what connects running pros with us amateurs?
Not much at first glance, but the new issue of our running newsletter is by no means intended to act as a deterrent, but rather as an incentive.
For many runs, we stand at the starting line together with professional athletes.
As soon as the starting shot is fired, we only see the shadow of the pros.
That's okay too.
Some earn their money with it, others should have fun.
When I ran the Berlin marathon last year and had fought my way to 30 kilometers, someone shouted from the side: »Eliud Kipchoge just ran the world record«.
Like me, Kipchoge ran in Berlin and started just a few minutes ahead of me, but of course, when he finished and was able to celebrate, the real marathon ordeal began for me.
Key word: man with the hammer.
In the end, Kipchoge and I were almost 90 minutes apart.
As an amateur you shouldn't compare yourself to the pros and what they do, but I find it motivating to see what you can achieve when you commit yourself to the sport.
Amanal Petros' career is also worth noting.
The 27-year-old is one of the fastest German runners and the king of long-distance.
He holds the German record in the marathon (2:06:27 hours), in the half marathon (1:00:09 hours) and since Sunday also over ten kilometers on the road (27:32 minutes).
Ten kilometers in 27:32 minutes - that's an average of 21.8 km/h, 2:45 minutes per kilometer.
Even as a cyclist it wouldn't be easy to keep up here.
Almost ten years ago, hardly anyone would have expected such a career.
Back then, in 2012, Petros fled Ethiopia to Germany.
He was 16 years old, came without a jacket, in the middle of winter and alone.
So that he could make friends quickly, his supervisors at the time registered him for football at a refugee accommodation in Bielefeld.
The chapter was quickly closed again.
"I couldn't do anything with the ball," Petros told SPIEGEL in an interview at the end of 2021. But it was also noticeable in football how agile he is, how fast he can run and how carefree he seems.
Petros soon became a runner.
He should try his hand at a fun run over ten kilometers.
It was a small street race without professionals in Espelkamp, an hour's drive from Bielefeld.
The other refugees and all the caregivers from the shelter came to cheer him on.
In the end, after 34:52 minutes, they were all in his arms: Petros had won the race, a minute and a half ahead, out of nowhere.
Petros told SPIEGEL that this weekend was the best thing in his life.
For a long time, Petros' life in Germany was also shaped by fears for his family, who still live in Ethiopia and fear for their lives in the war there.
At the time of the SPIEGEL interview, Petros had not heard from his mother or sisters in over a year.
Earlier this year, Petros reported he was reconnected with his family - his mother and sisters are alive.
Read the story of Amanal Petros here.
In the current issue of SPIEGEL, we show a graphic that deals with the development of record times in road running over 10 kilometers.
Petros may now be the fastest runner nationally (and that's an impressive achievement), but he's still lagging behind internationally.
His German record time of 27:32 minutes would not have been enough for the world record in 1988 - 35 years ago!
At that time, Kenyan John Ngugi set a new world record over ten kilometers on the road with 27:29 minutes.
Today the world record is 26:24 minutes, run by Rhonex Kipruto from Kenya in 2020.
Transparency note: My own best time over ten kilometers would not even have been enough for a world record at the beginning of the record recording.
The first officially registered ten-kilometer best time goes back to the British William Howitt, who is said to have needed 32:35 minutes.
In 1847.
For me personally, the ten-kilometer run is the supreme discipline in a real competition.
In a way, I also find it more strenuous than a marathon.
Of course you can't really compare it: You need less (or different) preparation for ten kilometers than for 42.2 kilometers, you can run the distance without food, you have to worry about a lot less in general.
But ten kilometers in competition invite you to run every single meter as fast as possible, at your heartbeat, into complete exhaustion.
Just shoot!
In the marathon, the sledgehammer strategy doesn't work as well.
If you go to the limit too early here, you will lose your powder.
After injury problems (running despite cartilage damage – is that possible? I wrote about it here ) this week, for a long time, speed training over ten kilometers has been on the program again.
And I was scared of the strain.
And was really happy when it was over.
And also a little happy when the sore muscles in my calves woke me up the next morning.
And relieved when it was just a sore muscle and not real pain.
It was a good feeling and my running moment of the week.
What distance messes up your emotional world?
Have fun testing!
Your Jan Goebel
