Legends Trail 350 2026 – coming home

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Starting a Legends Trail always means that an awful lot of things are uncertain. Especially with this year’s prolonged edition more variables entered the game and with them the need to somehow prepare for their possible consequences. While thinking these new variable through one thing became quite clear – there is no chance to prepare as factors like: running a fourth night has simply never happened before. So what to do? What to plan? At the end I couldn’t really prepare anything special for the extra distance – I trusted somewhat my experience and had some ideas in my mind regarding my food strategy to help me through one more night. One idea was a pretty simple one: try to avoid gels as long as possible and switch them in with their full effect at night four. 

Prior to a Legends Trail there are tons of things to be sorted out, to buy, to pack – luckily this is by now a well-known routine. The more important part is to me to prepare mentally – to collect memories and thoughts and a to develop a strong need and visualization of the finish itself. With the reveal of the course a week before start everything finally became real. And with a look on the course I started to really look forward to the event. All the well-known and loved parts of all previous editions in – a big loop full of LT and Ardennes finest. Something I really hoped for in advance. As I like to take a very detailed look on every course upfront a race (which sometimes drives other people crazy) I noticed a second thing: the course was not as hard as it could have been. The micro-design left certain horrors out, avoided some steep climbs/decents and skipped some offtrail sections we had in the past Legends Trails. So all in all a beautiful design which would be hard because of the longer distance – but see from a Legends Trails course perspective: the course was longer but easier compared to previous years editions. Could it be doable with decent weather?

Race Thursday came and the usual process of signing in and waiting while greeting the family went smooth. The weather forecast promised not too much rain within the first 24h of the race; another sign of hope for a decent start of the race. Kick-off happened Thursday 19.02.2026 at 1800 – cutoff of the race was Legends Monday 23.02.2026 0937.

The first night was sowhat dry with some cold fog on the heights and, naturally, with a pretty soaked trail from the rain during the days before race. The track headed south towards the Ourthe and was quite ok to maintain a decent speed. I tried to fully sink-in into the race and stopped to look at the track for a second. A good reminder and a few meters extra – it’s about to find the right balance between totally blend-in with the race and still be super aware with in terms of navigation, nutrition and not doing any stupid mistakes. While getting closer to the Ourthe memories of my first ever Legends Trail came to mind. We ran parts of the last 20k of the 2020 Legends Trail – I remember as if it was yesterday the horror of that third night, the fear of not having enough spare time on cutoff before hitting the Ourthe trails. Really good to run that part again with rather fresh legs. Turned out it wasn’t too difficult. But it was my first third night back then and it changed the way I look on rough moments. Nothing ever came close to these hours. The 2026 course parts down at the Ourthe were a bit like coming home. Countless hours of Legends Trails and private (slam) runs are connected with these trails. Memories of Björn and me debating about math and philosophical questions because we just hoped to stay alive and awake on one of those Marke Vis masterclass tracks. Compared to what Marek had to offer the Legends Trail 2026 stretch down by that river was of rather good quality.

After CP1 the first day was a transfer up north to get closer to the greater Coo area. Clearly a stretch to be cautious of not making any stupid mistakes and not overpace the whole race.

From CP2 onwards the second night slowly fell. And with it the expected difficulties started. Weather was turning a bit sideways and the rain started. On top of that – the greater Coo area with Le Basin up and down, Iceberg up and down as well as the last stretch entering Malmedy area meant that the race was slowly about to get serious. With nightfall my biggest sleep deprivation problems started. For a few hours I was deadly tired. Good thing was that I know the area quite well. Memories of countless runs in that area including the two glorious days of looping the Iceberg for the Titanic Slam – what a nice reminder. Once again I was grateful for the fact that we had only one Iceberg climb to do and not 42. The idea of restricting myself as long as doable from high-dose of amino acids/coffeine was a good one in theory (as it was intended to ease the nights number 3 and 4) but maybe I shouldn’t have been that strict in night two. Never mind – I entered CP3 (160k) in Malmedy in that second night – really happy for the break. Not so much for the break itself but for getting rid of one more hour of darkness with it. I decided not to sleep although everyone told me to do so. To me it made more sense to wait and sleep – if at all – in night 3. During my previous Legends Trails I only slept once outside of one of the CPs and it did not help a lot to get less tired – it just broke the rhythm.

I was really looking forward to the next stretch of the course – the Haute Fagnes. The climb up to Hautes Fagnes was a stretch I hiked with the family quite a few times and was not that often part of runs. Especially one specific hike with the kids came to my mind – a summer hike under blue skies with flowers and insects all around. What a contrast. With the sunrise at Legends Saturday and the constant climbing up to Hautes Fagnes the Legends Trail 2026 finally showed his true face. The trails were packed with ankle-deep mud, all rivers with high waters, parts of the trails overflown, stretches of the trail so wet that one easily end up knee-deep in ice-cold mud. The higher we got the more slushy snow covered all this misery (and made it even worse). No safe step possible – focus at peak to not end up falling into one of the Hautes Fagnes rivers. At the top of Hautes Fagnes a strong wind and mild to heavy rain were added to natures gifts. What a horrible day to be up at Hautes Fagnes closing in to km 200. But somehow it made me calm. At least we had some weak copy of what should be daylight. And this was finally it – the stretch I love most in the Ardennes at conditions close to making it undoable. It felt like my time was finally there.

Flashbacks to runs with Maarten and Marek in Hautes Fagnes in January 2020 trying to prepare me for my first LT (I considered them being mentally challenged guiding me through knee-deep ice-cold waters; now I know this was exactly the right thing to do), flashbacks to countless Hautes Fagnes crossings with Björn – mostly at night – learning a lot about this area and last not least that one day up here with Maarten in 2024 where we did a rather detailed look on special parts of Hautes Fagnes – learning a lot about techniques crossing the rather difficult sections of it.

