132 World Masters Athletics (WMA) athletes are signed up to compete in the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) 100km World Championships which will be held this weekend in Bernau, Germany which is outside of Berlin. 52 women and 80 men from 30 nations will join 119 other runners on a fast, flat course mostly through Wandlitzer Chaussee.
The IAU, WMA and German Athletics Federation (DLV) collaborated to enable this Championship to welcome WMA athletes. WMA President, Margit Jungmann and past WMA Vice President of Competition now WMA Technical Delegate, Brian Keaveney, both of whom will be in Bernau to cheer on all the runners, deeply thank IAU President Nadeem Khan and General Secretary Hilary Walker for many years of cooperation. WMA also sincerely thanks the hosts and organizers of DLV and German Ultra Marathon Association (DUV), Matthias Reick, Michael Sommer, Olaf Ilk and their whole team for making this Championship happen.
The flag parade will take place in Bernau’s market square and the opening ceremony in the Stadthallte. Bernau is home to the Bauhaus monument Bundesschule, the second largest Bauhaus building next to the Bauhaus itself. The runners then are treated to a mostly wind free course through Wandlitzer Chaussee thanks to many trees lining the course. The course is almost identical to the DUV 100km Championship last September won by Andre Collet, M50, and Katrin Gottschalk, W40. Both are WMA registrants for this Championship.
Both runners from the host country are strong contenders for the fastest WMA athletes. Katrin will be challenged by 15 other women for the W40 title – the age group with the most registrants. Werner Stöcker, M82, GER, might be the oldest registrant but should be right with many younger runners. Look for his result and all others at: https://wc100kberlin.org/.
We hope all the participants have a great experience, run a personal best and thoroughly enjoy this special event.
