National Anthem for the Comeback

Juliette Thomas and Tobias Blum are the winners of the 29th DEULUX-Lauf. The Belgian and the former Cologne Marathon champion from LC Rehlingen narrowly secured victory in an exciting ten-kilometer race through Germany and Luxembourg.

Blum initially set the pace for his clubmate Alexander Bock. However, two kilometers before the finish, the 29-year-old record winner of the Bitburger-0.0% Läufercup could no longer keep up. Behind Blum, who won in 30:16 minutes, Bock secured his fifth Läufercup victory with a time of 30:31 minutes. DEULUX-Lauf third-place finisher Moritz Beinlich (LG Rhein-Wied) finished in 31:03 minutes, four seconds too slow. The former German half marathon champion, however, narrowly edged out the fastest runner from a Luxembourg club, Ethiopian-born Yonas Kinde (31:05), who finished in fourth place.

The Luxembourg national anthem played for Jonas Kinde, the 10 km champion of the Grand Duchy. In the DEULUX-Lauf ranking, 28-year-old Bob Haller pushed his clubmate Bob Bertemes into sixth place by five seconds with a time of 31:24 minutes. The fastest Luxembourger was Jenny Gloden, who finished second overall with a personal best of 35:07 minutes. The 28-year-old had to let Juliette Thomas, who finished in 34:57 minutes just under the 35-minute mark, pull ahead in the last two kilometers.

The 29th DEULUX-Lauf was one of the fastest ever. The fastest woman has only been faster four times, and the fastest man only twice. As this was the first DEULUX-Lauf held during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of participants was naturally somewhat lower than in previous years, with 1,191 runners reaching the finish line, compared to nearly 1,600 two years ago.