Brandenburg and Kaiserslautern: Together for an impressive world record!

Brandenburg and Kaiserslautern: Together for an impressive world record!

In Kaiserslautern they have put in a lot of effort! On May 22, 2025, the city, which has had a close partnership with Brandenburg an der Havel for over 30 years, launched an unusual world record attempt. The goal was to cover more than 1.38 million kilometers running, walking or strolling together within 90 days. The initiative, which aims to achieve inclusion, was organized by the Science and Innovation Alliance Kaiserslautern (SIAK) and received support from the state initiative “Rhineland-Palatinate – Land in Motion” and from Aktion Mensch. According to City of Brandenburg, people with and without disabilities were equally included in this impressive project.

At the final event on August 23, 2025, the judge from the Record Institute of Germany, Laura Kuchenbecker, announced the great result: The “Kaiserslautern” team had covered a total of 382,083.505 kilometers with 1,756 participants. On average, each person covered an impressive 217.59 kilometers, which clearly exceeded the previous record of 134.19 kilometers! Some of the best runners even achieved top results of up to 58 kilometers in one day.

Inclusion and personal records

A particular focus of the project was on inclusion. Among the participants was Abdul Dogan, who has been in a wheelchair since birth and planned to ride over 270 kilometers in 24 hours. According to SWR, Dogan wants to show with his participation that sport can overcome barriers and that disabled and non-disabled people can achieve their goals together. He also set impressive conditions for inclusive use in sport and also invited fans of the FCK football club to take part. The aim was to have up to 8,000 participants in order to achieve the goal of inclusion and community.

The importance of such events is also evident in a broader context. The Special Olympics World Games 2023, which took place in Berlin and Brandenburg, brought an enormous boost to the public perception of people with disabilities. Among the over 6,500 athletes, there were many reports of positive changes in the population's attitude towards this group, as Sportschau reports. The Berlin State Sports Association even recorded an increase in members in the “Sport & Inclusion” network to 200.

The unifying power of sport

In conclusion, the world record attempt in Kaiserslautern not only celebrated sporting achievements, but also impressively demonstrated the unifying power of movement between cities. Mayor Steffen Scheller emphasized that this campaign represents an important step towards an open and inclusive society. If you have any questions about the town twinning, Vanessa Vollenschier can be reached by email vanessa.vollschier@stadt-brandenburg.de, available. It will be interesting to see what further steps will be taken in the future to promote inclusion through sport!