What a start to the season for long-distance runner Thea Heim: At the half marathon in Paris, the Sachsenkamerin finishes in 1:13:17 hours and thus sets a new personal best time.
Paris/Sachsenkam – Paris is not only the city of love, but also the city of running.
Recently, downtown Paris around the Louvre and Eiffel Tower was transformed into a single running zone, because the "Semiparis" is the second largest half marathon in the world with 40,000 participants.
The mammoth event begins at 8 a.m. with the start of the elite runners in the first starting wave, and at 4 p.m. the last participant is welcomed at the finish line.
Invitation to the elite field
At this year's edition of "Semiparis" Thea Heim was also at the starting line;
for her, a long-cherished wish came true.
“I always wanted to walk in Paris and also see the city.
This year I was accepted and invited to the elite field," reports the Saxony-Camerinarian.
The competition gave them the label "world class".
Sheila Chekirui, winner of the Valencia marathon last December, in which Heim also set her best time (we reported), and the Spanish marathon record holder Marta Galimany were just two of many illustrious names at the start on the Pont Neuf Starting signal that sent the elite field on the hilly 21.095 kilometers.
Trainer Norman Feiler had instructed his athlete to approach the first part cautiously:
The 30-year-old executed the race plan exactly, even if her immediate competitors ran away from her at first.
Heim ran the first ten kilometers in 34:58 minutes and then increased the pace.
“I could only see Thea at two points in the race.
But via an app, I was able to accurately track their speed and time.
The other girls were much faster in the first half.
But the duck only gets fat at the end,” said Coach Feiler with certainty.
Thea Heim is the only one to gain in the second half
The tactic paid off in the second half.
Runner after runner collected home.
Almost all of the competitors had to pay for their fast initial pace on the steep climbs.
But Thea Heim stormed inexorably towards the finish at the Place de la Republique.
After 1:13:17 hours she crossed the finish line with a new personal best time and was the only runner in the field who was faster in the second half with 34:34 minutes than in the first half.
A sensational eighth place was the reward.
As expected, victory went to Kenyan Sheila Chepkirui (1:06:01 h).
“I never thought that I would set a best time on this difficult track.
But today the race tactics paid off,” the IT specialist sums up her top performance in Paris.
Unbeaten in the winter running series
But the accurate preparation for the marathon since January has also given Heim the necessary stamina.
Her victories in the Munich winter running series over ten and 15 kilometers, where she has been unbeaten for the eleventh year, show her good shape.
Thea has developed very well in the last nine months with best times over ten kilometers, half marathon and marathon.
Coach Norman Filer
A training camp in Mallorca in February set another important stimulus.
“Thea has developed very well in the last nine months with best times over ten kilometers, half marathon and marathon.
The Corona period was very difficult for her, but now she's really blossoming," says coach Norman Feiler, very proud of his athlete.
Two more half-marathons are scheduled for mid-April, including the world-class race in Berlin, before Thea Heim contests an international marathon.
The Gold Label competition in Rotterdam or Germany's largest and fastest spring marathon in Hamburg are on the short list.
"We're waiting for feedback from our race manager," reveals Feiler.