All that came to mind and the more difficult it got the more safe I felt crossing the flooded Hautes Fagnes. Hardly ever saw that region in more difficult conditions before. Nevertheless it was a huge relive to reach the timing point tent up at Baraque Michel and have a quick and wind-proof break with some hot soup. No time to waste – the part downhill to CP4 (230k) would cover the river valleys Hoenge, La Statte and Sawe, well known to me from Maarten’s Dark World loop for the Marvels Slam, a sections not really fast so maintaining a hiking speed as fast as possible would be key.

At CP4 I did try that sleeping thing and slept outside the CP for 20 min. Although it was warm enough and the gear/setup seems to work – the sleep did not feel any good. What was more, my body started to shut-down as the race end seemed to be there. Took quite a while to wake my body up again. During the third night we covered Spa area (including going all the way up to the Fagnes above Spa) and were slowly getting closer to the last CP and the final stretch. During the whole race I maintained a 4-6 h gap to cutoff as planned and was still trying not to lose too much of it to safe some time for the final stretch. Higher doses of amino acids helped quite good to bann the sleep walking effects in night 3, nevertheless everything was on the edge. Hallucinations at the edges of view, difficulties to properly see (especially the parts outside of the head lamp), hard to tell surface properties and small height differences in the usual way – all in all ultra was back. The brain started to switch off unnecessary parts to focus on the few life-maintaining things. Why a clear vision is not one of them – well I guess you are not supposed to run the trails in those moments. 

I made it safe to CP5 when it was already dark and night 4 had started. Uncharted territory both distance and time on feed-wise ahead. Plus a fourth night without sleep – I was curious to see what that would bring. It was a good feeling to leave CP4 and enter that last part as it meant the finish was somehow not longer ages but only one night without too many issues ahead. Problem with that thinking: one of the issues ahead was the course. Chefna, Quarreux and the famous Ninglingspo during the first 25k would certainly do some harm. As I left CP4 with only a little more than 2 hours on cutoff there was not too much time to waste and much would depend on that first 25k to the last timing point 20k before finish. If I somehow would reach this spot in time a finish would finally become highly likely. Got some company from Onno – always handy to enter misery together. I switched my nutrition strategy as planned from solid food to mainly gels. It was a good idea to safe them for the last night – the energy was there and the focus maintained at an ok level. In the midst of Chefna, Quarreux and especially Ninglingspo every step counts and the adrenaline helped to stay alerted. The howling rivers, the missing bridges, the watches almost impossible to read, countless of trails in the fog/rain – everything collapsed. I never got Ninglinspo 100% right at Legends Trail. And Onno and me did some climbings too much as we could mot figure on wich side of the river we should be, which bridges to take and which not to take – then we reached the one spot where the hiking trail just crosses the river (easy to do in summer – life-threatening in winter) and I had forgotten in which direction the next bridge was. Totally out of control, the peak of Legends Trails was reached. Random dots, confused lights in a wasted land. Alone. Together. Wow. We managed not to get too angry with our limited capabilities and both helped each other best we could to stay in the moment and to finally find the right bridges and path leading out of that horror.

As soon as we were out of the biggest problems Onno sped-up. I tried to push as well – the last timing point and with it the last cutoff in race was ahead. I made it in time – Onno was still sitting there. Soup again, Nick was there as well. What a moment. At that very moment I was certain it would be a finish. What a relief. After more than 80 hours of racing it was finally coming to an end. Just mere 20k with roughly 6 hours of time left. Onno and I left together but split soon after. Being alone again was good and bad at the same time. I felt now again really calm. The rain was easing, I could read the watch again and my brain took a break as well. Wandering around. For the first time ever I saw me from out of my body, could watch myself from the outside. It was not freighting at all – I understood well why my brain did the split with what seem endless and meaningless suffering. It also didn’t feel unpleasant at all – I accepted this as the new normal. Navigation still worked, I was still moving – so no harm done. The issue with this state is that I forgot what I was doing – not in a way that I forgot that I should move and follow a track – but in a way that it was a race with a cutoff. I spend two very peaceful hours but it was also good to meet the safety team again 10k before the finish. They reminded me that I was in a race and it would help to speed up a bit to not run into troubles with cutoff. So I ran. It did not matter to me. I still had the energy to run and speed-walk (no idea why), I was peacefully blended into nature – felt as being part of the Ardennes; deeply connected to the nature around, the story of Legends Trails, connected to the spirit of the event which for that one Legends Trail week hover above the Ardennes. What a great feeling. The dawn of Legends Monday brought some reality back and ended the mind-body disconnect. Everything became more real again but it made it even better. Close to the finish with enough time. I was finally able to understand the numbers on my watch – and it was all well. The distance counting down fast enough. What a joy to see. The last climbs. The view of the finish from a few hundred meters away. Running the last stretch and finally reaching the finish. Somewhat sad that the journey would end but what a relief at the same time – getting that medal number six surrounded by some of the best human beings – pure love.

Legends Trails 2026 had it all – all the beloved parts of the Ardennes combined in one big loop – the superb Legendary friends – amazing checkpoints – perfect weather for this kind of event. Like a great ending of a long story. Being finally home after all those years. It was again a run pretty much under control. The race against cutoff worked well, the fourth night was somehow manageable and at the end a nice new experience, seeing all the familiar face both amongst the runners as well as the Legendary friends and Legends Safety Team was truly uplifting. Last not least I like to see me run the Legends for all of them – as a tribute for their efforts. With the history of all the previous Legends Trails – the phrases I heard a lot were similar to: „you are safe – you know what to do“, „these are your conditions“, „you always finish so you will do this time“ – and at the end of it all they were correct. Not to underestimate the effort behind, not to underestimate the level of horror, being way beyond the comfort zone, the level of adrenaline while running the Legends Trail – but all of it are part of this story. Another chapter is added to the book.

