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It was on last Friday evening (19 Nov) when Horst Milde got one of the warmest

rounds of applause of his life for an honour which he rates as the most

valuable he has ever received at an international level.

During a reception the IAAF, which is holding its Council meeting in Berlin

this weekend, took the opportunity to honour Horst Milde for his lifelong work

and commitment for athletics, with IAAF President Lamine Diack presenting him

with the IAAF Plaque of Merit.

Milde is Berlin’s Fred Lebow. The 65 year-old not only is the Race

Director of the Real Berlin Marathon plus a number of other big road races. He

also has a tremendous share of the great development of road running in Germany

and especially in Berlin. If one speaks about Horst Milde in the capital he is

referred to the man who taught Berlin running.

“I was very proud to be honoured by the IAAF. I never expected this.

But I have to stress that this success was possible only because I have got a

great team of co-organisers, who are also absolutely committed to our

sport.”

350 races in 40 years

In 40 years he has organised almost 350 races with altogether around 1.25

million participants. Worldwide these are quite unique figures taking into

account that it was one single race director for all the events. And probably

they can only be matched by the New York Road Runners Club.

It was in 1964 when Milde and his fellow students started one of the first

ever cross country races in Germany. Additionally this race in the West Berlin

wood (Grunewald) was one of the very first ones nationwide that allowed

everyone to take part. And at once this became the biggest German cross country

race with more than 700 competitors.

For full article on iaaf.org - click here