23rd Bocholt City Run on 4 May

The Bocholt City Run will be held for the 23rd time and, as every year, the organisers are hoping for the best weather on 4 May. Runners and spectators are enthusiastic every year and together they create a unique atmosphere. The Citylauf is a very special flagship event for Bocholt.

Starting signal at 5 pm

The Bocholt city centre run will therefore start for the 23rd time on 4 May at 5.00 pm in front of the historic town hall. In addition to many spectators, 5,025 runners are expected this year, which is also due to a new record number of participants in the school runs with 2,541 pupils. The programme for 2024 includes the two 2.5 km school races for girls at 5.00 pm and boys at 5.30 pm. The 5 km school run will then start immediately afterwards at 6.00 pm. At 7.00 p.m., the 5 km Everyman's Run, while the 10 km fun run and road race at 8.00 p.m. is eagerly awaited.

Course unchanged / new organising team / organising association remains

Anyone who has taken part in the Bocholt City Run before will be familiar with the course, as it has not changed over the years. The City Sports Association, the City of Bocholt - Department of Youth, Family, School and Sport, the City Marketing Association and the SF 97/30 Lowick as organisers of the city run will once again ensure professional conditions.

Last year, there was a decisive change in the Citylauf organising team: after 23 years, the helm was handed over from Ullrich Kuhlmann and Maria Rickert (both from the Stadt-Sport-Verband) to Andreas Stockhausen and a six-strong organising team from the Lowick running department, who had a very successful debut last year. "We are delighted that we now have the main responsibility for organising one of the biggest sporting events in Bocholt", says Andreas Stockhausen, who is still delighted with his new challenge today.

The circuit is marked out with the help of the youth fire brigade, THW youth, water sports club, DLRG, SV Biemenhorst, pupils from Berufskolleg West, the police and many helpers from SF 97/30 Lowick.

Drinks will be served at the finish line by the St Norbert scouts, while medical care will be provided by the Malteser-Hilfsdienst. Safety is an important aspect that is taken particularly seriously. In coordination between the organisers and the Bocholt security authorities, suitable and appropriate measures will be taken for the city centre.

Handing out the starting documents

A team of employees of the SF 97/30 Lowick and the City Sports Association as well as some trainees of the City of Bocholt will staff the registration office. The starting documents will be handed out in the break hall of the Mariengymnasium, Schleusenwall 1 due to the construction site of the town hall. They can be collected there on Friday, 3 May from 17:00 to 19:00 and on Saturday, 4 May from 15:00. The race number contains the first name of the runner. It also contains the contact loops required for timekeeping. A new special feature of the start numbers is that the Bocholt skyline is now printed on all of them, which will provide a nice souvenir of the Bocholt City Run for some of the participants.

Organisational notes

There are some regulations that must be adhered to. For example, you may not run with "music in your ears" - anyone who does not observe this rule will be disqualified. Parents are not allowed to accompany their children, as there will be escorts from the schools who will wear an appropriate race number to ensure visibility. The start area may only be entered from the rear, i.e. from St George's Square (next to the church tower of St George's Church). The actual start/finish area between the former city savings bank building and St George's Church is reserved exclusively for runners. The car parks behind the former Stadtsparkasse building will only be used to serve drinks, so that a good finish can be guaranteed.

Closures / Parking

The first start is at 5.00 pm so that the weekly market can take place normally until 1.00 pm. Königstraße in the direction of the market will be closed from midday on Saturday, but the car park "Am Nähkasten" can be used without any problems (last exit at 16.00!). The erection of the barriers in the pedestrian zone (Markt, Osterstraße and Neustraße) will begin at around 4.00 pm - this will cause obstructions in the city centre. Parking is available at Berliner Platz and in the multi-storey car park of the Shopping Arkaden. Parking is possible there until midnight. The car park of the old fire station (An der Bleiche) is also available.

Award ceremonies / moderation

The award ceremonies for the top three finishers will take place after the races on the stage in the start/finish area at the market. Certificates for each participant will be available online at www.bocholter-citylauf.de from Sunday 5 May. Andi Menz will present the Citylauf at the start and finish. He will be supported musically by DJ Sascha Griesenbrock.

On St. Georg-Platz, Patrick Giesen from Sportfreunde Lowick will be the presenter for the first time, taking over from Citylauf veteran presenter Jörg Honsel. DJ Alex Wiltink will provide the musical accompaniment. In the Provinzialkurve on Neustraße, the father-son duo Roland and Matthias Sprick will get participants and the audience going. Presenter Boris Fastring and DJ Michael Kirsebauer will ensure a good atmosphere on Ravardistraße and presenter Stefan Nissing will be a guest on Gasthausplatz, where there will be a hands-on programme as well as a drinks and snack stand in the Flender area. He will be supported musically by DJ Basti Tenbrock, also new to the entertainment team.

Supporting programme / service

Drinks and snacks will be available in the Liebfrauenviertel. Musical support will be provided by the band "Mama Mucke", organised by Dochdu Kult & Ko e.V. "In addition, there will again be a colourful programme for children, organised by Funrent. According to Ludger Dieckhues from Bocholt City Marketing, every year such a major sporting event includes the necessary trappings for the participants and spectators ". The samba band "La Banda Furiosa" with its 20 or so drummers will be a real incentive for spectators and runners in the Sonilift curve at Lucy-Vollbrecht-Büschlepp-Platz, where the runners will pass twice per lap. On the Südwall, the "Trashdrum Trupp" will be performing and will really heat up the runners. On the market square, Liebfrauenplatz and Gasthausplatz, there will be a drinks trolley and a small snack bar, tables, benches, bar tables with umbrellas and good music. Luggage storage from 15.00 to 21.30 is available at the registration office at the Mariengymnasium.

Bus service ends earlier / No luggage bus

As the Bustreff (bus station) will be closed to all (bus) traffic from 16:15 for safety reasons and all StadtBus routes will be affected by this, bus services will end early at 16:30 instead of 19:00 on this day.

Information on the individual lines can be found at www.stadtbusbocholt.de.

Note: The provision of a free luggage bus by StadtBus Bocholt GmbH for the runners will also be cancelled this year due to the early end of service . This service has been an integral part of the "additional services" for every Citylauf organised since 2004 and was used in particular by athletes from out of town.

Supporters 2024

The Citylauf is made possible by the premium partners Bocholter Energie- und Wasserversorgung GmbH and Stadtsparkasse Bocholt. Other partners include Flender GmbH, the private brewery ERDINGER Weißbräu, SPALECK GmbH & Co. KG, Intersport Pieron and Getränke Westhoff as well as Sinnack Backspezialitäten, 1A-Medizintechnik, Funrent, Sonilift GmbH, Autohaus Becher, Olbrich GmbH, Provinzial Versicherungen der Stadtsparkasse Bocholt, Studio B, GILDE Handwerk, Trasol and Duvenbeck. In addition, WattExtra, the brand of Bocholter Energie- und Wasserversorgung, is once again supporting the school runs. As in previous years, every pupil who takes part will receive a Citylauf T-shirt for the run.

All information about the Citylauf 2024 can be found at www.bocholter-citylauf.de

For questions please contact

Andreas Stockhausen, SSV Bocholt, Tel: 0171 / 1428259 and

Ludger Dieckhues, City Marketing Bocholt, Tel.: 0172 / 2835917

are at your disposal.