Participating in Sports in Germany

Running in Germany is a popular sport, even though it can get quite cold in Germany in winter. That being said, it also has a certain magic about going for a run in the snow – not to talk about the good training it is to run in ankle-deep snow, similar to running on beach sand!

The winter attire for running might be a little unusual for South Africans, especially the men, with tights galore. However, one runs not to look good while you run, but afterwards, right? Anyway, one overly freezing run without tights, convinces one to accept and adapt very fast.

In summer running is really a pleasure in Germany, since the tons of cycling routes available in Germany provide an excellent way to explore and build your running capacity without having to battle vehicular traffic. Another great pleasure of running in Germany is the fact that often a lake is normally not all too far away, so a quick dip to cool down is a real option on many running routes.

Running events and race day

Taking part in official running events (races, like half-marathons or marathons, etc) in Germany is a little less formalised than in South Africa, in the sense that you don’t have to belong to a club to join official runs. Most running events are organised by sports clubs and the participation fee covers all elements of the run. Generally speaking, the earlier you enter the race, the cheaper it becomes. Often you can also enter on the day of a race (as long as the maximum capacity has not been reached), at approximately double the cost of an early entrant.

What sometimes takes some getting used to is that races in Germany normally start much later in the day (a race starting at 10:00 or even later is not unusual, especially in winter) than in South Africa. Water supply during a race is also quite different in Germany than in South Africa, with cups being used rather than sachets as in SA, making it much harder to run-and-drink in our opinion. What you can also often do at many of the longer races is to prepare and drop off your own drinks a day before the race (normally when you pick up your race number) which the event organisers will then position for you along the route. This is a good way to get around the cup-drinking-mess if you are so inclined. Most larger races also offer good race logistics, such as bag drop services and shower facilities after the race.

Some good race listing sites suggested by our members are:

• Lauftreff: http://www.lauftreff.de/laufkalender/ (where you can sort the races by your postal code (PLZ))
• MyRaceLand: https://www.myraceland.com/en/running-calendar/germany/

Everyday running and our Strava club

For your everyday running, the app Strava can help a lot to help you find routes in your local vicinity. We also have our own “South Africans in Germany” running club listed on Strava under the following link: https://www.strava.com/clubs/956800. Feel free to join our online running club there and share your running ups and downs with us. The Strava app is also the most popular app in South Africa, so you can follow and support both your friends back in South Africa as well as South Africans in Germany easily in one app.