Calibration

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Almost time to start another Legends Trail. In 2026 we will get some extra distance – I guess for a good amount of extra fun. 350k with some elevation in the Ardennes.

With regards to the ever present question – „are you/we prepared for the Legends Trail“ – a lot of things have been written already including this blog post before the 2024 LT edition:

Are you ready for Legends Trail?

To summarize in a few words: no – you can’t be fully ready for what is coming.

The best idea is probably to really get to know your gear and to think about some of the possible situations during such a long race with reagards to equipment.

„If this happens – I can do this or that“.

But essentially everyone starts such a long and demanding race empty handed. Equal in front of the upcoming task.

So what to do with the time left (in addition to the task of staying fit and healthy) – to me the last weeks before Legends Trail have always been a time to mentally calm down and to focus. The mind as well feels the challenge coming and starts to bring back memories and flashbacks – a good sign as this means the mind is getting ready as well.

As the Legends Trail is a race in which I have to focus so intense that I completely disconnect with the usual day-to-day life I like to use the weeks before Legends Trail to already start with this process.

This includes the following things:

  • (re-)connect to nature
  • pay more attention to the unlimited tiny wonders to be seen out there
  • remember how the leaves sounds beneath my feet
  • remember how the marshes smell and sound
  • remember the thousands of different sounds water can make
  • remember how warm single rays of sunlight feel on a winter morning
  • remember how bone-freezing cold the dense winter mist feels deep down in those river valleys
  • remember the glittering of water drops on frozen leaves or walls of moss in the flashes of headlights
  • remember how soft the ground feels deep in the forest
  • remember how the forest smells after freshly fallen rain
  • remember all the unreal beauty during dusk and dawn
  • remember the joy, hope and energy the re-emerging sun can offer
  • remember how good a plate full of Tortellini tastes after hundreds of kilometers

This may sound stupid but at the end its these thoughts, observations and memories which will help me to survive the rough moments the Legends Trail will bring. Kind of similar to Frederick the mouse who collected memories, songs and colors while his companions were collecting food for the long winter nights. At the end Fredericks stories, memories, songs and colors saved the lives of the mice tribe during the long winter – long after all the food was eaten.

So long after all doable things will have been done I will be mentally stripped down and disconnected from everything – a tiny dot in the midst of the Ardennes with absolutely no energy left. That will be the point I will remember all those tiny memories, thoughts and joyful details out there. They may help to do the unbearable and to go beyond to finally merge with everything around me. To reach the state of pure existence – to start to feel ultra running in its purest form. I don’t really look forward to endure everything on the way towards that state but I can’t want to experience it once again. With all the pain coming with it, it may last til the end of the trail. With all the temporary hopelessness along the way it may enlighten the inner fire.

Bello Gallico 200

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#whilerunning Bello Gallico 200 in the dark and mostly empty Belgium the thoughts wandered as they tend to while long-distance running. With all the influencers on social media entering the „ultra“ running bubble with all their loud, rude, superior and „I ran 300 miles with 5 broken feet“ mentality; with their promo codes; with their paracetamol and whatever-else-fueled super bodies hunting souls – we should not forget that ultra or long-distance-running has a totally different meaning and nature. Especially during a Legends Trail event with friends – close friends/loved ones even – amongst the runners as well as the supporters/crew one experiences a lot of this spirit. In this environment the real ultra unfolds: a gentle, calm, focused and relaxed atmosphere of running exceeding their personal limits. With enough privacy, dignity and respect for the fellow runners and with a special gratitude towards the race team enabling and supporting us full heartedly to 100% focus on what we love. We should try to protect and value that gift we are all part of. We should not let them influencers destroy any part of it. Maybe it’s enough to focus on supporting „our“ events and to make sure that this spirit never dies.

We are not hunting souls we chase rays of dancing sunlight,
we do not fight the ourselves or the environment – we thankfully accept the challenges along and become part of nature,
we do push beyond our limits but at the same time are just grateful for the fact that we are just a very tiny dot able to travel this beautiful earth on food.

The story of the race itself is a rather quick one. Gifted with rather mild weather conditions (second night was surprisingly cold though) it was all about staying in motion at a reasonable pace. That worked quite well on the first 100k loop. Except for the usual 400m of „there used to be planks but nowadays its just a puddle full of dark black stinky mud with knee-deep water on top of it“ part of the track the conditions were rather easy. No excuses. So the only real challenge was fighting the side-effects of 28h darkness in 40h final race time. Rather ok time of 15h on the first of two loops at the 2025 Bello Gallico.

With being sick the three weeks leading up to the Bello Gallico 200 the question was to what extend the body would accept this rather abrupt sport re-start. Everything worked quite ok until km 120/140 in the race. After the drop back at CP6 (120k) with the first longer break the body slowly gave up on the idea of running. More and more walking was rotated into the progress. With the upcoming second night and another 14h of darkness the usual circle of ultra started. With a not fit body the tiredness hit hard. Focussing on staying fueled became more and more difficult and the slower speed made it even colder. Luckily it was the two of us. We met at km 120 fighting with different problems but united in this fight. Several attempts to sleep 5-10 min – craving for rest… Desperately sleep walking longing for daylight… Luckily we both are stubborn and focused on the only goal – reaching that finish line – however far away this line may be or seem to be.

And finally the Sunday and the daylight came. Relentless walking towards the finish line. What a relief after roughly 40h. The medal. Some food. All the friends at the finish. All was well. Narrow escape at the end of a very interesting year 2025.

With the Bello Gallico 200 the second run of of the Legends Slam is completed:

Great Escape 200 2025 – check!
Bello Gallico 200 2025 – check!
Legends Trail 350 2026
Another One Bites the Dust 2026

Time for some relaxing weeks with a slow and steady re-start of training. Time til Legends Trails is ticking – the biggest challenge of the Legends Slam awaits us.

