Even though she made her target in the Wings for Life race, Anja Kobs was overjoyed after the run: she was the sixth best woman in the world.
Alling
- Even the day after her Wings for Life race, Anja Kobs couldn't believe what she had achieved.
The Allinger finished sixth in a race in which 184,236 athletes took part worldwide and also turned out to be the best German runner.
On Sunday, Kobs covered 43.16 kilometers on the Oberschleißheim rowing regatta course in a time of 3:08:54 hours.
It was the hottest day of the year in Germany so far.
At the start at 1 p.m. the thermometer showed well over 30 degrees.
There is no shade on this route.
Until 4.10 p.m., when the endurance expert lay exhausted but happy on the grass next to the main stand, the temperatures had hardly dropped.
The northeast wind, which blew through the area as so often, did not bring any cooling.
Neither for Kobs nor for the more than two hundred other participants who had chosen the 4.86-kilometer regatta for the benefit race that the shower manufacturer Red Bull has been organizing since 2004 for the benefit of spinal cord research.
On the contrary: the wind only made things more difficult.
Kobs had set herself high goals in advance: She wanted to run into the top three in Germany and the top ten in the world and cover around 47 kilometers in the process. In the Wings-for-Life race, no route, no distance or no time is given. Instead, the participants are on the road until they are overtaken by a “race car”, a vehicle that drives behind the field. However, this is not possible in Corona times. Instead, the car was virtually on the road and the runners could only see and hear it on an app.
Kobs was not traveling alone, her friend Manja Kunz and her husband Helmut accompanied her on the bike and provided her with information and drinks. Kobs' long-time running companion Andreas Brünnert was there for the first two laps - around 9.7 kilometers - as a motivator. Later he served as a "vestibule" and draft horse on the grandstand side. Some relatives and fans cheered Kobs on from the side, including her parents as well as the TriTeam FFB athlete Daniela Arthofer and Gerti Thaler from Bruck.
In addition, Kobs was accompanied by a camera team from Munich-based DropIn TV, who streamed their appearance live on the web on behalf of Red Bull.
"Very nice guys, they took great care not to hinder anyone," praised the Allinger.
A feat, because in addition to the benefit runners, there were probably more than a thousand people looking for relaxation on the site.
"After only five kilometers I noticed that the 47 kilometers would not be possible under these conditions," Anja Kobs reported later.
From kilometer six, her heart rate went as fast as it normally would in a short distance race over 5000 meters.
Nevertheless, the ultra runner kept her target running pace of 4:14 minutes per kilometer up to kilometer 23.
"Then I had to reduce the pace, there was no other way," says the former duathlon vice world champion, who had only contested a 50-kilometer run through the district at the end of March.
It took her around 42 minutes for the next ten kilometers.
At some point at kilometer 38, the race car started.
Just when Manja Kunz told her that she was ranked seven in the world.
"I made up my mind that I definitely wanted to cover 43 kilometers," says Kobs.
Sure she could do it.
Why?
“Because that's what I wanted to do,” she says and smiles.
The best woman in the world was US runner Nina Zarina, who managed 60.1 kilometers.
However, with early morning temperatures.
World winner was the Swede Aron Anderson with 66.8 kilometers.
The best German, David Schönherr from Münster, took third place with 62.4 kilometers.
Florian Neuschwander from Inzell, who was like Kobs around the regatta course, was world seventh with 57.1 kilometers.
The event raised a total of 4.1 million euros for spinal cord research.
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Horst Kramer
