Team Memmert The year 2014...

January

The year just started, the first competitions are still a long way off and the German winter is cold. That is why our triathletes have escaped the icy temperatures and are already collecting their first cycling miles for the summer under the Spanish sun. Meanwhile, there is no escape from the ice and cold for the runners as it is cross-country season and they have to run through snow and mud. But that doesn't affect our boys at all and they win the first Middle Franconian championship.

February

However, not all athletes went to the Canary Islands for their training. The "real" ironmen hop onto their cross-country or mountain bikes and train outside in spite of snow and icy temperatures below 0° C. After all, there is no stopping the fun when you train in a group.

March

The last snow has finally begun to melt here and in the Alps. Some can't wait any longer and already climb the Alpine passes on the very first day after they have been opened. The summits might still be a little bit white, but the gorgeous view and wonderful sunshine are a great gratification.

April

As the first event approaches, the bikes are cleaned and the racing shoes are taken out of the wardrobe. The entire Team Memmert races around Rothsee lake at the local HIRO half-marathon and makes a good start into the new season. Especially Fraol Lencho Holjira, the winner and newest member of the team. But less ambitious participants also get their money's worth and enjoy the beautiful 21 km landscape of their homeland. Commercial Director Jürgen Gambert and Head of Development Ralf Achtnicht can be found among these participants.

May

The Team Memmert stars Christian Pickl and Günter Lauterbach rocked the first Ironman 70.3 race in Mallorca and St.Pölten (AT), where they both came in third in their age group after swimming 1.9 km, cycling 90 km and running 21 km.

Matthias Röser immediately abandoned the Ironman race in Lanzarote after he witnessed a serious accident and deserves special recognition as a first aider.

Meanwhile, the runners on the track in the stadium pushed themselves to the limit and brought home one record after the other in the 5,000m run. Four new personal records were set by Michael Batz (15:15 min), Andreas Straßner (14:57 min), Joseph Katib (14:21 min) and Sebastian Reinwand, who leads the way as national champion with 13:58.

June

Finally summer, sun, Memmert Rothsee triathlon! At least that was the case last year. This year, over 1000 participants were surprised by the rain. The athletes, however, weren't downed by the weather - they will get wet when they swim anyway. After our colleague from the customer service department Nina Kuhn had her relay swimming debut in 2013, this year, she successfully completed  the entire distance. With a total of 18 individual starters and 7 relay teams, Team Memmert was, as always, well represented. Managing Director Christiane Riefler-Karpa, Harald von Blumenthal (customer service), Andrea Weiß (Sales) and many more were among the participants.

The fast "bipeds" weren't idle either - quite on the contrary! - Our running team did not only surprise, but excelled at the world's largest company run in Frankfurt, the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Run, and came in first from among 80,000 participants, qualifying for the world finals.

July

The month of July kicks off with the 30-stage district run all across the region. Memmert participates in this run for the second time and wins the "runner up" trophy, a prize honouring the team that made the most progress since the previous year.

Then, it is the triathletes' turn again and they train to get into top shape in Ingolstadt, a nearby city, to prepare for the "race of the year": the Roth Challenge with over 4500 enthusiastic triathletes from all over the world. It is almost always hot there, but this year, the scorching heat takes a lot out of all athletes, from professional and recreational athletes alike. Many have to stop the race, Sebastian Bleisteiner from Team Memmert however, doesn't let the time pressure get to him and carefully saved his strengths, for which he was rewarded with position 15 in the overall ranking after 08:48 hours. The first-time participant Benedikt Spangenberg also did everything right and finished the race well. The same applies to our relay teams, who, as every year, had the opportunity to dip their toes into the world of triathlons.

August

Those who didn't participate in the Challenge now want to qualify for the Ironman race in Hawaii. Christian Picks and Stephan Gersching successfully do so in Copenhagen and the Swedish town of Kalmar.

September

The triathlon season is long from being over and the first long-distance Ironman takes place in Mallorca. Matthias Grosser is the fastest participant from Team Memmert, while Christian Pickl and Günter Lauterbach cross the finishing line together.

Gregor Stützinger has a special "torture" to endure and gets some "Tour de France" feeling in the course of the "Haute Route Alps", where he has to cycle from Geneva to Nice in seven days with his racing bike. He has to cover a distance of 900 km and overcome 21,400 metres in altitude and 19 Alpine passes.

October

Autumn did not only bring golden colours, but also the "Schwabach Golden Miles" race. Many colleagues from the administration and manufacturing departments participated in the various distance categories of this race, from 5 km to the half marathon. The Memmert Bambini race is particularly well-received.

A big dream comes true for Stephan Gersching, as he participates in the triathlon world cup in Hawaii for the first time and passes his debut with flying colours.

November

The "Memmert student cup" enters into a wonderful finale with a run through the Büchenbach woods. Numerous children and young people were winners in the last run of the series and enjoyed the last sunshine of late autumn, in a location not far from our production site.

Team Memmert introduces its competitive running team for the coming season at their first press conference. The runners wanted to create a buzz, particularly in the area of cross-country and road running. Also, the 'home game' with the German championship in the Nuremberg Frankenstadion comes conveniently located. Two top runners joined the team: Julian Flügel, who ran the Frankfurt marathon in 2:13:20 and Simon Stützel (who ran 10,000 m in 00:28:56). An "oldie", Andreas Straßner from the Memmert logistics department, can also be proud of his 2:22:50 marathon time.  Many sponsors affiliated themselves with the promising team, among them the Raiffeinsenbank Roth-Schwabach and Global Optics: two more sponsors from the local region. The company Asics will provide the right shoes and the necessary equipment for our runners in the future. 

We wish all members of Team Memmert a relaxing, competition-free time during which you can gather your strength and energy for 2015. We are already looking forward to the new season with all of you!