-10-07

16th MINI MARATHON of the schools 2004 – The participants and their families were enthusiastic 8,023 youth from the Berlin and Brandenburg schools

Germany’s largest school sporting event, the MINI MARATHON of the schools, is part of the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON.

Big time event
8,023 youth from Berlin and Brandenburg schools, as well as from schools from other German states - and individual runners who did not register through their sport teachers - , have made this “side event“ into a big time event. This event that promotes running among the youth is unique in Germany.
8,023 youth from about 640 school teams tried to put together the fastest time – each team was made up of 10 participants who all ran the 4.2195 km course together but received a group time. Together they ran the whole 42.195 km and can then compare their achievements with those of the MARATHON champions. There are no individual rankings so as to further emphasise the team spirit.

New records
8,023 participants marks a new record in the 16 year history of the MINI MARATHON. It began in 1989 with 875 participants, in 1993 it reached 3,588 participants, and in 1999 already 5,226 runners. A greater leap was made in 2002 with 7,323 youth, while last year the number of participants dropped back to 6,732—and this year there was an unexpected boom.

Cooperation with the Senate for Education ...
For over a decade, SCC-RUNNING has been working successfully in cooperation with the Senate for Education, Youth and Sport, school sport and physical education. At three of the largest German running events organised by SCC- RUNNING, the Bewag BERLIN HALF MARATHON, the AVON Berlin Women’s Run, and the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON, youth from Berlin’s schools have the opportunity to participate in these world class events.
The main initiator on behalf of the school administration is Dr. Thomas Poller, who seeks out the connections with the schools and then successfully gets them involved. A large team of volunteers from the schools supports him, headed by his own son Lars.

Potsdamer Platz
The start of the 16th MINI MARATHON was located on the Potsdamer Platz – and the finish was the original finish for the MARATHON on the boulevard “Straße des 17. Juni“ – just past the Brandenburg Gate. The main sponsor real,- demonstrated their magnitude, presenting each participant with a t-shirt. In the finish each athlete also received a certificate and a smaller version of the original medal to hang around their necks.

Enthusiasm
Not only were the participants enthusiastic, but the parents, grandparents, and friends celebrated their runners as well, of course. Otto Ziege, Berlin’s most famous cyclist who still organises the Berlin 6-Day Race, was there cheering on his granddaughter. He and his wife praised the great atmosphere along the course—especially the enthusiasm of the parents of the children running.

Young runners for the future
The real,- BERLIN-MARATHON is creating its own young recruits for the future. Santa Claus, who flew in from Finland, sent the runners off. He was on a promotional tour in Germany collecting donations for a children’s home.

The winner of the secondary school girls was the Luise-Henriette-Oberschule from Tempelhof in 3:12:30 ahead of the Beethoven-Oberschule in 3:19:14 and the Wilma-Rudolph-Oberschule in 3:21:36.

The winner of the secondary school boys was surprisingly also the Luise-Henriette-Oberschule in 2:37:13 ahead of the Kant-Gymnasium in 2:45:55 and the Gustav-Heinemann-Oberschule in 2:46:59.

Primary Schools:
Girls:
1. Eigenherdschule Kleinmachnow 3:22:34
Boys:
1. Grundschule am Fließtal 3:04:33

Sport Secondary Schools:
Girls:
1. Sport-Oberschule Potsdam 2:27:29
Boys:
1. Sport-Oberschule Cottbus 2:24:35

The Eigenherdschule Kleinmachnow, the Grundschule am Fließtal and the Sport-Oberschule Cottbus were also the defending champions from last year. They must have all trained hard over the past year.

There is no better advertising for the sport of running and athletics than the youth walking around their schoolyards the following day, proudly wearing showing off their medals and t-shirts.