Kass, Morath crowned German champions

Jochen Kass and Adelheid Morath won the Festival-Marathon in Garmisch Partenkirchen on Saturday. The event, held in pouring rain and low temperatures, doubled as the German national marathon championships.

Kass pushed the pace from the beginning, and on the last uphill, he was left leading the race on his own. His win came even after a flat tire early in the race that caused him to lose contact with the lead group. Fortunately, his teammate, Hannes Genze, who was suffering from some minor health problems, handed over his back wheel, for a speedy change that allowed him to quickly close the one minute gap that had opened up.

It was Kass' second German marathon championship title.

In the women's race, Adelheid Morath finished five minutes ahead of Barbara Kaltenhauser and over ten minutes ahead of Ivonne Kraft.