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Sports Activities at the MDC
TexT DAnA LAfuente
Tran s laTion CAroL oberSChMiDt
DatEs
June 1 st
June 14 th
september 15 th
november 18 th
for runs in 2012
berlin company race 6 km / running, walking, skating
berlin tEam relay race / 5 x 5 km
allod health run in Berlin-Karow
berlin marathon relay race, Tempelhof Airport
Men: 12,195 / 10 / 5 / 10 / 5 km / Women: 6,195 / 6 / 10 / 5 / 10 / 5 km
CaMpus anD people
Sports activities enjoy great popularity at the MDC and are a good way to meet other people and keep fit. The maxim “preventing
is preferable to curing” appears to be gaining more and more adherents each year – quite a logical phenomenon for a
research center with a focus on health! Offerings at the MDC include running, kung fu, basketball, and in the summer soccer
(football). The Berlin-Buch Sports Club is open to new members and offers sports aficionados an array of activities including
aerobics, badminton, beach volleyball, tennis, volleyball and wrestling.
running Since 2008 the MDC
has participated in various running
events in Berlin. These include the
Berlin Company Race, in which the
MDC participates every year along with
other Helmholtz institutions in Berlin
and Brandenburg, as well as the Berlin
5 x 5 km Team Relay and the Berlin
Marathon Relay. In September the
MDC runners want to compete in the
Allod Health Run in Berlin-Karow, the
popular running event in northeastern
Berlin. The most enthusiastic running
groups at the MDC are the Thierfelder
research group and the Kettenmann
research group. Jan Rieger from the
Niendorf research group organized the
runs in 2011 and will do so once again
in 2012. “I think the runs are a good
way to meet people from the campus
in a completely different setting,” he
said. “Running events foster personal
interaction and also provide an informal
opportunity to exchange ideas about
science topics. Maybe this year we will
be able to intensify this by jogging
together on a regular basis.” The
running events are sponsored by the
Friends of the MDC.
You will find more information on sports at the MDC and the
Berlin-Buch Sports Club on the intranet.
kung fu Along with active
runners there is also a small kung fu
club at the MDC, largely due to the
enthusiasm and commitment of Daniel
Beis from the Bader research group.
He offers instruction and training in
traditional Chinese martial arts on
Wednesdays (7:00 PM to 9:00 PM)
and Fridays (6:00 PM to 8:00 PM) in
the gym of the elementary school Am
Sandhaus.
“I got interested in kung fu
through a physiotherapy course to
strengthen my back that my health
insurance company offered me,” he
recalled. “During my studies in human
biology in Marburg I met my current
kung fu teacher, and ever since I have
been focusing on the Xingyiquan style
in my training.”
basketball Every Wednesday
basketball is played in a gym near the
campus from 8 to 10 PM. Come and see
us!
Gorodki Sports activities have
always been popular on campus, even
back in the “early days” eighty years
ago. The historical photo from the
1930s shows Nikolaj Timoféeff-Ressovsky
playing gorodki on the grounds of what
is now the Buch campus with the
cemetery chapel in the background.
Timoféeff introduced the game to
Berlin-Buch. The name “Gorodki“ is
Russian and means little cities or
townlets. Gorodki is one of the oldest
throwing games in the world and was a
major sport in the former Soviet Union.
In almost every town there was a public
square for playing the game. The reason
for the game’s popularity was probably
that it was easy to learn and that it was
a team sport. The aim is to knock out
the five wooden cylinders - the gorodki
– that are arranged in one of 15 specific
configurations by throwing a bat from a
predetermined distance.
In Germany gorodki has been a
sponsored sport since 2001 in certain
locations in Baden-Württemberg, Lower-
Saxony and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern,
but not in Berlin. Perhaps our campus
would be an appropriate place for the
revival of the sport? Games of this type
have been gaining in popularity over
the last few years, as evidenced by the
many players of the Viking game kubb in
Berlin’s parks.
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