Originally written in German. Translated to English by AI — please excuse any awkward phrasing.
…it would have been a new personal best over the half marathon distance, but only just — 3 seconds short. Still, I’m very happy with it.
The reasons why:
- The time came straight out of training — by Saturday I already had 15 training hours in my legs, including a 5-hour brick session the day before
- I ran the downhill sections noticeably more cautiously than last year and took no risks
- I almost got lost once, and only a spectator shouting after me and pointing me right saved it (cost about 5 seconds)
- The “old” PB came from 2010 in Mannheim — famously a completely flat course
- I improved my old Heidelberg PB from the previous year by 2 minutes and 31 seconds
- I improved my overall finish position to 16th place
The bare numbers:
Time: 1:21:23h
16th overall
6th in age group M35