News Archive

16th MINI MARATHON of the schools 2004 – The participants and their

families were enthusiastic 8,023 youth from the Berlin and Brandenburg

schools

Germany’s largest school sporting event, the MINI MARATHON of

the schools, is part of the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON.

Big time event

8,023 youth from Berlin and Brandenburg schools, as well as from schools from

other German states - and individual runners who did not register through their

sport teachers - , have made this “side event“ into a big time

event. This event that promotes running among the youth is unique in

Germany.

8,023 youth from about 640 school teams tried to put together the fastest time

– each team was made up of 10 participants who all ran the 4.2195 km

course together but received a group time. Together they ran the whole 42.195

km and can then compare their achievements with those of the MARATHON

champions. There are no individual rankings so as to further emphasise the team

spirit.

New records

8,023 participants marks a new record in the 16 year history of the MINI

MARATHON. It began in 1989 with 875 participants, in 1993 it reached 3,588

participants, and in 1999 already 5,226 runners. A greater leap was made in

2002 with 7,323 youth, while last year the number of participants dropped back

to 6,732—and this year there was an unexpected boom.

Cooperation with the Senate for Education ...

For over a decade, SCC-RUNNING has been working successfully in cooperation

with the Senate for Education, Youth and Sport, school sport and physical

education. At three of the largest German running events organised by SCC-

RUNNING, the Bewag BERLIN HALF MARATHON, the AVON Berlin Women’s Run, and

the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON, youth from Berlin’s schools have the

opportunity to participate in these world class events.

The main initiator on behalf of the school administration is Dr. Thomas Poller,

who seeks out the connections with the schools and then successfully gets them

involved. A large team of volunteers from the schools supports him, headed by

his own son Lars.

Potsdamer Platz

The start of the 16th MINI MARATHON was located on the Potsdamer Platz –

and the finish was the original finish for the MARATHON on the boulevard

“Straße des 17. Juni“ – just past the Brandenburg Gate.

The main sponsor real,- demonstrated their magnitude, presenting each

participant with a t-shirt. In the finish each athlete also received a

certificate and a smaller version of the original medal to hang around their

necks.

Enthusiasm

Not only were the participants enthusiastic, but the parents, grandparents, and

friends celebrated their runners as well, of course. Otto Ziege, Berlin’s

most famous cyclist who still organises the Berlin 6-Day Race, was there

cheering on his granddaughter. He and his wife praised the great atmosphere

along the course—especially the enthusiasm of the parents of the children

running.

Young runners for the future

The real,- BERLIN-MARATHON is creating its own young recruits for the future.

Santa Claus, who flew in from Finland, sent the runners off. He was on a

promotional tour in Germany collecting donations for a children’s

home.

The winner of the secondary school girls was the Luise-Henriette-Oberschule

from Tempelhof in 3:12:30 ahead of the Beethoven-Oberschule in 3:19:14 and the

Wilma-Rudolph-Oberschule in 3:21:36.

The winner of the secondary school boys was surprisingly also the

Luise-Henriette-Oberschule in 2:37:13 ahead of the Kant-Gymnasium in 2:45:55

and the Gustav-Heinemann-Oberschule in 2:46:59.

Primary Schools:

Girls:

1. Eigenherdschule Kleinmachnow 3:22:34

Boys:

1. Grundschule am Fließtal 3:04:33

Sport Secondary Schools:

Girls:

1. Sport-Oberschule Potsdam 2:27:29

Boys:

1. Sport-Oberschule Cottbus 2:24:35

The Eigenherdschule Kleinmachnow, the Grundschule am Fließtal and the

Sport-Oberschule Cottbus were also the defending champions from last year. They

must have all trained hard over the past year.

There is no better advertising for the sport of running and athletics than

the youth walking around their schoolyards the following day, proudly wearing

showing off their medals and t-shirts.