It will be a world record attempt for a good cause, when the multiple world record holder Dirk Leonhardt on Monday, 14. Leonhardt wants to enter the Guinness Book of World Records with 42.2 kilometers of ice skating, 80 kilometers of cycling and 42.2 kilometers of running in the "Longest Triathlon on Ice". Sounds like a real challenge and a slippery affair. How does one even come up with the idea of cycling or running on an ice rink? For Leonhardt, the answer is easy: "I always find it exciting to break new ground and try things I've never done before. It is very appealing that I am the first person to tackle such a special ice triathlon. In addition, I can support a charitable organization again: This time the Kinderengel Rhein-Main. The association supports seriously ill children with shortened life expectancy and their parents. The aim is to make life a little easier for those affected. And then you also realize very quickly how lucky you were yourself, with two healthy children, that's a very special motivational boost for me and spurs me on additionally."
The world record attempt will take almost the whole day and will demand everything from Leonhardt. Because he has not planned a break. The endurance athlete starts this special triathlon at 7 a.m. and then wants to have broken his fifth world record by 6 p.m. if possible: The longest triathlon on ice is the goal. To achieve this, the mark of 160 kilometers must be surpassed, with the sports of speed skating, cycling and running. Leonhardt has set his sights on covering the marathon distance of 42.2 kilometers on ice skates, then thundering 80 kilometers across the ice on a bike and finishing with a marathon jog. "I am especially grateful to the Sports Department of the City of Frankfurt that I have this opportunity to use the outdoor rink of the ice sports hall for my record attempt," says Leonhardt, who will be personally cheered on by Sports Department head Mike Josef at 1:30 pm.
The use of the outdoor rink actually works only one day a year, namely the day after the end of the outdoor season. At that time, the ice has not yet thawed, and the visitors to the ice rink only skate indoors. This also explains why the athlete chose a Monday for his record attempt.
"Dirk Leonhardt is a very impressive role model with his positive attitude and he shows that anyone and everyone can achieve the goals they set for themselves. That fits perfectly with Frankfurt as a sports city," says Josef. Leonhardt has processed his world records in his book "Vieles scheint unmöglich, bis Du es schaffst!" (Many things seem impossible until you achieve them!) and wants to encourage people that you can achieve many things that you can hardly imagine beforehand. "That's how it was for me, too. I used to be really unathletic and thought I was untalented. But now I know that you can do almost anything if you keep your eye on the ball and don't give up. That has already become my attitude to life and also helps me in my job," says Leonhardt.
He can already look back on four world records. Partly he had to torture himself for 45 days for it, like at the longest triathlon, where it was almost 7000 kilometers in the water, on the bike and on the running course to overcome. Other world records were the longest non-stop stair run and the record for the most countries traveled in seven days by bicycle.
Frankfurt's ice rink has the largest contiguous ice skating surface in Germany at 9000 square meters and attracts audiences from near and far in normal times with the 400-meter outer ring open only during the peak season. Year after year, the sports facility on the Bornheimer Hang has outdone itself with record numbers of visitors: From November to mid-March 2019, around 617,500 people visited the Eissporthalle Frankfurt - a new record - before Corona arrived at the beginning of 2020. The hall is used by eleven Frankfurt clubs for various sports such as ice hockey, figure skating, curling and curling. In 2019, 121,000 club athletes were counted.
More information about the athlete is available at http://www.ultradad.de/
More information about the Children's Angels Rhine-Main can be found at https://kinderengel-rheinmain.de/
Who would like to support the Children's Angels Rhine-Main can do so at:
paypal@kinderengel-rheinmain.de
or to KinderEngel RheinMain e.V.; IBAN DE15 5019 0000 7200 5871 83 at Frankfurter Volksbank (BIC: FFVBDEFF); reason for payment: SPENDE ICEMAN
