Michael Polednik ran around 1700 kilometers this year.
The 48-year-old is an extreme athlete and chairman of the district fire brigade association.
He is now bringing his passions together by organizing the first fire brigade New Year's Eve run in the district.
He wants to ensure a community experience - even if everyone runs for himself.
County - 2020 was also the year of running.
To avoid the camp fever, even those for whom it was never an option started jogging.
And Michael Polednik, who has an annual average of 1,100 kilometers, ran even more than usual. His tracking watch shows around 1,700 kilometers at the end of December.
On the one hand, the Herrschinger's heart beats for extreme sports.
In the “Sparta Race”, an extreme obstacle course series, he regularly goes beyond his limits.
On the other hand, Polednik has been with the Herrschingen fire brigade since 1986 - and has been chairman of the district fire brigade association for eight years.
In this role, the 48-year-old now brings his two passions together.
He organized the first fire brigade New Year's Eve run in the Starnberg district.
"The lethargy is slowly reaching the fire departments"
“Firefighters should generally keep fit,” says the prime example called Polednik.
But that is not the main reason why he started the action: “The lethargy is slowly reaching the fire departments.
We are condemned to do nothing. ”Polednik means the idle club life - and that there is more to it than going on missions together: open days, barbecues and wine festivals.
In the new year, fire brigade members would normally collect Christmas trees together.
In May, 280 guests should have celebrated the 25th anniversary of the district fire brigade association.
The anniversary party in Andechs was planned down to the last detail, but had to be canceled.
Like so much.
“We only do the duty, not the freestyle,” says Polednik.
The free New Year's Eve run should be "a little splash of color in a gray time".
The principle is similar to that of the district circuit in October: Each participant runs for himself due to the corona and then sends the proof by email to vorsitzender@kfv-starnberg.de.
This can be a screenshot of a tracking app, for example.
Date, route and time are important.
Polednik then evaluates the information and sends out personal certificates.
If it suits them better, the participants are allowed to complete their run on Wednesday.
But you have to choose between five and ten kilometers.
The organizer already has around 30 registrations, eight from the Maising fire brigade alone.
2020: the year of virtual runs
Polednik has been taking part in New Year's Eve runs for years, "a nice tradition, you say goodbye to the old year," he says.
This year he took part in seven or eight virtual runs.
On the way he was mostly in his homeland around the Ammersee, but the kilometers and times counted, for example at the midsummer run in Duisburg.
The digital “don't stay in the memory as much as face-to-face races,” says Polednik.
But they help him to improve ("When I run aimlessly, I stagnate").
And the virtual world enables what is not possible in real life.
"On New Year's Eve, I take part in three runs at the same time," says the district fire brigade chief, referring to his own campaign as one in Düsseldorf and one run by the German Palliative Foundation.
2020 is also the year of virtual runs.
Polednik's wish for 2021: a New Year's Eve run with a large field of participants and a real, personal award ceremony with trophies.
Also read:
It is a tradition that Commander Daniel Pleyer remembers the year of the Herrschinger and Breitbrunn fire brigade in the municipal council meeting before Christmas. His conclusion: fewer exercises, many missions.