You can tell that something is turning

Eva Öhmichen

Eva Öhmichen is a little puzzled. "How did you even think of me?" We wanted to honour the Lauf-KulTour and the people behind it and got a tip: Why don't you talk to Eva? She took part in the relay event in 2013 and wants to take part again this year when 12 runners set off on their route around Germany from Chemnitz on 3 September, not only to raise awareness of the city but also to raise money for a charitable cause.

Can you briefly describe what the Lauf-KulTour is, what your goals and motivation are?
Eva Öhmichen: I have to think about that first, it's hard to put into words. You can't compare it to anything, because it doesn't exist anywhere except at Chemnitz University of Technology. You really have to experience it for yourself: We are twelve runners in total and our goal is to run round Germany once in 16 days. That's about 4,000 kilometres. Each runner runs twice a day, for one hour each time. There are three teams with four runners each. Team one has a shift from 2.00 am to 6.00 am and again from 2.00 pm to 6.00 pm. Team two takes to the course from 6.00 am to 10.00 am and so on. There are also eight cycle guides who navigate us along the entire route. A huge project organised by students.
We are organised as a non-profit association with the aim of collecting donations for a good cause during the 16 days. Last year, for example, it was for the German Cancer Society. This year we are collecting for aktion benni & co. e.V., an organisation that helps children with muscle disease.

What is the aim behind the Lauf-KulTour?
There are many challenges that all need to be mastered. First of all, the organisation. We have to see where we can get our camper vans, how we can raise money, how we can find the right runners and cycling companions. Will we get the running equipment and possibly a few bicycles sponsored for the escorts? These are the organisational structures.
Then to the runners: They also have to put in a certain amount of effort so that they can get through the 16 days injury-free as best they can. Overall, you should run around ten to eleven kilometres per hour. Otherwise we won't manage the 4,000 kilometres in the planned time. You get to know your limits and then you have to go beyond them.

Would you say that a lot of people around the route notice something about you?
It's always surprising who really notices everything. People come to the course because they've heard about us on the radio and then sometimes even run a bit with us. Last year, a few Swiss people even travelled across Lake Constance to meet us. You do notice that there are clichés about grey, industrial Chemnitz. But that often changes in conversation. Also through the recognition that such a great project has been created here.

Can anyone who enjoys running take part?
You have to make a distinction. First of all, there is a running club every Monday evening from 7 p.m., which is organised by the TU. It's like a normal university sports course that has been specially opened up to non-students. There, the runners are also introduced to the Lauf-KulTour: "How about it, are you adventurous, would you like to take part in something like this?" And some then decide to do it because they simply fancy it. In terms of training, the meeting is building up to the Lauf-KulTour. For those who are really interested, a second running group is added, where the training content includes interval, hill and stair runs. Even some people who have never been running before and don't have much stamina manage to join the tour at the end. Nevertheless, we can only take twelve students from Chemnitz University of Technology with us as team members. Those who are the fittest and fit best into the team. That's why we're a student project.

What does your current training schedule look like?
There's always group training on Mondays and Wednesdays and everything else is up to you. I often try to train in a group, but I'm also the type of person who likes to go running on my own. To be by myself and switch off from the stress of university. Now comes the phase where you have to run a few more kilometres a week. I'd say between 70 and 80 kilometres. Our coach Manuel Eberhardt sends us an email every Monday morning with training dates and the weekly target. That gives us something to orientate ourselves by. Then there is a special session in which we have three simulation training sessions. This means we run for an hour at 7.00 a.m. and again in the evening. And we do this three days in a row so that the body gets to know the strain and adapts.

Have you done sport before?
I swam from the age of nine to 14. Of those five years, three of them were competitive. I stopped because of overexertion. I fell ill several times, had a fever for inexplicable reasons and my grades plummeted. I thought to myself: school is more important. I then did athletics for three years. But I didn't enjoy it that much either. They always wanted to send me over hurdles, but I'm not a coordination freak. I also used to run on my own at home or with my mum. As a family, we always went on active holidays in the summer. We took our bikes with us and went cycling in the Alps. As a teenager, you didn't always want to do that, but sport is now a big part of my life.
When I started studying here, I also started mountain biking and did quite well. In 2012, I came second at the Saxon University Championships. I came third at the German University Championships. I also achieved the goals I had set myself. Then came a cut-off point with my final thesis in 2013.

And how did you get into running?
Ultimately, at some point I just got fed up with cycling all the time. Those are the moments when you feel like you have a plank in front of your head. And then I thought to myself: "Just do something different." I then went to the Lauf-KulTour information event and got an insight into how the whole thing works and thought it was very, very cool. The challenge appealed to me. I'd never actually enjoyed running before. It was only on the Lauf-KulTour that I learnt to love running.

