A Great Community Experience: Steinmühle with 37 Runners at the Marburg Post-Marathon!

After a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, the Marburg Night Marathon finally took place again on July 1. Steinmühle was represented by nine relay teams, meaning it had more runners at the starting line than any other school, club, or company.

All nine relay teams completed the 42.195 km at varying speeds, depending on their goals, level of training, and physical condition. The individual runners’ times varied greatly in some cases, because the organizers, Patric Hahn and Björn Gemmer, weren’t focused on putting together teams that were as homogeneous as possible, but rather on experiencing a sense of community.

The fastest relay team, with a time of 3h 18min, was the 12th-grade math track: Students Nico Bolz, Paul Martin, and Jan Audretsch, along with their teacher Björn Gemmer, finished 15th out of 119. The other relay teams and their results are shown in the photos.

Nico Bolz, Alina Klähn, and Ian Wudtke, as the lead runners for their respective relay teams, continued running after the baton handoff and completed a half marathon. Nico finished in 208th place out of 645 after 1 hour and 49 minutes, while Alina and Ian finished just over 5 minutes later in 299th and 300th place, respectively.

Eleventh-grader Maxim Dyck even crossed the finish line as a “marathon finisher” in 80th place out of 101 after 4 hours and 32 minutes, while M-PH teacher René Schulenberg finished 18 minutes later in 89th place. Both were greeted and celebrated at the finish line to loud applause from the Steinmühlen community.

But it wasn’t just the athletic achievements that made the evening at the relay handoff and in the university stadium so special. It was the shared experience that the 37 runners had together. Students, boarding school teachers, faculty members, and one of the two principals were at the starting line, cheering on everyone wearing a Steinmühle shirt, being cheered on themselves, comparing their times, celebrated each other’s successes, and spent a joyful evening together in good company. Once again, it was clear: Steinmühle is a supportive community.