Carsten Eich and Luminita Zaituc successfully defended their crowns at the German Road-running Championships in Siegburg this weekend.
Both were comfortable winners in the half-marathon and held onto their titles in front of a sizeable crowd along the route.
Eich stood on the podium for a seventh time but admitted it was hard work fighting against the conditions and the uphill finish.
``I wanted to run aggressively from the beginning but it wasn't so easy because of the wind,'' he said.
Zaituc's run to victory wasn't so easy as she held off stiff competition from Ulricke Maisch and Melanie Kraus to claim gold in 1:12:40.
``I'm happy. I wanted to win and the faster it was, the better,'' she added.
Maisch kept up with Zaituc until the final straight, however the champion's reserves kicked in and she was able to cross the line just a second before her challenger.
