Konstanze Klosterhalfen to NOP!!

She's not going be a Mary Cain 2.0. Mary Cain was mentally weak and had morals. If you want to be elite you can't have a conscience.

Please go away. You’re not adding anything to this thread.

Interesting. She's not known for being a high-mileage runner, but she could hang with Hassan. It's currently temporary but she did ditch her coach. It's good for her to get away from home for a bit.

[quote]Ezekiel bread wrote:

She's not going be a Mary Cain 2.0. Mary Cain was mentally weak and had morals. If you want to be elite you can't have a conscience.[/quote]

Seriously?

Subway Surfers wrote:

[quote]Ezekiel bread wrote:

She's not going be a Mary Cain 2.0. Mary Cain was mentally weak and had morals. If you want to be elite you can't have a conscience.[/quote]

Seriously?

Lance Armstrong for example.

I used to like Konstanze and root for her.

Not anymore.

I liked Konstanze and rooted for her. Now i will root for her even more. My favorite female runner after Muir.

laufmutti wrote:

Interesting. She's not known for being a high-mileage runner, but she could hang with Hassan. It's currently temporary but she did ditch her coach. It's good for her to get away from home for a bit.

Good point to bring up Sifan. Just like AlSal ran through pacing fodder for Rupp and Farah, he needs fresh meat for his latest A-lister.

Jhljh wrote:

I liked Konstanze and rooted for her. Now i will root for her even more. My favorite female runner after Muir.

I never root for stick insects. Includes Kiprop.

This story has more:

https://www.sport1.de/leichtathletik/2018/11/leichtahletik-konstanze-klosterhalfen-trainiert-in-den-usa

Sounds like she may still represent her club Bayer Leverkusen but she does appear to be moving to Portland to train under Pete Julian.

I also find it amusing that Google translates her name to "Monk Halves."

Jonathan Gault wrote:

This story has more:

https://www.sport1.de/leichtathletik/2018/11/leichtahletik-konstanze-klosterhalfen-trainiert-in-den-usa

Sounds like she may still represent her club Bayer Leverkusen but she does appear to be moving to Portland to train under Pete Julian.

I also find it amusing that Google translates her name to "Monk Halves."

Jon, she just needs consistency. If she ran near her best she could be a star. BTW that's a good picture of her, most times she's looks stunned, like she just broke up with her boyfriend.

hjmjh wrote:

I used to like Konstanze and root for her.

Not anymore.

How are you???

Jonathan Gault wrote:

Sounds like she may still represent her club Bayer Leverkusen but she does appear to be moving to Portland to train under Pete Julian.

She needs a german club to be eligible to start at German national championships, so this is no big deal regarding her move to Portland. She surely would be allowed to represent NOP on international stage if she will join.

Germany has a couple of good young Distance Female runners Konstanze and Alina Reh who ran 31:23 for 10k Onthe roads and 69:31 for the Half Marathon, Reh is 20-21 years old as well. Germany used to be a Powerful Womans team, looks like they are getting back and will be better than they ever were.

Back are the Days of Wodars and Wachtel Germany is Rising again.

Jonathan Gault wrote:

This story has more:

https://www.sport1.de/leichtathletik/2018/11/leichtahletik-konstanze-klosterhalfen-trainiert-in-den-usa

Sounds like she may still represent her club Bayer Leverkusen but she does appear to be moving to Portland to train under Pete Julian.

I also find it amusing that Google translates her name to "Monk Halves."

Ah, Kloster means Cloister, halfen is a past tense firm of 'help'.

In Germany, the period for swapping clubs is November. Athletes might switch clubs for a number of reasons, but generally those on national teams are getting a bit of support.

Bayer Leverkusen is shifting from Adidas to Nike as an exclusive shoe sponsor, so that wasn't an issue (a few Adidas athletes had to leave).

She's been with same coach for ages and wants a change, but she does need to registered with a German club to compete. She's already sponsored by Nike, so this does sound like a unique chance. I found it interesting to read that Arne Gabius was rejected by NOP, he's a doctor but trains alone with his family.

Kloster means monastery (cf. cloister). Halfen doesn't mean anything in high German anymore, but it looks related to half (halb in German). I think the name stems from some late medieval tenant of land belonging to a monastery or sth. like that.

(tbh the surname sounds slightly funny for a native speaker).

It is a very surprising move. Apparently there had been rising tensions with her coach of 6 years (who is also a federal coach), maybe also connected with her injury. But nothing of that came into public.

While there are a few decent middle/distance runners in Germany, there is nothing remotely comparable to NOP or Schumacher's group. While some runners are joining larger groups for training camps, there is no group with top level runners, even apart from the fact that there is nobody in her class in Germany. (Alina Reh is very good but mostly on longer distances and slowish below 5k, Krause is a very good steepler but only decent over the flat.)

So to improve her environment Portland was basically the only place she could go.

Jo72 wrote:While there are a few decent middle/distance runners in Germany, there is nothing remotely comparable to NOP or Schumacher's group. While some runners are joining larger groups for training camps, there is no group with top level runners, even apart from the fact that there is nobody in her class in Germany. (Alina Reh is very good but mostly on longer distances and slowish below 5k, Krause is a very good steepler but only decent over the flat.)

So to improve her environment Portland was basically the only place she could go.

yeah, because for girls training with boys is verboten in Germany....

Kipchoge is King wrote:

Jo72 wrote:While there are a few decent middle/distance runners in Germany, there is nothing remotely comparable to NOP or Schumacher's group. While some runners are joining larger groups for training camps, there is no group with top level runners, even apart from the fact that there is nobody in her class in Germany. (Alina Reh is very good but mostly on longer distances and slowish below 5k, Krause is a very good steepler but only decent over the flat.)

So to improve her environment Portland was basically the only place she could go.

yeah, because for girls training with boys is verboten in Germany....

Of course it is not and it is done all the time. But this does not at all change the basic fact that regardless of co-ed training there is no running club/group in Germany even remotely in the league of NOP or Bowerman or probably the best groups in the UK. Almost all the top distance (and most middle distance) runners are training separately, sometimes virtually alone (I think this is true of Reh), sometimes in temporary or tiny groups.

I am in rather divided mind about her move. It could lead to a boost or it backfire although she does not seem to be the type of rash decisions. OTOH she is a 21 year old girl, they are supposed to be somewhat spontaneous... Maybe it is also a desire for going abroad; one of her brothers is playing soccer for a US college

)

There is also one article saying that she will be back in Germany for the outdoor season, so it might be more like a Nike-sponsored extended training camp or trying out.