191 runners registered for the Bello Gallico 200 2025, 172 started and 107 finished the Bello Gallico 200 (62.2%). Finisher % was significantly higher amongst runners who previously finished a Legends Slam (84.6%) – experience does make a difference at the end.

Silent Sparks

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While you are here you may as well join forces with those who are obsessed with the details, who dance with single rays of sunlight on falling autumn leaves, who repeat ever and ever again to get closer to perfection and who follow their hearts deep into the void.
It may bewilder or even frighten you at the beginning but it may free you at last.
The Architect

The sparks settled a long time ago.
The last races slowly disappeared from distant memories.
The hot burning flame and the ever blazing fire cooled down.
The motivation to explode, to outreach, to push further and further vanished.
The beyond was doable for wonderful a period in time in the past and lost its glory ever since.
The fight is finally over.

All what is left is peace and freedom.

Peace and freedom
– with what has happened
– with all the victories and defeats and all the lessons learned as well
– with the suffering, the pain
– with all those dark hours and moments
– with the endlessness, the void and the dances on the edge of possibility

The silent sparks lay down hidden beneath piles of dying leaves.
And yet they remain. Calm, quiet and motionless.

A time may come where a mild wind whispers through those crackling leaves and the sparks may slowly start dance in the air. Unnoticed by most. Unseen in the rush of the time, the hustle and bustle in our loud world.

But yet there are some who may notice those sparks.

Some who may be able to still feel them and understand their meanings.

Some who didn’t lost the ability
– to admire the connections between the dots
– to see the smallest traces and long-gone paths
– to acknowledge the slightest and finest details

  • Them who joyfully watch the rays of sunlight dancing through the wind-shaken leaves in a sunny forest.
  • Them who recognize the smell of freshly fallen rain on hot tarmac.
  • Them who see the thousands of reflections of the sun on restless and glittering water.
  • Them who still hear the jarring wooden planks of old and worn-out floors and stand still for a while to enjoy the sound.
  • Them who see things not from the surface alone but try to find the meaning and details within.
  • Them who value a silent morning after an exhausting night.
  • Them who can walk silently for hours without missing a word.
  • Them who stand still for hours to listen to the sound dripping water.
  • Them who admire the beauty of nature while forgetting the world for a fraction of time.
  • Them who feel freest when disconnecting from the loud world and reconnecting to the out there.
  • Them who celebrate the warmths of the tarmac long after the blazing sun has gone.
  • Them who feel happiest when surrounded by the very view closest human.
  • Them who feel the strong need to follow their hearts.

And slowly the silents sparks begin to move quicker and become more visible. Not too long and they are strong enough to reignite a new fire – not a blazing and rushing fire – but a slow and ever burning fire. More like a burning passion; stronger than ever.

A longing from deep inside our hearts to reach what is impossible not in an attempt to posses, to conquer or to overcome – but in a calm, focused and free attempt to achieve the impossible in a grateful and humble way.

Finally freed from the burden of ticking goals from a bucket list – finally united with endurance.

Misty Mountains over the Redhorn pass – Lord of the Rings Slam 2025

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I had a mixed relationship with the LOTR Slam 2025 from the very beginning. Not that I was not looking forward to run any of the courses or something like that – but after a really interesting and intense run in January 2025 together with Olav on the first of the three long courses of the slam (The Tale of the Years of the Third Age in Germany) – the life got in between the focus on running and me.

First it was the expected brake due to race season starting and all the hustle and bustle around the Legends Trail. LT was closely followed by the attempt and finish of the JUNUT. Right after JUNUT things related to running got out of hand quite a bit as life did change dramatically. In the best way possible, but still. This change tore down any focus related to long distance running for some weeks and required a lot of attention and energy. Within these weeks the first attempt and DNF on the second long run of the LOTR SLAM in the beautiful Müllerthal in Luxembourg took place. In the retrospective a foolish attempt during these exciting days. Life settled after that into its new beautiful being and the focus returned. But also the next big official race with the PAUL – 250k in June 2025. Yvonne and me decided to take our revenge on the Müllerthal in late July and luckily this worked out. Towards the end of it, it was quite a fight but we endured it til the end of the Shadows of the past track. This brought me back to my original schedule for the LOTR slam runs I made back in December 2024. The only other fitting and long weekend in the second half of 2025 was the one beginning of October. Quite risky as it was way too close to the first race of the new Legends Slam series – the Great Escape 2.0 with nowadays 200 instead of 160k – but I figured back then it was a risk I could take as the race came first and I would not deliberately risk a DNF on that high priory event.

To be fair – Olav, Yvonne and me with the full Great Escape two weeks prior in our bodies – none of us was completely recovered and ready in the meaning of ready to endure yet another run of endless hours and especially hours of darkness. But the date was set…

…and so there we were – October 3rd 1000 – the 4 of us on a rather empty parking lot in Bouillon. Leonie, Olav, Yvonne and me trying to tackle the Misty Mountains over the Redhorn pass course of Marek featuring the beautiful south of the Ardennes surrounding the river Semois. The course consists of two loops – 60k and 100k – so we hoped to finish the 60k loop not too late so that the vast majority of the forecasted rain would not hit us on this first stretch. The landscape differed from stunning views to narrow river valley with a good portion of solid and technical trails – while sun was up a quite enjoyable thing to run. But sun settled and the closer we got to finish the first loop the less runnable it was. In the dark and in the attempt of staying straight on track we ended up in stretches of endless thorns where one kilometer would easily last between 30-60 min. With the light rain an interesting mix.

After almost 12h we were back at the cars and decided for 75 min break to re-dress, have something warm to eat and drink and to sleep a little.

