Full power in the second row of German top athletes
Marcus Schöfisch knows exactly, how it feels to run across the finish as the German champion by the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon. “It was absolutely crazy”, he said. In the previous year he grabbed by his first run over 42,195 km sensationally the title and stormed in the roaring Convention Center next to the heavily favored Arne Gabius, there are only about a half dozen German runners with the potential to run a time from 2:15 to 2:18 that are starting. Defending champion Marcus Schöfisch is with his best time from 2:17:56, that he ran earlier in the year in Hamburg, in the middle of the pack. A medal and a new best time, that is what the 30-year-old police officer wants, when he is healthy and everything goes as planned.
Also in front you can expect Jonas Koller. After he ran by his marathon debut on Main last year and lost a lot of time by the last kilometers, this year he plans to run 2:15. Just like Marcus Schöfisch, the qualification for the German team by the European Championships 2018 in Berlin is a big dream for him. Koller presented himself to have performed much better than before. From 1500 meters to half marathon (1:05:23 in September) the 24-year old reached new personal bests. A new half marathon house record from 1:06:57 gave also Felix Plinke the self-confidence he needs for the 29th of October. He wants to run 2:18, he said. Frank Schauer (2:18:18 in Hamburg 2017), Tobias Schreindl (2:18:33 in Linz 2015) and Simon Stüzel (2:17:51 in Houston 2015) all proved their ability over the 42,195-kilometer distance and want to have the best possible scenario for the fast Frankfurt course.
With Fata Tola and Katharina Heinig, the German women are leading the women’s field with their 2 world championship participants from London. Behind them is Nora Kusterer, 2-time winner the Rennsteig Marathon, medal chances. She ran her best time of 2:42:47 in Frankfurt her best time. As pacemaker, is the 21-year-old Franziska Reng without pressure at the start. After a longer injury break, the half marathon participant by the European Championships from 2016 is back to her old form. Or maybe even better?
