Sabrina Mockenhaupt wins Berlin women’s 10km Avon race (© Camera 4)
Berlin, GermanySabrina Mockenhaupt showed another convincing performance this spring. On Saturday evening (21) she won the 10km Avon Running Berlin Women’s Race, which is the by far biggest women only race in Germany.
A record number of 11,884 women and girls took part. Mockenhaupt crossed the line in a time of 32:57. The 24 year-old was nearly one and a half minutes ahead of Melanie Kraus who came in second in 34:22. Claudia Dreher had to be content with third place clocking 35:18.
Mockenhaupt’s winning time is the fastest since Tanzania’s Restituta Joseph broke the course record with 32:14 four years ago. Mockenhaupt’s result is the eighth fastest ever run in the traditional race, which is in its 22nd edition.
A couple of thousands of spectators lined the streets in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate to cheer on the runners. In fine weather conditions Sabrina Mockenhaupt took the lead soon after the start. After about one third of the distance she was 20 seconds ahead of Kraus, who again had opened a substantial gap to third placed Dreher.
“It was a great experience to have run in this women’s race in Berlin. And at the end I gave everything to achieve a sub 33 minute time”, said Mockenhaupt. Her next race will be the German 10,000m Championships next weekend. But she has already qualified for the World Championships with her personal best of 31:21.28 minutes. She had won the European 10,000m challenge in Berakaldo in April.
Melanie Kraus was happy with her performance as well. “I might run the Berlin Marathon on 25 September”, she said. Kraus has run her marathon best of 2:27:58 in Berlin in her first marathon in 2000. But she has failed to qualify for Helsinki.
Claudia Dreher was supposed to be a threat for Mockenhaupt. But on Saturday she was unable to cope. “It is just four weeks ago that I ran the Hamburg Marathon. And I had a three-week-break after that. So I am not yet back in form”, confirmed Dreher. She had been third in Hamburg with 2:29:49 and qualified for the World Championship’s marathon in Helsinki.
Asked about her personal best of 31:32.28 at 10,000m Mockenhaupt said: “I know that this is not my limit. I can run faster, but I am still young. It is my aim to beat my personal best in the World Championships in Helsinki.”
But she also revealed that she intends to run a marathon in the near future. “I won’t give up track running, but it is my intention to have run two marathons before the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. So I will probably run my debut marathon next year.”
Impressed by the atmosphere and the flat streets of Berlin, the winner conformed: “I will probably come back next spring to run the Berlin Half Marathon. And then it would be my aim to run the Berlin Marathon in September 2006 as well.”
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
with assistance from Marisa Reich
