Dunja Ams – From Chain-Smoker To Enthusiastic Runner
Not so long ago she was chain-smoking, a proud and devout member of the „I don’t do sports“ crowd and over-weight. Walking, normally, for more than 800 meters was painful. Running seemed to be something weird and the concept of a marathon seen as a freakshow.
But times change. And by the end of this year Dunja Ams will have participated in four marathons. In Vienna, Füssen, Berlin and „as a highlight of the year Frankfurt“. Her love for Germany’s oldest city marathon began last year and this is how it happened.
Dunja had finished the Freiburg marathon and in early autumn in her hometown Karlsruhe. She missed her goal of staying below five hours by only 29 seconds. A little desillusioned that night she surfed the web and stumbled over comments from people saying how emotional and extraordinary the finish zone of the Frankfurt Marathon was. Another click brought her to a lottery where she actually won a free start in Frankfurt. Five weeks later she stood at the starting line. „And it became the run of my life“, she says. Carried along the fast course by the atmosphere and spirit of the crowd she was actually able to follow the pacemaker with 4:30 hours written on his yellow ballon. At kilometre 30 she met a physically and mentally struggling teammate from her Facebook running group. She got him going again which cost her some time but in the end she finished the Frankfurt Marathon in 4:42:55 hours. She didn’t mind, it was an amazing time and a great experience. „I was so out of it because it’s such a great event and the finish line in the Festhalle is phenomenal.“ She was especially impressed how she was welcomed at the finish. „This is not normal at other events and I had goose bumps.“ And she added: „Frankfurt has now become a mandatory for me.“ She considers the Berlin marathon as a prep race for Frankfurt where – with a recent half marathon time of only 2:03 hours – she wants to finish in around 4:15 hours.
Dunja has become very enthusiastic about running, she enjoys the landscape, atmosphere and the people. She always keeps her head high, even in training runs with her mixed-breed dog who very much enjoys her taking up running. „Every time I get dressed for running she gets totally excited.“ Dunja started running in 2013 – and she doesn’t want to stop. Even on business trips she always takes running shoes with her. „Running“, she says, „has become a part of my life.“
