Top athletes break records at the Merck Running Gala in Pfungstadt!

Top athletes break records at the Merck Running Gala in Pfungstadt!

At the international Merck running gala in Pfungstadt on June 17, 2025, several LG Filder athletes presented themselves impressively and achieved personal best times in the 800 meter run. Teckbote reports on the impressive achievements of Paul Mühleck, who increased his best time from 1:55.69 minutes to 1:53.73 minutes. Benedikt Haym from the male U20 also showed nimble legs and improved by 48 hundredths of a second to 1:52.55 minutes. Lea Sommer, the young female U18 athlete, stayed around one second below her previous best with a time of 2:25.16 minutes.

The performance of Alexander Stepanov from VfL Sindelfingen was particularly spectacular, as he ran a time of 1:44.17 minutes over the 800 meters. This not only means a clear undercut of the direct World Cup standard by 33 hundredths of a second, but also the best time by a German middle distance athlete in 23 years. However, the German record, held by Willi Wülbeck at 1:43.65 minutes, remains.

The fascination of the 800 meter run

The 800 meter run is one of the oldest disciplines in athletics and has always fascinated many spectators. It is a middle-distance race and consists of two stadium laps. The start takes place in a standing position, also known as a high start. Since the 1960 Olympic Games, the first 100 meters have been run in lanes to avoid crowding. The fastest runners, like those seen at the Olympic Games and World Championships, achieve impressive times of under 1:41 minutes for men and under 1:54 minutes for women. The current men's world record is 1:40.91 minutes, set by David Rudisha in 2012. For women, Jarmila Kratochvílová has held the record since 1983 with 1:53.28 minutes. Wikipedia describes the run as an emotional race that requires not only speed but also tactical understanding.

In Metzingen, the athletes met at the TUS holiday sports festival, where Victoria Wolf from LG Teck ran over 100 meters in 13.40 seconds, despite a wind of 2.1 meters per second, which means that this time will not be recognized. Nevertheless, she achieved a new official best time in the 80 meter hurdles with 13.04 seconds. Patricia Blessin from LG Filder stopped the clock with 12.27 seconds and secured first place in the 80 meter hurdles. Anika Eckert from Unterländer LG also impressed and ran the route in 12.79 seconds.

Young talents at the start

Moritz Jäger (18 years old, LG Filder) was also able to shine. He showed his versatile talents with times of 11.26 seconds in the 100 meters, 22.46 seconds in the 200 meters and a second place in the 110 meter hurdles in 15.15 seconds. With his port, he is certainly a talent to keep an eye on. Pascal Ilzhöfer from LAC Essingen is also getting faster and faster, achieving the fastest times of the day over 100 meters with 10.98 seconds and over 200 meters with 22.18 seconds.

The young athletes show that they are very popular with the concentrated strength and the necessary skills they have developed. Whether on the national or international stage, the future of athletics looks promising. Wikipedia points out that the 800-meter run requires not only skill but also excellent training, which is reflected in the latest training methods such as multi-level training.