Julia Rath is 16 years old and already an exceptional runner. In a competition in Dachau, she asserted herself in her race against male competition.
Penzberg - Strictly speaking, the name “Dachau Volksfestwettkampf” was a fraudulent label, because due to the corona pandemic, the festival in the immediate vicinity of the Amper was canceled for this year. The sporting part, however, was not affected by this cancellation. Julia Rath, in particular, should have been delighted: The Penzberger, who turned 16 last month and now competes for LAC Quelle Fürth, won the 1500 meters with a large lead in the women (4: 32.52 minutes). Her lead over second-placed Eva Schultz (25) from LG Passau was a whopping 9.16 seconds.
Athletics: If you wanted to be there in Dachau, you had to register quickly
Since numerous regional and national athletics competitions have been canceled due to the corona pandemic, the otherwise rather smaller competitions "suddenly have a completely different meaning", as Christine Rath, Julia's mother, has discovered. "These are currently very busy." This is an upgrade for the otherwise less popular events and an opportunity for the future. “Anyone who has been there once comes back,” says Christine Rath. The high demand at many events meant that the maximum number of participants was reached due to the corona restrictions and the registration portals were closed prematurely, said Christine Rath. "Only those who reported quickly had a chance of a starting place."
Julia Rath started in Dachau in the second fastest of the five runs over 1500 meters
Her daughter was accordingly nimble not only when registering, but also during the competition in the Dachau Sepp Helfer Stadium. As the only female participant, the 16-year-old started with the best entry time of her gender in the second-fastest of five runs in the otherwise exclusively male field. The race with the fastest 1500-meter runners was exclusively men. The five runs with a total of 43 participants in this mixed competition were each divided according to the recorded best time.
Julia Rath improves her personal best by half a second
After the start, Rath joined the midfield of the men's squad. After a “rather restrained first lap of the entire field” according to her mother, the pace increased. The next two and a half laps, the Penzberg woman ran “at a consistently high speed”, says Christine Rath. With 4: 32.52 minutes, she improved her personal best by 49 hundredths of a second and ran a stadium record for women. Even with the male U18, nobody was faster than the 16-year-old.
At the beginning of September, Julia Rath will start at the German Youth Championships in Heilbronn. She is qualified over 800, 1500 and 3000 meters. However, only one competition is permitted.
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