RUNNING GERMANY: BERLIN – GRR Prize for Event Innovation awarded to SCC Berlin – Berlin Cross Country Race and the Berlin Marathon wrote history in Germany and worldwide

For the first time, this year the “GRR Prize for Event Innovation” was awarded at the annual meeting of German Road Races (GRR) in Berlin. In light of the 50th anniversary of the Berlin Cross Country Race and the 40th anniversary of the Berlin Marathon, it was a clear decision to award the prize to the event organiser Sport Club Charlottenburg Berlin, which has been organising these prominent races since 1964/1974.

GRR vice-chairman Wilfried Raatz presented the awards to the president of SCC Berlin, Andreas Statzkowski, and to the founding father of both of these excellent events, Horst Milde, during the event at the Berlin Sports Association (LSB Berlin).

Honoured as one of the fathers of the German running culture, 50 years ago Horst Milde brought the idea of a cross-country race for the public from Le Mans and Olympia to Berlin, initially to the Sports Department at the Free University of Berlin, and then shortly thereafter to SC Charlottenburg Berlin.
Ten years later, the Berlin Marathon was called to life, which today exemplifies running culture in Germany and in the world.

Nine world records demonstrate the ideal course and the great appeal of the marathon, but these reflect just the tip of the iceberg of all of the details of the event that the Berlin organisation carries out at the end of September year after year. 

There are innumerable facets of the event that originated in Berlin, which have since been copied thousands of times and have helped to make other events successful as well.

A quick look at its history also reveals that it was SCC Berlin and the Berlin Marathon that formed the idea and helped found German Road Races, the interest group for German races. “For me, this award is tied to the wish that the Berlin Marathon will soon find its way back to GRR,” concluded GRR vice-chairman Wilfried Raatz in his laudation in Berlin.

German Road Races e.V. (GRR)