Magnificent Atmosphere and Aachen’s Team Triumph at the 28. Lousberglauf powered by STAWAG
By witnessing the starting signal on July 5, at 7pm everyone sensed the unique atmosphere of the cult event on Lousberg right away. It was a broadly diversified and colorful starting field that offered a lot of suspension for the spectators. And the final of the NRW UniLauf-Cup was dramatic until the end.
The Lousberglauf 2017 powered by STAWAG lived up to its reputation: Whether wearing a typical sports outfit or dressed as Cesar with his Roman gladiators; whether you are a hobby runner or a pro, the Lousberglauf is an event for everybody. Especially Moussa Hudrog and Maike Schön were standing out of the starting field. While Moussa won this run for the fourth time with an outstanding result of 17:16 minutes, it was the second trophy for Maike with her great result of 20:17 minutes.
The enthusiasm of the 2000 participants and the audience was enormous. Peter Lynen, head of the University Sports Center, was happy as “the event has not only established itself at the universities, but also in the city of Aachen”. On top of this the change of the Lousberglauf is remarkable.
Professor Josef Rosenkranz, Prorector of the FH Aachen was living in the residential towers himself and can thereby speak from his personal experience: “Back then it was a very small run. Now it developed to a successful model with cult character.” This event is not only great for the reputation of Aachen and the surrounding area, it is also increasing Aachen’s universities in the international competition. As professor Aloys Krieg, Prorector of RWTH Aachen states “it is an important factor concerning the positioning of the universities in Europe”.
Great Performance of Aachen’s Team at the NRW UniLauf-Cup
Before the last stage at Lousberglauf, Bonn was leading in this cup with 50 points, followed by Aachen and Cologne with 38 points each. But the home advantage spurred Aachen’s team. Thanks to a phenomenal performance of the “Öcher” men, that were rank one to four at the men’s ranking, the RWTH could win the title of the NRW UniLauf-Cup 2017 with 58 points. The second rank is Cologne with 56 Points. Congratulations!
Success With Traditional Cooperation
What is now a cult event, started 30 years ago as a student’s initiative by the residents of the student towers in Rütscher Straße. Since 1990 the HSZ and the tower’s residents have been hosting this event. “Even if it was a struggle to find enough helping hands and volunteers for the event, it was a great success after all”, as Steffen Huppertz, main coordinator of the residential towers, said.
For 13 years now, main support was given by the sponsor STAWAG, which provided drinks and prizes for the runners. Moreover, the Studierendenwerk supported the event with its logistics.
A special importance was the cooperation of the universities RWTH and FH Aachen as well as the city Aachen. Even on the day of the event they did their best to provide optimal road conditions. “We prepared the track as well as we could, so that everyone reaches the finish line securely and has fun at it”, as Karlheinz Welters of the city administration Aachen stressed. Caterina Clemens, coordinator of the University Sports Center, confirmed this great cooperation by highlighting that the track of the Lousberglauf is as good prepared as hardly any other run in the region.
More information can be found at lousberglauf.de.