At 2300 Friday evening we started on the second loop of 100k. The rain would not lift for hours but instead intensify slowly but surely. The course started to develop into an Ardennes-like trail. All in all it was a memorable night in which we split into two pairs as the need for breaks differed between the two couples. Finally light came back and with that the certainty that the night did drain a bit more energy and grid than expected. Around 1100 we thankfully met Marek and Wendy who came to support and run some km with us. Unfortunately Yvonne had to call it a day at around 110k into the course so I tried to speed-up and met Olav and Leonie a while later. From there on we sticked together, mostly in silence and bit of the last km of the track. The second night came, a bit of rain returned, the trails were partly completely blocked and destroyed by fallen trees and in parts so steep that it slowed us down to almost 0 at times. Luckily these stretches were not as long as in the first night and finally, at around 0200 in the middle of the night, we finished the Misty Mountains of the Redhorn pass course (170k, 6200 D+) in around 40h. Completely empty yet happy.

Some impressions from out there are included in the following video:

With the completion of Misty Mountains over the Redhorn pass the Lord of the Rings Slam 2025 is almost completed. The final assignment is waiting but as it does not involve a lot of running it’s fair to say: one more slam down. Once more we’ve come a long way. From the entry assignment in Eifel/Hautes Fagnes aka. Dead Marshes in 2024 to the three major LOTR Slam runs in 2025 – featuring the south of the Eifel/Mosel in Germany, the Müllerthal in LUX and the valley of Semois in southern BEL/nothern FRA – it was a blast. 3 new regions to me – 3 remarkable runs with excellent people next to me. Once more exploring in its purest form. Partly with the aid and support of friends. Traveling in its purest form, endless stretches of nature in all varieties – endless stretches of emptiness. It indeed is a risky thing to step out of the known paths as everything can happen. But that is the magic of ultra-traveling through this beautiful world.

2024 – Dead Marshes Entry Assignment


January 2025 – The Tale of the Years of the Third Age (GER)


June 2025 – Shadows of the Past (LUX)


October 2025 – Misty Mountains over the Redhorn pass (BEL/FRA)

While we need to setup a date for the final assignment to officially close the LOTR Slam 2025 there are already ideas of the next round of GPX files for the years 2026/2027. In fact a possible entry course for a potential next slam is already in the making. Stay tuned.

Great Escape 200 2025

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If all our couple weekend are going to be like this I really have to start training.

The Great Escape was my first ever Legends Trail run in 2019. At the beginning I was shocked and impressed by the difficulty of the course on the one side and the helpful, relaxed and family-like atmosphere throughout the whole event on the other side. It kind of felt home from the very start. A good environment to extend what seemed possible. The rest is history. From the first full slam 2019/2020, all Legends Trails editions today – endless hours out there and yet never alone in spirit; always surrounded by like-minded folks. Right after the first slam the decision to leave it with that very slam was made – so it was the LTs alone which connected me year after year with this wonderful community. But as time passed by the organization decided to add a bit of extra to the existing runs. So I decided that it may be time to return to try to prove what I learned the last 6 years and to go for the new and longer slam.

The new course used the familiar hiking trail Escapardenne Eislek Trail as basis but the whole idea was quite different from the classic one-way direction 100 mile editions the previous years. The start was near the former end of the race following the trail backwards to roughly the middle of the trail in Clervaux in LUX. This sections was followed by a new designed loop to nearly the south end of the hiking trail and from there backwards on the trail itself. That meant that the start of the Great Escape 2025 was the end of the former editions backwards – with a larger section down at our beloved Ourthe – and the last km of the Great Escape 2025 were the ones at the beginning of the former editions. Quite interesting to me and probably all the former participants to get all those flashbacks of known course details in a completely strange order.

Race registration and kit check took place at the finish location with a lot of „Hallos“, „Jeetjes“ and „Saluts“ – good to be back at the LT family. Lots of friends both on the organization/supporter as well as on the runner end of things. After a 1.5 hour bus drive to the start we were finally allowed to set foot into an interesting race. My idea was to stay in the front half of the pack for the first kilometers as I was aiming for some room to run in the heart of the Ardennes on the most finest trails there are @#noourthenoparty. As Yvonne and I decided to stay together at the beginning of the race (Michael joined our group as well for a while) to understand if running together would do any good we tackled that part and the first night together somewhere in the middle of the pack. Several smaller inconsistencies slowed us down til the beginning of a rather warm Saturday – we ended up running the last third of the pack. Michael left us for good around dusk as he was faster at that time and decided to use this speed to buy himself more time for later in the race. The first big goal was to reach the first dropback at kilometer 85. We got there together and left after a 30 min break with around 2h spare on cutoff. My hope was a bigger gain on cutoff at that early stage in the race but it turned out that we were quite good in keeping that gain roughly until the very last part of the race.

The next big task was to survive the warm day without further damage and enjoy the new part of the course. It was less technical compared to the Escapardenne hiking trail (especially compared to the Ourthe stretch) but nevertheless there were quite some meters of D+ involved. Yet this part of the race (the 20k to the first dropback and the following 30k of new track) was the easiest of the whole race. Time to gain some time or at least don’t lose anything on the collected time before cutoff. That worked quite well. The legendary CPs every 20k certainly helped a lot to never run out of water or other essentials. Overall quite ok til the evening. We were eying the weather forecast throughout that first day as the sunshine was forecasted to end quite dramatically in a huge stretch of rain and potentially thunderstorm. This weather change combined with the dawning night two and the return of the rougher terrain made one thing quite clear: the real race was about to start at around 130/140 kilometers. With two hours on cutoff a somewhat optimistic setup.

And as expected – the race did start at the point of dusk. The second night brought the well-known ultra feeling back. A mix of a remote hopelessness, of silent, tired and endless motion – on one point we even decided to split as it seemed that we somehow limited ourselves with sticking together. In these hours everyone needs to be totally free in whatever pace/rhythm seems right and keeps a decent speed up. We were not able to find this sweet spot together so we tried to do so apart. All in all a decision we should have made a few hours earlier as it immediately payed off. We both sped-up quite significantly, I finally was able to listen to some music and to fully sink-in into the night two vibes. The well-known Legends Trail feeling was fully back and I braced myself to whatever may come across me and that finish line.

