Neuschwander Wins: ISPO Munich Night Run with Record Number of Participants

Running star Florian Neuschwander had a little chat with Klaus Dittrich, Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe München GmbH, before starting off for the 5-kilometer race. He ran ahead of the huge crowd of participants. It was a great sight: runners equipped with headlamps appeared like a long queue of lights, that was running through the Olympic Park at temperatures just above freezing point.

"It is really a unique experience to run here at night in the Olympic Park. A great atmosphere, a new record number of participants, we had a children's run for the first time, and the uphill challenge," said a completely satisfied Klaus Dittrich  about the event. The Chairman of the Board of Management of Messe München entered the race with starting number 276. Altogether, this years's Night Run Presented by BUFF® saw a record number of 641 participants. This is a significant increase compared to the over 500 participants at the premiere last year.

This increase was certainly also due to the fact that the program has become even more varied: After the children's run in the afternoon, the 1 Mile Uphill Challenge was on the agenda. The most prominent participant Florian "Flow" Neuschwander was warming up at this team event with three participants per relay, before he really speeded up in what for him was an ultra-short 5-kilometer run. After 16:42 minutes he literally flew to the finish line as the superior winner.

"That was a cool race, short and crisp for me. The perfect preparation for this year, after a long break. Because of an injured toe, I am only three weeks back in training. This year, besides the Wings for Life Run in Munich, I will be especially involved in trail running events such as the Mont Blanc Marathon," commented Neuschwander. Despite the cool temperatures, he was wearing short trousers and had a lot of fun.

Neuschwander was more than one minute ahead of the second placed Marco Kurzdörfer and Florian Lang Team, who crossed the finish line hand in hand. This captured the great atmosphere at the 2nd ISPO Munich Night Run in a nutshell. A lot was going on in the small runner village, too, with booths from companies like BUFF®, GoreTex, Blackroll or Pyua. The presenters of Radio Arabella kept the spirits high.

"A really awesome event. The journey was definitely worth it," said Lang. He had travelled with his team FitterTec especially from the Nuremberg-Fürth region. Lang, Kurzdörfer and team boss Zacharias Wedel also triumphed together in the 1 Mile Uphill Challenge in 33:37 minutes. The three runners had to run up and down the Olympic mountain twice in a row.

The three girls from the team "Always Hungry" placed 8th in this exciting new format and were the superior winner of the unofficial women's ranking.

"We are always hungry for new running adventures. This run was a huge challenge, especially since we had previously thought that we would only have to climb the mountain once," said Anne Lehnhardt. Nathalie Dürbeck, a sports influencer, came up with the idea to start a running team. "This is the perfect attunement for ISPO," she said. She'll be at ISPO Munich for the special program for bloggers and influencers.

Florian Röser won the final 10-kilometer run at the 2nd ISPO Munich Night Run within strong 33:16 minutes ahead of last year's Polish winner Krzysztof Wolowczyk. The results of all participants from all events can be found here.

No times were taken for the children's run - here all participants received a medal after completing the 1.2-kilometer distance. Four boys and one girl from the SOS Children's Village on Lake Ammersee, who had been invited to Munich by Intersport, were also part of the party. Eleven-year-old Joel was thrilled: "That was really cool."