Let’s Go on a Round Trip Through Saxony, Bavaria and the Czech Republic

1,000 kilometers in a duathlon: Cross-border "Lauf-KulTour" started on campus square on August 27, 2022 - university graduate Lisa-Marie Etling was the first to put on her running shoes - tour destination number 1 is Karlovy Vary

At 9:30 in the morning on the campus square of Chemnitz University of Technology: The sky is gray. It starts to rain again. Where it is usually very quiet at this time of day, today young women and men from the Chemnitz sports club Lauf-KulTour, dressed in sporty clothes, are milling about with their bicycles in front of the lecture hall building. Behind them are two escort vehicles with the advertising message "Pack your studies. Best in Saxony". The bikes are checked for the last time, the sports jackets are put on and the straps of the new bike helmets are checked. Now it's time to say goodbye to the family members and friends who have come to the start of the Lauf-KulTour 2022.

Among the twelve athletes is Lisa-Marie Etling, who is leading this year's tour as the starting runner. From August 27 to September 4, 2022, she will cover a total of around 1,000 kilometers in a duathlon on foot and by bike on the route through Saxony, Bavaria and the Czech Republic. "Today we're heading through the Ore Mountains to Karlovy Vary, 90 kilometers away," Etling reports. According to her profile published on the Lauf-KulTour homepage, the 26-year-old is actually a "morning grouch," but she is trying not to be grumpy. In addition, the young woman is driven to do sports for a charitable purpose - specifically, it is about collecting donations for children and young people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy as part of the Lauf-KulTour. The Chemnitz graduate of the Value Chain Management master's degree program already has Lauf-KulTour experience, as she also started in 2021 and was also successful in the Chemnitz company run for the Chemnitz University of Technology. "I know about the challenges of this year's route - I definitely want to get through the entire day reasonably fit, after all I don't want to throw in the towel too soon," said the runner. She is really looking forward to reaching the many places by bike and on foot. “You perceive the environment in a completely different way. It's also fun to take part in the tour together with others in the team," says Etling. This year's team was made up of some "repeat offenders" and a broad new line-up. Eight of the twelve Lauf-KulTourists are studying at the university, two have already successfully completed their studies.

Now she quickly adjusts her running shirt, makes a final check of the laces on her shoes, and then she's off. Etling runs a short lap on the campus square, followed by eleven cyclists. Then the Lauf-KulTourists leave in the direction of Einsiedel. After about eight kilometers, the starting runner will get on her bike and, together with her team, probably fight the rainy weather for the entire day.

Now it is shortly after 10 a.m. and it is quiet again on the campus square. Only one bus drives past the cafeteria. In the distance, the last cyclist of the Lauf-KulTour disappears from view.

The athletes will return to Chemnitz on September 4 at around 4 p.m. at the Karl Marx Monument. The arrival is a program highlight as part of the Sports United Action Day of the city of Chemnitz. Those who wish to, are welcome to accompany the Lauf-KulTourists on the last kilometers.

Background: Lauf-KulTour project

Between 2007 and 2016, the route of the Lauf-KulTour project was probably the longest relay race in the world. Within 16 days, extreme athletes circumnavigated Germany on foot, covering more than 4,000 kilometers. For each of them, that meant more than eight marathons. The idea for this campaign came to the then Chemnitz University of Technology student Dirk Lange in 2005 after a long-distance run around Jena. After a three-year break, a team from the association started a new edition of the project in a modified form in 2019. Twelve young athletes crossed the Federal Republic of Germany in a duathlon on a ten-day tour to the twin city of Düsseldorf. In the following year, there was a continuation of the relaunched project with a slightly different route. In 2021, the tour focused only on Saxony for corona reasons; one year later, it now leads across borders to the Czech Republic for the first time.

Note: The entire tour as well as the current locations of the team can be followed on the club homepage (www.lauf-kultour.de) since the start of the tour. The athletes are also presented there. Besides Karlovy Vary, the destinations are Bayreuth, Nuremberg, Weiden in der Oberpfalz, Pilsen, Prague, the twin city of Chemnitz Usti nad Labem, Dresden and finally Chemnitz again.

Further information on the tour: Christian Bäumler, tel. 0371 531-31726, e-mail christian.baeumler@etit.tu-chemnitz.de or christian@lauf-kultour.de or via the homepage www.lauf-kultour.de.

Multimedia: The Lauf-KulTour 2022 can also be followed on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/laufkultour) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/laufkultour).

(Author: Mario Steinebach / Translation: Brent Benofsky)

Matthias Fejes
31.08.2022

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