Kaiserslautern hosts half marathon March 23

The running division of the sports club TSG 1861 Kaiserslautern will sponsor the 33rd annual half marathon March 23 in Kaiserslautern.

The 13.1-mile course is free of traffic and leads through the scenic surroundings of Kaiserslautern.
“The course is fast with slight differences in height, making it suitable for all runners — beginners whose key objective is to complete the course and regular long-distance runners who like to beat their personal best time,” said Angelika Hausser, one of the sports club’s organizers.

“In earlier years the run was conducted with the KMC and was called German-American Half Marathon, but after 9/11, cooperation ended. I took over the organization of the run in 2012 and started to include American participants again,” Hauser said.

Start and finish area will be the Bertha-von-Suttner School (Schulzentrum Süd), Im Stadtwald, 67663 Kaiserslautern. Follow the signs reading “Stadion” and “Halbmarathon.”

Start will be at 9:30 a.m. Finish will be around noon.

Registrations can be made from 7:30 to 9 a.m. at the school lobby. Advance online registrations can be made by visiting www.tsg-kl.de and clicking on “Laufabteilung” and “TSG Halbmarathon.” Online registrations will end March 19. Registration fee is €10, which should be paid the morning of the event.
Participants will be able to change and take showers in the school’s gym.

The award ceremony will take place 1 p.m. in the dining hall (Mensa) of the school.

There will be prizes for the overall female and male winner, for each age group (male and female), for the fastest team (male and female) and for the three biggest starter groups.

“Last year, a total of 447 runners of which more than 100 were Americans, took part in the half marathon,” Hausser said.

The overall male winner ran a time of 1:12:10, the overall female winner’s time was 1:20:59. Second best male runner with a time of 1:16:07 was an American participant, Matt Albertson.

Albertson, who works as a management analyst in the U.S. Air Forces in Europe Headquarters management hopes to be able to run the marathon again this year.

“It is a nice and scenic route with a variety of both road and trail — some paved, some dirt — running,” he said. “I can recommend the marathon to anybody who likes to run.”

This year, organizers expect a total of 350 to 400 runners.

“We hope to be able to again welcome many American runners, joggers and just-for-fun athletes,” Hausser said.

For more information, contact Hausser at 06301-1422 or laufen@tsg-kl.de.