The Heliant running team – the famous Runners – has once again shown that spending every day behind a computer and having serious running ambitions can actually go very well together.
At this year’s prestigious Schneider Electric Niš Business Run & Walk, Heliant was represented by a team of 12 runners, along with an equal number of enthusiastic supporters. Which of the two teams had the tougher job, we will leave it to the sporting community to decide.
The competition was serious. This year’s Business Run brought together as many as 1,986 registered runners from 162 companies, making it the largest Niš edition of the race to date.
Among nearly two thousand people in running shoes, Heliant’s 12 champions stood out with both speed and energy. The team arrived in Niš full of confidence, with a strong season behind them and regular training that had clearly had paid off. Following their spring appearances in Palić and Petrovaradin, the five-kilometre Niš race was the perfect opportunity to test their form.
The results confirmed that their optimism was well-founded. The fastest Heliant runner was Viktor Nikić, who completed the 5-kilometre race in 22:51, while Ana Katić claimed the title of fastest Heliant female runner with a time of 26:12.
The rest of the team also successfully conquered the demanding course, although opinions on just how long the final kilometre actually was varied from runner to runner.
While half of the Heliant expedition was conquering the kilometres, the other half was taking part in a somewhat different discipline – cheering.
According to the first, completely impartial assessments from the Heliant camp, the supporters’ team achieved a performance that will be talked about for a long time. Unfortunately, there is still no official ranking of the loudest companies, so this historic achievement went without a medal.
After crossing the finish line, the two Heliant teams reunited, and the sporting part of the evening gave way to the traditional After Work & Run get-together. The rules here are somewhat simpler: finishing times are not recorded, and replenishing the calories burned during the five-kilometre run is considered an essential part of every professional athlete’s recovery.
Another race has been completed, the kilometres have been conquered, the form has been confirmed – and the Heliant Runners are already looking ahead to their next challenge.
