The largest spring marathon in Germany

Three ELOKON relay teams took part in the Haspa Hamburg Marathon on 29^th April 2018. Weather conditions – 14 degrees and bright sunshine - were ideal for the 30,000+ runners and the 1,650 relay teams who were at the start of Germany’s largest spring marathon

Facts and figures

1,650 relay teams

30,000 runners

3 ELOKON relay teams

42,195 Kilometres total distance run

The start

At 9.30, ELOKON sales representative Silvia Beneke was ready to cross the red carpet between the grandstands at the starting line at the foot of the television tower to run stages 1 and 2 of the relay. “It was magic!” she said. “It seemed like the whole of Hamburg was out to cheer us on. They lined the route on chairs, benches, picknick blankets and encouraged us with fanfares, drums, buckets, spoons – anything that made a noise really. Kids were spraying runners with water pistols which was great as the sun was beating down and places in the shade were hard to find.” And in some ingenious locals had fixed up their garden hoses to road signs or lampposts so that runners could get a refreshing cool off along the 42.195 kilometre route.

The result

The relay was divided into four differing sections (16.3km, 11.2km, 5.4km and 9.4km) so each team could optimise the running capabilities of its members. And for two of our teams it all went to plan, and they came in at places 1298 and 1402 with times of 04:34:27 and 04:42:51. The third team didn’t quite manage to finish, but Silvia is sure that another attempt is on the cards for next year.