PCC Team completes Duisburg run in blistering heat

Duisburg, August 2016. A 13-strong team of PCC employees and relatives completed this year’s “Targobank Run” in Duisburg in high summer temperatures. With their participation in this major event on Thursday, 25 August 2016, they demonstrated their sense of community outside the workplace and raised money for a good cause A percentage of the entry fee was donated to charity, which amounted this time to around 40,000 Euro. Among the PCC team was Managing Director Ulrike Warnecke. “It was fun,” she said after completing her run in the heat. “Even though we were a small – but very select – team, our luminous orange tee shirts were unmissable, even in the crowd of 5,000 runners.” Everyone managed to reach the finish line in fine PCC style.” The fastest PCC colleague was Thomas Kirchner, Senior Project Manager at PCC DEG Renewables GmbH in Duisburg, with a time of just 16:15 minutes for the 4.25 km course.

This corporate run through Duisburg city center was initiated by Targobank and is now a firmly established event. There was friendly rivalry between the teams from the local companies that took part in the 11th edition of this competition. As it took place during one of Germany’s most severe late-August heatwaves in decades, this year’s run was particularly challenging. The fire service advised the organizer to shorten the course from nearly 6 km down to 4.25 km and installed a shower in the middle of the course, which gave a welcome cooling respite to the runners who after the mass start at 19:00 still had to cope with temperatures of over 30 °C.

PCC race champion Thomas Kirchner said: “A little over four kilometers isn’t a long distance, it sounds easy, but under such conditions it represented a real challenge. I can only take my hat off to all my fellow runners in the PCC team.” With his time of 16:15 minutes, which represents an average speed of 15.7 km/h, he came 118th in a field of 4,992 runners and was 23rd in his age category. He was followed by Group Controller Jonas Vohwinkel at 17:39 minutes who was 318th overall and 54th in his age category. The third-fastest member of the PCC Team was Heiner Böhner, the husband of our PCC employee Andrea Böhner from the Reporting/Controlling department, who recorded a time of 19:27 minutes. Our apprentice Justus Preiss completed the course in 23:40 minutes. Of the PCC women, Eva Ziobro, Product Manager at PCC Trade & Services GmbH, was fastest at 25:10 minutes, followed by Andrea Böhner at 27:12 minutes just ahead of Ulrike Warnecke at 27:29 minutes. Ulrike Porz from the Accounts department at PCC Trade & Services GmbH completed the course in 27:45 minutes and was eleventh in her age category. Helmar Ruch, Head of Direktinvest Unit, achieved 8th place in his age category with a time of 25:10 minutes.

The PCC participation in the Targobank run was overall a collective effort. Ulrike Porz, whose husband photographed the PCC team, together with Monika Kotit, Product Manager at PCC Trade & Services GmbH, formed the organizational part of the team. And many others were also involved in the run beforehand and on the course itself. “We are simply proud to have completed the course together in this heat,” said Ulrike Porz and Monika Kotit after the run – and were looking forward to the after-run party, which formed a suitably grand finale with music and fireworks.

Ms Warnecke (front right) and the PCC team: Justus Preiß, Michael John, Heiner Böhner, Jonas Vohwinkel, Thomas Kirchner, Andrea Böhner, Ulrike Porz, Monika Kotit, Eva Ziobro, Helmar Ruch, Dieter Kaiser, Catherina Kaiser