Gögerltraillauf: Walking steps on the final climb and a winner who deliberately ran without a watch
Created: 03/30/2022, 20:00
By: Paul Hopp
Running in the best weather: Around 110 women and men registered for the Post SV Weilheim competition.
This shows a scene shortly after the start at the Gögerl sports field.
© Gisela Schregle
Top weather and a high-quality field of participants characterized the second Gögerl Trail run by Post SV Weilheim.
A woman from Wallgau and a Frenchman won.
Weilheim - The terrain on the Gögerl - it sometimes makes even experienced athletes falter.
On the last steep ascent from the allotment gardens up to the finish, Peter Vogt from Rottenbuch had to take a few steps to finish fourth overall.
After the competition, Martin Sedlmayr's arm was even adorned with a large patch - the Wessobrunner had fallen in a wooded area.
Vogt and Sedlmayr agreed that taking part in the second “Gögerltraillauf” was definitely worth it.
Vogt (50:18) was even two minutes faster than at the premiere three years ago.
110 participants and the best weather at Gögerltraillauf
Due to Corona, the 2020 and 2021 run had to be cancelled.
The organizer, Post SV Weilheim, therefore did not throw in the towel.
Race director Lothar Kirsch and his team were rewarded for this on Sunday with a high-quality starting field and the best weather.
"Everything is going well," Kirsch stated with satisfaction as he looked at the hustle and bustle in the starting area.
Around 110 men and women had registered for the approximately 12.5 kilometers.
Around 25 helpers were on duty to ensure that everything went smoothly "and that no one made a wrong turn," as Kirsch said with a grin.
He distributed praise to his fellow campaigners: Everyone was "with a lot of initiative" in the matter.
Kirsch didn't have to give the starting shot either - that's why the city's sports officer, Tillman Wahlefeld, came.
The three best women: (from left) Sabine Nagel (3rd), Melanie Albrecht (1st) and Mikki Heiss (2nd) ended up in the top 12 in the overall ranking.
© Paul Hopp
In the end, the city administration also made it possible for the final ascent to be run up to the upper Gögerl car park.
The steps are currently being renovated.
The section that was last closed to pedestrians was opened for the competition.
Kirch found it “very accommodating”.
However, the decisions in the fight for the day's victory for women and men were made before the last, fairly steep meters.
For the men, Markus Brennauer (TSV Penzberg) and Munich-based Frenchman Frédéric Gabry (35) initially took turns in leadership.
Brennauer set the pace from km five to 8.5, after that Gabry passed in the forest and gained a lead of around 30 meters.
Brennauer closed the gap again, but in the end Gabry pulled away.
After 47:06 minutes, the winner crossed the finish line.
"A beautiful forest run," said the Frenchman.
Of course he was very satisfied with the placement.
Markus Brennauer takes second place on the Gögerl
Brennauer (47:20) also had a happy facial expression, even if the Penzberger (42) could not repeat his victory from 2019: "We ran consistently and the pace was high right from the start".
For him it was also "a great test" with regard to the marathon championships next weekend in Hanover.
In comparison to the Gögerl Trail run three years ago, Brennauer himself stated that he was about 30 seconds faster – and according to his calculations, that was around 200 meters longer.
Sebastian Birzle from Geretsried came in third overall after 50:01 minutes.
"It was pretty good for the start of the season," said the 37-year-old.
The Rottenbucher Vogt and the Hohenfurcher Stefan Fichtl (50:41) came in fourth and fifth.
The duo from “Team Schönegger Käse-Alm” had achieved personal best times in the 10-kilometer road run in Augsburg the week before.
Her result on the Gögerl was more than impressive, even if Fichtl said with a smile: "We're not really trail runners."
Right from the start things got down to business: The photo shows a scene immediately after the start of the Gögerl Trail with (from left) Markus Brennauer (TSV Penzberg), Peter Vogt and Stefan Fichtl (both from “Team Schönegger Käse-Alm”) as well as Gabriel Alte Bäumer ( LG Würm Athletics).
© Gisela Schregle
The women fought a three-way battle for the day's victory.
Melanie Albrecht (54:58) took first place, finishing eighth overall.
The Wallgauerin (26) started as a cross-country skier and has already caused a sensation in the trail running scene.
In 2016 she won the mixed category in the Transalpine Run with Timo Zeiler, and in 2017 she triumphed in the Rennsteig run over the 73-kilometre distance.
After some problems in the past two years, it is now "rebuilding", as she says.
She described the route of the Gögerltraillauf as “beautiful”.
Albrecht ran without a watch and was happy about her victory.
However, their performance is "improvable".
Melanie Albrecht from Wallgau wins on the Gögerl
Mikki Heiss (55:10) was the second woman to cross the finish line.
"I just have to do it slowly uphill," said the Iffeldorfer (47) with a smile.
Until recently, she was one of the best German marathon runners - in 2019 she won DM gold with the "LG Telis Finanz Regensburg" team.
In the recent past, however, Heiss has been struggling with various injuries.
"I specifically chose the Gögerl trail run".
In contrast to a precisely measured, flat road run, the Iffeldorf native explained that one does not constantly have to look at the clock in the cross.
Heiss was significantly faster on the Gögerl than she had previously thought – she ultimately clocked a time of 4:25 minutes per kilometer.
The winner: Frédéric Gabry on the last climb before the finish.
© Paul Hopp
The third best woman on the Gögerl was Sabine Nagel (55:44).
A week ago, the woman from Peiting (36) set her second-best time over 10 kilometers (40:41) on a gravel track in Sonthofen.
On the Gögerl, she ran together with Albrecht and Heiss for a long time, after eight kilometers "the other two accelerated," reported Nagel.
It was okay with her: "It's always your own time that counts" for an athlete more than placement.
And in Nagel's case, she was three minutes faster than in the 2019 race, when she finished second.
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