Partners and the Community

later. This race had only local character. So there were never more than about 1,800 runners. After the wall came down in 1989 and the political system of the GDR had collapsed the support for the “Berliner Friedenslauf” was gone as well. So the former organiser Stefan Senkel had to quickly find a new partner to save his race. The SCC Berlin, the organiser of the BERLIN MARATHON, joined in. And the traditional “Berliner Friedenslauf” suddenly had a bright new future. Already in 1990 the organisers from east and west agreed on one distance: the half marathon. Race-Director Horst Milde had well in mind that it was the 21,0975 k which had a prosperous future.

Vattenfall City Night
The Vattenfall City Night race is staged on the boulevard Kurfürstendamm. It is an evening race with a special atmosphere in downtown Berlin. It is usually held on the first Saturday in August. Live music and tens of thousands of spectators line the streets. At this race one can choose between running 5 or 10 k. About 9,000 runners participate in this race, which has an atmosphere similar to the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON. Elite runners run the 10 k event. And a new addition is a mile race for young athletes. HypoVereinsbank TEAM-Staffel
The HypoVereinsbank TEAM relay registered a record number of 2.800 teams which means that 14,000 participants were running on the 5 k course in the Tiergarten park. The HypoVereinsbank TEAM relay reached dimensions like the BERLIN-MARATHON in the mid 90ies. Back then the classic race had 16,000 participants.  In the middle of the 80ies the BERLIN-MARATHON was the biggest German running event – with fewer participants than the HypoVereinsbank TEAM-relay today. Two main factors explain the success of the relay. On the one hand 5 k is quite a short distance to run and on the other hand it is the team spirit. The relay is usually held on two days in June.