And then. Ultimately. The weather change came. Temperature dropped by some degree, wind started to do wind things and hours of cold rain would follow. On top of the above described night two vibes the conditions changed from that quite warm and sunny Saturday stroll to a rainy, windy and cold trail ultra night. I caught sight of Yvonne running a few hundred meters in front of me battling through and decided, after the first attempt to close the gap, to relentlessly follow her. The consequence was a nice speed in that given conditions and an easy focus point – good that the light on her backpack was not red but weird orange. A dancing, fading and re-appearing light in the distance. Not too soon after we reunited in our mission to stay moving and to get closer to the finish. After the time alone we started to function together in a helpful way.

The showdown of the Great Escape at the rivers Sauer, Wiltz and Clerve felt oddly familiar, somewhat frightening mixed with a good portion of full focus and flashbacks from 2019 when I was running that section in the very same direction together with Matthias. The light came slowly back – yet in the steep river valleys we used our headlamps til what felt like hours after dusk. The trails were back at full difficulty; wet, steep, muddy – just the way we like them. As I was not wearing my best rain jacket (mistake during drop back preparations – I was not expecting that much of rain) I was happy we stayed in motion and ultimately started to shorten the CP breaks to not give our bodies any vague ideas of: „oh – its over I can shut down“. We were able to maintain about an hour to the various cutoffs along the way so after the last CP with 24k to go I was able to believe that finishing was indeed a possible outcome of that journey. Nevertheless, we tried to remain speed until we suddenly hit it. The end. I always have a strange feeling of being sorry that it ends while being tremendously thankful that it is finally about to be over for good. Walking up that last meters on the main street after what felt like more than 43 hours felt like the right thing to do at that moment. Unbelievable that this will be time and distance-wise only roughly half of what awaits us in February…

Crossing that finish line together was a very good and satisfying feeling. Despite the moments of not finding the vibe together – or maybe I should say precisely because of these moments and the solution we found for it – we went on this adventure and came back from it #alonetogether.

Some numbers about the new Great Escape: 48.35k flat (<2%; 23%), 77.36k uphill (37%), 81.02k downhill (39%). Climbscore 9.1/10, 7569m D+ – all in all a pretty challenging course.

Climb Score view of the Great Escape 200 from @runalyze.

81/169 starter reached the finish line in time (47.9%); 16/21 previous finisher of a Legends Slam finished the new Great Escape (76.2%) – lets see how many of the 81 will proceed with running the races of the new and longer slam.

Next race of the Legends Slam 2.0 is the Bello Gallico in December. Not sure if I really look forward to that dark and probably wet/cold misery – but well: what needs to be done needs to be done. And I know I will have someone with me in that race specifically in love with all misery. That may make it either easier or hard – it certainly will be a moral support throughout.

25% done of the Legends Slam 2.0 2025/2026!

1. bergischer PAnoramasteig ULtralauf 2025 (PAUL)

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Die erste Edition des bergischen Panoramasteig Ultralaufs aka. PAUL hat gerufen. Erstausgaben sind immer interessant, dazu noch über einen langen Rundkurs, nicht zu weit weg und organisiert von guten Leuten – warum also nicht.

Der bergische Panoramasteig ist ein 244 km langer Fernwanderweg des SGV im Oberbergischen Land, wurde 2013 eröffnet und ist seit 2022 als „Langer Qualitätsweg“ zertifiziert. Das Prädikat Qualitätsweg haben wir unterwegs ab und an etwas angezweifelt; aber es ist halt auch kein Premiumwanderweg wie es z. B. der Jurasteig ist.

Gestartet wurde das Event am Donnerstag, den 19/06/2025 mit der Startnummernausgabe und einer Runde Pasta. Dafür, dass ich bisher nicht so häufig bei Wettkämpfen in Deutschland unterwegs war kannte ich dann doch einige der Läufer und Helfer. Während des Briefings wurden uns ob des angekündigten Wetters zusätzliche Wasserstellen auf den langen Teilstücken zwischen den insgesamt 10 VPs versprochen – wir haben sie wirklich gut brauchen können. 

In der mittleren von 3 Startwellen ging es dann am Freitag um 1000 auf die Strecke. Die ersten Teilstücke waren recht schnell und problemlos zu bewältigen – es war an diesem ersten Tag zwar schon sehr warm, aber der Körper war noch einigermaßen unbeeindruckt. Alle VPs unterwegs waren liebevoll betreut; meist von Läufern, die genau wussten auf was es ankommt. Der erste Dropback nach 70 km an VP3 war am frühen Abend erreicht – schnell die verschwitzten Klamotten austauschen und rein in die erste Nacht. Es war wunderbar kühl, doch die Erschöpfung vom warmen ersten Tag und die Aussicht auf die Hitze am zweiten dämpften die Stimmung etwas. 

