Duisburg, September 2017. Spurred on by sporting ambition and a sense of community spirit, a team of PCC employees, family members and former co-workers took part in the now traditional Targobank Corporate Challenge Run through Duisburg city center.

Though small in number, the eight-strong team representing PCC demonstrated their solidarity and commitment to a good cause by participating in this big event on August 24, 2017. With a portion of the entry fees benefiting social projects in the region, this year’s 6,000 participants from 273 companies together raised a total of around 42,500 euros. One of the runners taking part was PCC SE Managing Director, Dr. Alfred Pelzer. “It’s great that we tackled the run together,” he said at the finishing line. Completing the 5.4 kilometer course in a time of 33:57, he finished 166th in his age group, just 6 seconds behind Sören Link, the mayor of Duisburg.

The Corporate Challenge Run through the city center has a fine tradition, with this year’s event marking the twelfth occasion on which teams from local companies have competed in friendly rivalry. As in 2016, the fastest member of Team PCC was Thomas Kirchner, Senior Project Manager at PCC DEG Renewables GmbH in Duisburg. He reached the finishing line in a time of just 21:34 – all the more impressive considering he’d just cycled seven kilometers from PCC’s headquarters in Duisburg-Homberg to be at the starting line in the city center. Finishing 107th overall, he moved up 11 places from last year, stating: “I wasn’t far off the top 100, so hopefully I can keep getting nearer with each year.” His time also saw him claim 20th place in his age group (compared to 23rd in 2016). Still full of energy, he was back on his bike after the closing ceremony.

At 22 minutes and 24 seconds, the second fastest member of Team PCC was Olaf Scheidung, coming 182nd overall and 19th in his age group. The third best finish on Team PCC came from Michael John with a time of 31:10, followed just 22 seconds later (31:32) by the fastest lady member of Team PCC, Eva Ziobro, who took 448th place for the ladies and came 51st in her age group. Next to reach the finishing line was Walter Klingbiel, matching Dr. Pelzer’s time of 33:57 and taking 16th place in his age group! Completing the run in a time of 37:22, Ulrike Porz took 4th place in her category (the top ranking across the team’s various age groups), followed by Monika Kotit (42:27). Aside from making the effort to run themselves, these two ladies were once again responsible for organising the team from PCC.

Many congratulations to the entire team! We’re already looking forward to a large turnout in 2018.