Patrick Hofmeister

At the beginning of May the first important national race took place in Chemnitz (Saxony): the National University Championships, the first selection race for the WUOC in Estonia. Last year we achieved some quite good results for the University of Paderborn. So the aims for this year were high.

The classic distance took place in a typical german mountain range with only a few single features. I did not a very good race. Physically I had some problems to push hard after I had reached the butterfly in the middle of the course. And in the end I made some mistakes due to a lapse of concentration. But anyway, it was enough for the 2nd spot, but already more than 3 minutes behind Christian Teich.

For the sprint relay on the next day the organizers chose a wonderful arena on the campus of the University of Chemnitz. This area was technically demanding and provided some good routechoice possibilities. After last year’s victory, our team with Karin Schmalfeld as first and Roman Schulte-Zurhausen as 2nd runner, aimed high. And reached our expectations due to solid runs on every course. We won ahead of the TU Dresden that had to handle the absence of their star Leif Bader. As Karin also scores the victory over the classic distance, we managed to achieve the same results as last year, 2 gold and one silver!

Directly after the competitions we kicked off for the WOC training camp in CZ. On our route to Zlate Hory (60km north of Olomouc at the polish border), we stopped in Zittau to run the SAXBO. Unfortunately, I twisted my ankle slightly so that I better canceled the second day to be able to run again during the training camp. Although I twisted my ankle once again in one of the heavy slopes in the czech forests I could participate in all but one training during the camp.

We did 10 sessions in different kind of terrain. Some forests were very steep and stony, some rather flat with many distinct single features, contours and greens. What I think I have to improve most, is the capacity of running fast downhill. There I lost many seconds compared to my teammates and the Germans are not famous for the downhill performance! At the end of the week we took part in a regional B-level competition next to Sumperk. It was long distance and my legs were already tired. Nevertheless I did a technically good race and ended up in 4th spot 3 minutes behind Christian.

Next week there will be the 1st German Sprint Champs, held in Hannover. I am really looking forward to this event because in the last national Sprint races I did quite good performances but never got a medal officially. This should be changed on Saturday! We will see…