Mit Sonnenaufgang wurde dann schnell klar was sich schon angedeutet hatte: es würde eine Quälerei werden. Die Pausen an den VPs und den beiden noch verbleibenden Dropbacks wurden immer ausgiebiger genutzt, das Tempo herunterschraubt und mehr und mehr Schicksalsgemeinschaften gebildet. YK und ich waren bisher absichtlich nicht zusammen gelaufen um beide so laufen zu können wie wir es gewöhnt sind: unabhängig und im jeweils passenden Tempo und Rhythmus. Mit der zunehmenden Hitze haben wir dann doch beschlossen zusammen zu bleiben und den Rest des Rennens kontrolliert und ohne größeren Schaden zu nehmen anzugehen. Eine gute Entscheidung – in vielen Situationen konnten wir die Tiefs des jeweils anderen durch ein Hoch ausgleichen, darauf achten genug Flüssigkeit/Elektrolyte und Zucker zu uns zu nehmen; und auch das Schlafen auf dem kühlen Asphalt macht zu zweit viel mehr Spaß 😉. Die zweite Nacht und der dritte Tag waren dann teils sehr unschön. Stehende Hitze, heißer Asphalt, drückende Schwüle und schattenlose Felder/Wege durch die der bergische Panoramasteig teils unnötige Schleifen zieht. Aber alles Jammern half uns dann auch nicht weiter und so sind wir dann doch kurz entschlossen nach 52h20m ins Ziel gelaufen. Die letzten 15-18h war es dann mehr eine Leistung der Köpfe. Die Körper wissen ganz gut, dass sie kaum eine Chance haben bei Protest und die Köpfe haben wunderbar zusammengepasst. Erbarmungslos stur und mit der Einstellung: jetzt erst Recht – schlagen lassen wir uns von diesem Lauf und diesen Bedingungen auf keinen Fall. Eine interessante Kombination an Entschlossenheit.

Insgesamt ein zwar nicht wunderschöner und ob der Temperaturen auch nicht sonderlich angenehmer Lauf für mich, aber doch ein sehr wichtiger. Die Fragen: ist es für mich unter den neuen Umständen möglich den Fokus aufzubringen? Finde ich wieder zurück in das „alone“ in dem ich so gern und so viele Ultras gelaufen habe? Wie fühlt es sich an zusammen im Rennen zu sein – funktioniert das „alone togeher“? Ist es nach Monaten mit eher mäßiger Motivation, nicht so vielen Lauf-Kilometern sowie dem DNF beim Versuch die 100 Meilen im Müllerthal für den #lotrslam zu laufen im Kopf überhaupt noch möglich die Motivation für das Laufen auf Mittel- bis Langstrecken aufzubringen? Und siehe da: es ist alles noch da. Die Ruhe, der Fokus, der Wille unbedingt ins Ziel zu kommen – gut zu wissen.

Letztlich mag ich es auch einfach, wenn die Dinge auf der Langdistanz außer Kontrolle geraten. Es sind diese Momente, die wie nichts sonst für das Ultra-Gefühl stehen. Dafür wie langsam alles aus den Händen gleitet. Sei es bedingt durch die äußeren Begebenheiten (zu heiß/kalt/nass), durch körperliche Schwierigkeiten oder durch eine Kombination aus beidem. Vor dem Kontrollverlust hat man das Treiben, das Auf- und Ab des Rennens, mit etwas Distanz beobachtet. Und plötzlich ist man mittendrin. Der erste Reflex scheint zu sein aktiv eingreifen zu wollen. Über gewisse Dinge hat man auch etwas Kontrolle aber das große Ganze kontrollieren zu wollen scheint zwar verlockend, macht jedoch überhaupt keinen Sinn. Es ist wie in der Brandung zu stehen und zu versuchen den Verlauf der Wellen zu ändern. Hoffnungslos. Was bleibt ist sich kontrolliert mitreißen zu lassen und dabei möglichst wenig zu erschöpfen und zu Schaden zu kommen. Immer genau so viel Kontrolle zu behalten, dass man an der Oberfläche bzw. im Rennen bleibt und weiter Meter macht. Auf eine Art muss man loslassen, sich entspannen, im Moment bleiben und akzeptieren was gerade ist. 

Reich gedeckter Tisch an VP9//KM204

Der PAUL war der 4. Lauf über 100 Meilen + in 2025 und der 47. insgesamt. Das zweite Halbjahr 2025 wird jetzt wieder den Slams gewidmet. Es gibt noch einige Kilometer zu laufen um bei beiden Laufserien die Ziele zu erreichen.

Alone. Together.

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We found the little gap in the fence too late; our first entry to the lost place was quite cumbersome. We had to crawl through some bushes and climb a stone wall to enter the area. Somewhat fitting that it was a cold and dizzy December morning. Our exploration was rather slow, cautious, silent and aware. Phones out for pictures; eyes sharpened for the ever so tiniest detail to capture and memorize it. At the far end of our planned route was the one big hall. Used for heavy and huge train construction work back in the days – a mere outer shell slowly collapsing nowadays. Inside, at the top of the back wall, we finally saw the one graffiti which surprised your eyes the most.

ALONE

TOGETHER

What a perfect description of that place and that moment. In the weeks since this first visit it became ever present in our chats, was printed out as a memory and a reminder of that feeling. Yet the message somehow meant more.

A quick look at the online world shows that the phrase is mostly associated with the good old pandemic times – which makes sense. The feelings and situations back then: the isolation, the rebellion against the „Alone“ to get „Together“ again as well as the slightest feeling of comfort in the new „Alone“. Described in just two words.

ChatGPT sums it up quite well:


Still not exact what it meant to us that very moment and ever since. With long-distance-running in mind Alone Together is so much more. All the moments during countless nights, the moments out there of shear desperateness, of being the loneliest wanderer beneath an endless sky, the moments of weakness, of exhaustion, of being hopelessly lost. Yet: during some of these adventures we were accompanied by fellow runners, sometimes even together with friends, during some of those trips we had our location shared with the world for people to follow us online – in almost all cases there was a form of connection, no matter how thin. A bit of Together in this big Alone. Two words describing the feeling of long-distance-running in a very abstract yet perfect way.

The phrase seems to be less offensive when hold against our loud and overwhelming world. A phrase entering the room silently; standing in the back observing the mess. A phrase moving on slow and cautious feet. In a respectful and delicate way. Respectful towards the people appreciating the Alone yet delicate enough to not hurt the precious Together. Uniting these two contradictory words to a much bigger and meaningful phrase. Creating a positive and safe environment enabling the possibility to be happy with Alone things even when being Together.

