Tuesday, May 28, 2024, 6:30 pm. The third starting wave of the AOK Company Run Potsdam 2024 slowly sets off after the starting signal at the Neues Palais Potsdam and enlivens the 5-kilometer circuit through the beautiful Sanssouci Park in perfect running weather. Among them are the highly motivated colleagues from the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, who want to prove their personal form again in 2024 with running enthusiasm and team spirit.

Almost 5000 participants from over 300 companies made their way through Potsdam, setting a new participation record for the organizers. GFZ also increased its participation from 86 colleagues in 2023 to an impressive 101 colleagues this year. This means we are slowly approaching the pre-corona figures again - a very pleasing development!

We are also pleased with the results again! Particularly noteworthy is the performance of Daniel Lipus, who was the fastest runner of the entire competition, completing the course in an impressive 15:29 minutes. The fastest woman at the GFZ was Sonja Bettge from Team RIFS with a time of 20:28 minutes.

Each team's fastest four runners were combined for the team rankings. Team GFZ runners (men), consisting of Daniel Lipus, Frank Springer, Andreas Brack and Martin Botushev, achieved 2nd place, and team GFZ runners (mixed) with Simona Regenspurg, Zlata Trepalova, Frank Springer and Daniel Lipus achieved 3rd place. Erik Lux managed to match his previous year's time of 20:10 minutes to the second with technical precision. Whether on purpose or by chance: Kudos!

Overall, the AOK Company Run Potsdam 2024 was a great success for the GFZ and we are delighted with the enthusiastic participation and the many new faces that enrich our team.

Congratulations to all runners for their outstanding personal achievements!