German successes at the FULDA Challenge 2006

6th February 2006

Martin Hollerbach and Heike Möller from Team Lowa Germany have won the 2006 FULDA Challenge overall team classification. After eleven events the German team led with a total of 159 points, ahead of team Belgium on 145 points.

And the individual results of the Arctic competition in Canada’s Yukon Territory gave the German athletes even more reason to celebrate. Hollerbach finished the 2006 FULDA Challenge as best male athlete, scoring 85 points and recording an overall time of 5:36:45 hours. He was followed by Allard Dericks (79 points) on 2 nd and Daniel Hechenblaickner (78) on 3 rd position. In the ladies individual results, Heike Möller (74 points) achieved 2 nd place behind Belgian athlete Liesbeth Buytaert (83). Buytaert won with an overall time of 7:10:52 hours. Christine Schleich from Peiting came sixth, scoring 54 points.

"Congratulations to Martin and Heike", said FULDA Brand Representative Isolde Holderied following the award ceremony. "They showed great performances in this tough competition and proved that they are extraordinary athletes."

The track of the penultimate event, the mountain run, had not been prepared and it was steep and covered with deep snow. Nevertheless, what turned out to be a nearly impossible obstacle for some participants looked like an enjoyable and effortless winter run through beautiful landscapes for Hollerbach and Schleich. Both athletes triumphed by a long distance and beat the competition clearly. "That was the kind of race I love,“ said Schleich afterwards. "I would have loved to run that track again."

Extremely low temperatures on the Yukon River prevented the last event of the competition from being held. Therefore, the scheduled hovercraft race was cancelled and replaced with a car slalom race. Together with Hans-Joachim Stuck, Isolde designed a track, on which the final race took place beneath beautiful sunny skies. Maciej Olesinski from Poland raced around the track clocking the fastest time of 39.39 seconds, while Hollerbach crossed the line a few tenths of a second later. This was, however, enough for Team Lowa Germany to win the overall competition.

Isolde summarised the event, saying: "This year, the FULDA Challenge was yet another adventure that all our participants successfully mastered. The event witnessed outstanding performances by the athletes. Everybody here was highly motivated and very passionate about this competition. Therefore, I’m already really looking forward to next year’s event.“

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