DM Kassel: Just don't let anything burn

Things got hot at the German Championships in Kassel. Temperatures over 30 degrees in the Auestadion challenged the runners - but fast times were still achieved on the track.

Karl Bebendorf won his fifth title in the men's 3,000 meter event in 8:24.5 - just four seconds short of the championship record. Velten Schneider and later Niklas Buchholz ensured the pace in the first half of the race. Despite the difficult conditions due to the heat that day, Buchholz wanted to keep the pace high, he explained on Leichtathletik.de after the run.

“It feels like a relief”

It wasn't until the last lap that the year's best and eventual winner, Bebendorf, moved ahead of the field - and accelerated. “The race was quite slow for my previous races in terms of the transit time over two kilometers, so I was scratching my feet a bit until someone increased the pace for the first time,” Bebendorf revealed más after the run.

400 meters from the finish, the decision in the 3000 meter race had actually already been made: Bebendorf left the others behind and confidently took the title. “I now have enough experience to be able to accurately assess what my strengths are and when I should use them,” says Bebendorf. Even if at that moment it was a huge mental challenge to change your running step and attack. “It feels like a relief for me,” says Bebendorf. “Suddenly I can handle the obstacles in a completely different way with my motor skills and I can literally fly over the track.”

Two races, two titles

Another highlight on the first day was the women's 5,000 meters. An exciting duel was brewing between Alina Reh and Lea Meyer. The two had by far the fastest reported times: 15:06 (Meyer) and 15:10 (Reh). This season only Hanna Klein was faster over this distance, but she did not compete. At first it actually looked like an exciting duel between Reh and Meyer over 5,000 meters.

But then everything turned out differently. Reh, known as a front runner, took control of the race from the start and led for two thirds of the distance. Then Meyer suddenly swerved, went past - and Reh stumbled, grabbed his heel and dropped out of the race. Meyer finished in 15:26.82 and won her first gold medal of the weekend.

Another was to follow: A day later she started in her actual special discipline, the 3,000 meter obstacle. Here she left nothing to be desired and ran safely to gold in 9:33.19.

The element of surprise has its own magic

The outcome was less clear shortly before the end of the men's 5,000 meter race. Five runners competed for gold on the last two laps. Who would do it? Constant changes in the lead followed, but in the end Florian Bremm (13:35.65) was quite literally ahead - and prevailed against Maximilian Thorwirth (13:35.70).

There was a huge surprise in the women's 800 meters. The three of Christina Hering, Majtie Kolberg and Alina Ammann turned into the home straight. The battle for gold seemed to be between the two second fastest of the season - Hering and Kolberg. But just before the finish, Ammann went to the outside and passed. She improved her personal best by 2 seconds and won her first German title in the women's class in 2:01.41.

The result in the women's 1,500 meters was similarly close. The expected duel between Katharina Trost and Hanna Klein was decided on the home straight. Klein had taken the lead 400 meters from the finish, Trost stayed with it - and then used her 800 meter experience. After two championship titles indoors, Katharina Trost was able to secure her first gold outdoors in 4:09.05.

Here is an overview of the results

800m

Women
🥇 Alina Ammann - 2:01.42 (PB)
🥈 Christina Hering - 2:01.46
🥉 Majtie Kolberg - 2:01.52

Men
🥇 Luis Oberbeck - 1:47.48
🥈 Dennis Biederbick - 1:47.84
🥉 Emil Meggle - 1:47:98 (PB)

1,500m

Women
🥇 Katharina Trost - 4:09.05
🥈 Hanna Klein - 4:09.88
🥉 Nele Wesel - 4:13.12

Men
🥇 Marius Probst - 3:46.73
🥈 Amos Bartelsmeyer - 3:47.30
🥉 Elias Schreml - 3:47.60

3,000m obstacle

Women
🥇 Lea Meyer - 9:33.19
🥈 Olivia Gürth - 9:45.55
🥉 Pauline Meyer - 9:54.60

Men
🥇 Karl Bebendorf - 8:24.52
🥈 Jens Mergenthaler - 8:26.35
🥉 Niklas Buchholz - 8:27.06

5,000m

Women
🥇 Lea Meyer - 15:26.82
🥈 Eva Dieterich - 15:48.69
🥉 Sofia Benfares - 16:08.26

Men
🥇 Florian Bremm - 13:35.65
🥈 Maximilian Thorwirth - 13:35.70
🥉 Sam Parsons - 13:37.99