The German Para Indoor Championships were held in Erfurt on February 24, 2024. My name is Stefan Lohmaier, and I competed in the 3000m for the visually impaired category T12 with my guide, Frank Hitzelsberger.
I have been running with the local club Munich at Achilles International Germany since 2019. Since finishing my first marathon in September 2023 in Berlin, I have been part of the Bavarian state squad of the Bavarian Disabled Sports Association. The state coach has been training me once a week at the performance support center, and I have five additional training sessions per week. I receive great support from Achilles and always find a guide who is ready to train with me.
After the training sessions, the state coach set a target time of 14:40. Since I was unable to do a single 3000m test and had never had the chance to train indoors, I was very nervous. The track in the hall is only 200m per lap and has slightly banked curves. So, the goal was to run 15 laps at a pace faster than 1 minute per lap.
In my race, several disability classifications were combined, so there were four runner-guide pairs in my 3000m race. After the start, Frank and I positioned ourselves in 3rd place and ran the first lap a bit too fast in 42 seconds. We then slowed down a bit and managed to hit the target time of about 1 minute per lap for the next 13 laps. Frank was always able to read the current time from the board at the finish line, which was a great help. The entire Bavarian team from the BVS passionately cheered me on every lap, and Frank noticed that I always got a little faster when passing by Team Bavaria. The hardest lap was the penultimate one; I was still not sure if I could finish under 15 minutes. Finally, after the penultimate lap, the bell rang to indicate the last lap, and the clock showed 13:42. The last lap was just fun! Frank and I were able to cross the finish line in a time of 14:33.92. It was truly a great feeling!
Many thanks to all the guides who have trained with me! Achilles is awesome!
