160 Kilometers for a Good Cause

Sunday morning, 8:30 am, Holbeinsteg on the Main. Eleven colleagues in matching NinjaCat shirts, ready for the Frankfurter Runden. Rain, lightning, and thunder included. Running for a good cause turned out to be all the motivation anyone needed to lace up despite the weather.

Frankfurt runs. And runs. And runs.

The Frankfurter Runden is a community running event along a 10-kilometer route on the banks of the Main, past the ECB and Hafenpark, with the Frankfurt skyline as a backdrop. What makes it different: participants decide mid-race how many laps they want to run. One to four laps, so anywhere from 10 to 40 kilometers. After each lap, the choice is yours: head for the finish line or keep going. glueckkanja gave its team an extra reason to push on: for every lap completed, glueckkanja donates to VAIR e.V. in Offenbach, specifically to the Vairplay project.

A park for everyone, right in the heart of Offenbach

VAIR e.V. is building Vairplay beneath the Kaiserlei Bridge: the city's first publicly accessible, inclusive sports and cultural park. On a previously neglected stretch of around 10,000 square meters, the plan is to create a space where sport, movement, and culture come together, barrier-free, open to all ages, with tiered stages for events and concerts.

Zijad Doličanin, chair of VAIR e.V., sees it as a place where people can come together, connect, and experience a sense of community, where social and cultural boundaries are crossed and regional ties are strengthened. A gathering place for a city known for its diverse and vibrant community. glueckkanja is an Offenbach company through and through, this is where everything started, many colleagues come from the area, and for us, social responsibility begins where we belong. pany. This is where it all started, many colleagues come from the region, and for us, social engagement begins where we are rooted.

16 laps, one podium, a lot of cheering

Shortly after the start, the first storm front rolled in over Frankfurt. Heavy rain, lightning, thunder, and a bit of wind. For a moment, people on the course wondered whether the event might be called off. It wasn't. So everyone kept going. The spectators along the Main cheered throughout, which is exactly what you need when you're soaked and on your second lap.

The team pushed each other along too, and it showed. By the end of the morning, the glueckkanja crew had completed 16 laps in total. Eight colleagues ran one lap, two went for two. And then there was Lisa, who finished her first lap and just kept running. Then finished her second and kept going again. 30 kilometers, a time of 2:18:50, second place in the overall women's standings, first place in her age group. The team stayed until the very end of the awards ceremony and cheered every second of it.

160 kilometers came together that morning, one after another, in the rain, and every single one of them goes toward a park that Offenbach doesn't have yet. The team will be back in 2027, rain or shine.