And you don't get bored while running?
Your cycling companion not only navigates you, he also motivates you. He talks to you, you talk to him - it's completely automatic. Plus, you always see something new. A lot of things are different at night anyway. You don't see much and then there are unexpected moments. Last year, for example, my foot was prickly at some point during the night. I ran into a hedgehog - don't worry, it survived. Or running through a herd of 300 sheep on the North Sea at 4.00 a.m. and seeing pairs of shining eyes everywhere - you never get bored there.

What do you do on the tour when you're not running?
When we're not running, we drive between 80 and 90 kilometres in the camper van so that we're already close to the new meeting point. We also have to use the time to go shopping, eat a lot and sleep. There's no other way to get through the 16 days. And maybe take a look around the world when you have a free minute.

How are the last few days particularly difficult? Because you're already feeling the distance?
On the one hand that, on the other hand you simply have an extreme lack of sleep. Last year I almost had a film break on some days because my head simply switched off and only my body was working. And then you also get moody. And that with four people in a small motorhome. You really have to pull yourself together.

Is it sometimes difficult to motivate yourself when you know: I have to get going again at 3 a.m.?
The hardest thing for me is waking up. Running isn't a problem, but getting clear thoughts in my head - sometimes I have to work on that. It's like getting up in the morning. Morning grouch - yes or no. I need my time for that.

What hurts the most after all this exertion?
I didn't have any major muscular problems last year. Just a few knee problems and calf cramps, but that went away after a week or two.

Eva, you're taking part for the second time this year. How did you get involved back then?
Two of my three brothers have also been studying in Chemnitz - for a year longer than me. Matthias ran with me back in 2010 and I already had a rudimentary idea of everything. What they do and roughly what the content is. I had an incredible amount of respect for it, but I also thought that they were a bit crazy to do it. But my brother thought it was brilliant and even wanted to continue. After that, the Lauf-KulTour was still present at the university and in 2013, after the information event, it was clear to me that I wanted to take part.
The funny thing is that both brothers came along in 2013. I asked them rather jokingly. "Steffen, we're just running out of runners. Wouldn't you like to come?" And then we were still missing a cycling companion. On the day of departure, when we picked Steffen up, I asked Matthias. "Hey Matti, would you like to join us as a bike companion - you already know what it was like to run." And then he came along too.

Sport is a balance, you say. How did you continue your studies after your Bachelor's thesis?
I was then subsequently enrolled on the Master's degree programme in Prevention, Rehabilitation and Fitness Sports and am now studying two degree programmes. I had already started the Bachelor's degree in Medical Engineering.

How do you manage to juggle everything: two degree programmes and regular training?
Sometimes it's a real balancing act to put together a timetable every semester. You have to prioritise and sometimes make sacrifices. For me, it's just become the norm.

And where do you cut back?
There are many more seminars, tutorials and lectures on the Bachelor's degree programme than on the Master's degree programme. There are sometimes time overlaps. Then I think about what will help me at the moment. The one seminar now - then I'll finish the Master's programme faster and can concentrate better on the Bachelor's programme later. You can't do everything that's on offer and you just have to spread things out over the next few semesters.

Like many of your team colleagues, you're not from Chemnitz. Do you feel a special connection to the city? With your campaign, you are already a figurehead for the university and the city.
Many people keep talking the city down: Industrial town, ugly esse, empty houses... But you can tell that something is happening here! I grew up surrounded by nature in Riesa, so I appreciate the many green spaces in the city and the surrounding area with the foothills of the Erzgebirge and the forests. I like to go running in the Zeisigwald forest, for example, and it's also ideal for cycling. Especially for mountain biking with a lot of variety. We may not have a large lake district here, but "only" the Rabenstein reservoir and the outdoor pools. But I like this simplicity. I don't want for anything. And then I'm also someone who likes a clearly structured city centre because I can easily find my way around. I certainly don't know Chemnitz completely, but it has become a part of me. When I'm with my parents in Riesa and go back to Chemnitz, I also say: "I'm going home again."

Why did you come to Chemnitz to study?
I never wanted a job where you sit in an office and write all day. That's not my thing, I can't imagine doing that. And then I chose degree programmes that have something to do with sports science, because in the end they also deal with medicine. I found that interesting. Then I had to choose between Leipzig and Chemnitz. I didn't really find my way around Leipzig. And then you could tell from the people that you were greeted and accepted rather coldly when I went to the sports aptitude test. I simply felt more comfortable in Chemnitz. And you have to feel that way when you decide where to study. After all, you spend a certain part of your life there.

The people of Chemnitz are often reserved when talking about their city. Do you have to encourage the people of Chemnitz?
If I hear it, it's only from the outside that someone says "Chemnitz isn't nice." Every city has its corners where it's perhaps really not nice. Leipzig and Dresden too. And then people say: "The neighbourhood isn't so nice" and it's not so great to walk through the streets there. But you should really just open your eyes when you walk through Chemnitz. Even those who are always so negative about the city: it also has beautiful sides.