The 9th Idar-Oberstein Felsenkirche stair run took place last Sunday. Last year's men's winners, Martin Mayer in the short run and Steffen Uebel in the main run, were able to repeat their success. Karoline Schöpfer won the women's short race and Sandra Dolby won the main race.
There are sporting events where it's all about times, distances and placings. Not so with the Idar-Oberstein Felsenkirche stair run. "The event has a special flair and the organization is great," enthused Stefan Knop. He has already made a note of the date for next year. This is certainly also due to the fact that this event is always meticulously organized by Ilonka and Rainer Hagner and their team of volunteers and has a number of special features to offer. Once again, presenter Heinz Hofmann led through the event in an entertaining and amusing manner. Both races then pass through the vaults of Oberstein Castle. The athletes will also be greeted at the finish line by the German Gemstone Queen, who will hang a medal around the necks of all participants. The 24th German Gemstone Queen, Vivian Heidrich, had only been in office for two days and the stair run was her first royal appointment. The medal itself is not off the peg either, but was specially designed by Heike Fuchs, head of Fuchs Gravuren.
At 11 a.m. sharp, Mayor Frank Frühauf fired the starting pistol for the first time that day. 47 athletes set off on the 5.4-kilometre course, on which 450 steps and 246 meters of altitude had to be overcome. For a long time, the top runners - including Martin Mayer, Marco Gabriel, Julius Partsch and Frank Fetzer - were still in the pack and within sight of the pursuers. It was only on the first steps in Winkelbach that the wheat was separated from the chaff and the leading group gradually pulled away. In the end, Martin Mayer was the first to cross the finish line in 25:36.68 minutes, 1:17 minutes ahead of Marco Gabriel. Third-placed Julius Partsch had roughly the same time gap to Gabriel. He was closely followed by Frank Fetzer and Maximilian Olk. These five runners were the only ones to stay under the magical time of 30:00 minutes for this course. Karoline Schöpfer, the fastest woman, won in just over 30:09 minutes. She was followed by Désirée Joerg and third place went to Stefanie Lang.
At 12 noon, Mayor Frühauf was back in action as a starter and sent 22 men and five women on the 8.4-kilometre main race, which was an even more difficult challenge with 635 steps and 468 meters of altitude. It was a lonely race for Steffen Übel, multiple winner of the stair run. He had prepared himself specially, was able to pull away from the start and steadily increased the gap to his pursuers. He finally crossed the finish line after 37:06:22 minutes, more than five minutes ahead of Marco Gabriel. Gabriel, however, already had the short run in his bones. Lennox Düren, who was in second place for a long time, had to let Gabriel go on the serpentines in the forest and finished third. In the women's race, it was once again the top-trained Baumholder triathlete Sandra Dolby who took the win in 47:35.73 minutes. "This is great preparation for the mountain running championships in October," enthused Sandra Dolby. Second place went to Désirée Joerg, with Sarah Heich completing the winning trio.
The award ceremony followed shortly after the races. The challenge trophies for winning the long course went to Steffen Übel and Sandra Dolby. However, the trophies will now have a permanent place in their display cases, as the two have already dominated the course three times and are now in possession of these artistic one-offs. In the subsequent raffle among all participants, Holger Mauer won such a large amethyst druse that Rainer Hagner had previously made a carrier frame for it. However, Hagner and his wife Ilonka not only awarded prizes this year, but also received gifts themselves. Participant Steffen Mohr started for the Porsche Center Trier and presented Hagners with a voucher for a day in the iconic Porsche 911 sports car. After that, the marathon team will certainly start planning the 10th edition of the Felsenkirche stair race, which will take place on September 21, 2025.