“Mei, you’re going fast,” said an older walker, who went for a walk around the lake in Wessling with the dog on Sunday and was repeatedly overtaken by brisk runners – all participants in the 27th Wessling Lake Run, who chasing personal best times in bright sunshine or just wanting to test their fitness. A total of 400 active people had registered for the five routes offered, which made the head of organization Carsten Neder very satisfied: “I expected less, because many are still avoiding the fun runs for fear of Corona. Therefore you can’t make a comparison to previous years.”
New course record in the taster run
There was a new course record in the men’s taster run over 3.5 kilometers: local hero Lukas Bergmann, who switched from LG Würm Athletik to LG Stadtwerke München last year, improved the record he set in 2021 by ten seconds to 11:43 minutes . Second was the only 13-year-old Maximilian Rath, who needed 12:06 minutes. Katka Wenzler (PTSV Rosenheim) dominated the women’s race with a time of 12:12 minutes, more than two minutes ahead of second-placed Johanna Seemanova.
The taster run is the ideal distance for both beginners and trained people to test themselves.
(Photo: Franz Xaver Fuchs)
Among the nearly 100 active participants in this race, some were more relaxed: two young women crossed the finish line arm-in-arm, others chatted animatedly on the home stretch in the SC Wessling stadium. Many were cheered on along the way by family members or friends.
“No Mercy for the Calf”
There was also a great atmosphere along the running route. The athletes passed a banner with the inscription “No mercy for the calf”.
The pack chases the dog: At the start of the dwarf race, Alix Oetting sets the pace in a dog costume.
(Photo: Franz Xaver Fuchs)
It got really loud on the sports grounds when around 70 children born in 2015 and younger tackled two laps around the soccer field. The youngest were just three years old, and some parents ran with them. In a dog costume, Alix Ötting controlled the running speed at the front of the field. There were wooden medals made by Neder for everyone at the finish line. The Gautingen pediatrician Heiko Stern, a regular guest at this event, made up the largest group with a good dozen kids in the school and midget run. During the conversation, he emphasized that “exercise for children in the form of such runs is extremely important”.
In the main run over ten kilometers (four times around the lake) there were some top performers from the Bavarian long-distance scene. Dimitrios Tsakalos, who starts for the municipal works and who finished fourth in the Greek championship over ten kilometers on the tartan track a week ago, increased his lead from lap to lap and crossed the finish line first after 32:48 minutes. The 22-year-old Tsakalos actually wanted to break the course record set in 2008 by the former German 3000-meter steeplechase champion Andre Green (31:37 minutes). “But it was just too hot,” he summed up in the winner’s interview with event spokesman Jörg Stierstorfer. “The track is very nice and I’m looking forward to taking part again next year. Maybe it will work out then.” Second was the only 15-year-old Alexander Kaempf, reigning Bavarian youth runner-up over 5000 meters.
Ingalena Schömburg-Heuck, local hero and course record holder for 15 years, won the ten-kilometre run with ease – here in conversation with Dimitrios Tsakalos, the men’s winner.
(Photo: Franz Xaver Fuchs)
Yvonne Kleiner (LG Stadtwerke München), who “didn’t feel fit at all in the last few weeks”, did not win the women’s “tens” this year like in the past three years. She finished second in 40:43 minutes. The winner was an athlete who has her sporting and private roots in the district, more precisely in Wessling: multiple German champion Ingalena Heuck has been living in Bamberg for several years with her husband and their two children Carl and Frederik. She combined the Weßlinger Seelauf with a home visit to her father. The 35-year-old course record holder (2006: 36:48 minutes) completed the four laps in 38:03 minutes and continued to run very well. Her comment: “I wanted to win and could have done better if necessary.”
Ski mountaineer Finn Hösch, winner of the cross-country race over twelve kilometers
(Photo: Franz Xaver Fuchs)
The cross-country run via Oberpfaffenhofen and Hochstadt back to Wessling was also a complete success. In contrast to last year’s premiere, no runner mistakenly took a shortcut. Katharina Beck won the women’s twelve-kilometer race and Finn Hösch, a member of the German youth national team in the 2026 Olympic discipline of ski mountaineering, won the men’s race.
School run, 1.5 kilometers: Boys: 1. Artem Vasilyev 5:13 minutes, 2. Martin Rombach 5:22, 3. Simon Streicher 5:22. Girls: 1. Karlotta Salvamoser 6:05 minutes, 2. Pauline Bandmann 6:05, 3. Mathilda Weiß 6:18, 4. Victoria Neubauer (SC Weßling) 7:16.
Lake circuit, 3.5 kilometers: Men: 1. Lukas Bergmann (LG Stadtwerke München) 11:43 minutes, 2. Maximilian Rath (LG Oberland) 12:06. Women: 1. Katka Wenzler (PTSV Rosenheim) 12:12 minutes, 2. Johanna Semanovas 14:26, 3. Jette Prenzler (TSV Tutzing) 16:22. 4. Yasmin Starp (SC Wessling) 16:28
Seelauf Classic, 10 kilometers: Men: 1. Dimitrios Tsakalos 32:48 minutes, 2. Alexander Kaempf (both LG Stadtwerke Munich) 34:39, 3. Lucas Theis (Absolute Run Augsburg) 35:30. Women: 1. Ingalena Schömburg-Heuck (LG Bamberg) 38:03 minutes, 2. Yvonne Kleiner (LG Stadtwerke München) 40:43, 4. Eva Egetemeyr (Sport for donations) 45:25, 5. Astrid Kornelius (SC Weßling ) 45:36.
Wessling Cross, 12 kilometers: Men: 1. Finn Hösch (LG Stadtwerke München) 48:29 minutes, 2. Axel Dietrich (LG Würm Athletics) 49:17. Women: 1. Katharina Beck 60:25 minutes, 2. Stefanie Starp (Soli Dachau) 62:49.