Three, two, one – cough! Katronic participates at 6th Harz Company Run

COVID precautions don’t deter 720 competitors at the annual event in Wernigerode

Due to the current Corona prevention regulations many things were different at the 6th Harz Company's Run 2020. The organisers were forced to limit the number of competitors to 1,000 and only registered spectators were allowed to attend. Additionally to this, the start line and finish area were physically separated from each other and the usual mass start was replaced with staggered departure times. 

In order to avoid the possible spread of Covid-19, the relay format was abandoned in favour of individual time measurements. To make this possible, runners came to the event individually and each one was issued with a transponder for timekeeping. To further protect the competitors all documentation was collected the day before to prevent over-crowding and a large temporary area was constructed to house the organisers, catering and most importantly the bar.

The 180 teams participating were fortunately blessed with dry starting conditions as they completed the 2.2 km circuit of the Wernigerode Bürgerpark under a blue sky. The result of the present pandemic was that there were only 720 people compared to the 485 teams and 1,940 runners in the previous year. The 2020 Katronic team of Karsten Frahn, Ronny Reinke, Roy Pentke, Sebastian Vogelei finished 83rd overall in the men's category with a combined time of 45 minutes 58 seconds. 

The event this year may have been different to previous, but the organisers were perfectly prepared and as a result the Harz Company Run was a success. Katronic will have another attempt at the title in 2021 when hopefully more people will be able to be involved under more normal circumstances.

Photo: Team Katronic (Ronny Reinke, Karsten Frahn, Sebastian Vogelei, Roy Pentke)