In long-distance-running the image and mentality of the lone wolf is glorified nowadays. Alone Together has something of that image yet adds more alone wolves to the picture – striding effortlessly and endlessly through the void. Alone Together.

If I would need to describe the preferred way for me to walk through life and interact with fellow humans – this way comprises a lot of this meaning of Alone Together. Cautious but with real and true interactions, full of respect and gratitude towards fellow humans and their choices and a certain distance to the constant flow of things to gain time for meaningful decisions. I consider myself extremely lucky to be surrounded by a few like-minded friends. I would happily chose them to be Alone Together for good.

The area with this great graffiti is about to be torn down in the next very few weeks. We recently visited the place for one last time. Alone Together was still there. Untouched. Soon the graffiti, the hall and the whole area will be gone for good. Living in memories and stories for the rest of time.

JUNUT 239 2025

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„Jetzt ist eh alles zu spät“

Mein erster Start beim Jurasteig Nonstop Ultratrail (JUNUT) im Jahr 2022 wurde vom Renn-Abbruch überschattet. Damit war das Erlebnis JUNUT schon vorbei, bevor es überhaupt begonnen hatte. Die Phase vor dem Start und auch die ersten Kilometer sind meist geprägt vom üblichen Hick-Hack und der Aufregung sowohl unter den Teilnehmenden als auch in der Crew.

Die Chance den JUNUT in vollem Umfang zu genießen, bot sich dann dieses Jahr. Der Rennkalender einigermaßen voll und der JUNUT nur 32 Tage nach dem Finish des LegendsTrails war ein bewusst eingegangenes Risiko; aber da beim JUNUT nie ganz klar ist ob und wann es ihn nochmal geben wird fiel die Entscheidung zur Anmeldung. Dazu kommt die Tatsache, dass für mich angefangene und nicht zu Ende gebrachte Dinge einfach maximal nervig sind. Einmal den JUNUT laufen wollte ich schon – hatte ich doch viel Gutes gehört – zugleich wollte ich die Chance nicht verpassen die eher mäßigen Eindrücke aus 2022 durch positivere zu ersetzen.

Der JUNUT als Nonstop Laufveranstaltung folgt bis auf wenige Abweichungen wegen der Verpflegungsstellen komplett dem Jurasteig – einem 237 km langem Rundwanderweg in Bayern der „den Umfang und das Ausmaß der Oberpfälzer Alb in seiner Kompaktheit nahezu zusammenfassend nachzeichnet“.

Also am Donnerstag den 03.04. das Auto früh morgens vollgepackt, noch ein paar Stunden arbeiten und dann nach den 550 km Anreise schnell einschreiben, dem Briefing lauschen und die Pasta genießen. Mit generell sehr wenig Kontakt zur deutschen Ultralauf-Szene war eine spannende Frage welche Menschen ich dort wohl wiedersehen bzw. neu kennenlernen würde. Als Teil der 1100 Startwelle ging es dann am 04.04. endlich auf die Strecke. Ein Abbruch wegen Wetter stand nicht zu befürchten – wir hatten Kaiserwetter. Tagsüber stiegen die Temperaturen teils über 20 Grad, was mehr und mehr zu einem unangenehmen Faktor wurde. Da mir die ersten 50 km eh bekannt waren galt die Konzentration also eher dem Management des Flüssigkeits-/Salzhaushaltes. Ein paar erste Gespräche mit Mitläufern und einige geteilte Kilometer ließen diesen ersten Abschnitt recht schnell vorüber gehen. Das Tempo war mit 7h für die ersten 50 km recht hoch für meine Verhältnisse.

Auf dem Abschnitt zwischen km 50 und 78 habe ich das Tempo dann versucht deutlich zu verlangsamen um nicht aus dem warmen Tag mit großen Problemen in die Nacht zu gehen. Endlich wurde es auch kühler und dunkler. Der VP3 in Matting (km 78) war voll mit Läufern. Ungünstige Zeit erwischt, aber so ist das manchmal. Kurz nachfüllen aus dem Dropback, ein wenig essen und dann das erste mal wärmer einpacken für die Überfahrt über die Donau mit dem Boot der Feuerwehr. Direkt nach dem VP wurde es dabei richtig ungemütlich kalt – der Lauf startete also so langsam in die etwas interessanteren Phasen. Zu zweit unterwegs entfaltete sich kurz nach der Überfahrt auch die Magie der Langdistanz. In einem Anstieg schlossen wir zu zwei weiteren Läufern (1x JUNUT104, 1x JUNUT170) auf und es war ein Match von der ersten Sekunde an. Herzhaft wurde gelacht, leise wurde geschwiegen, Lebensgeschichten wurden ausgetauscht und die Gemeinschaft genossen. Sehr hilfreich, gerade nachts. Bis KM104 harmonierte das so gut, dass wir beschlossen anschließend zu dritt weiterzumachen und daher am VP aufeinander zu warten. Am Ende hat diese Gemeinschaft bis nach Sonnenaufgang und ein gutes Stück in den neuen Tag gehalten – verschiedene persönliche Gründe ließen unseren JUNUT170 Läufer die Flucht nach vorne antreten. 

Auch der Samstag wurde wieder gefühlt zu warm für die Langdistanz – also Tempo raus und aufpassen. Irgendwie fühlte es sich richtig an weiter zu zweit zu bleiben anstatt alleine zu laufen und so wurden ruhig und fokussiert die Kilometer gefressen bis in den nächsten Abend hinein. Die zweite Nacht wurde als sehr kalt angekündigt und hat dieses Versprechen auch voll eingelöst. Da die letzten Dropback Station bei KM 202 war, war kurz die Frage nach der richtigen Kleidungsauswahl relevant. Im Rucksack waren zwar immer noch zusätzlichen Lagen für den Oberkörper, aber ich hatte mich dazu entschlossen die kurze Hose anzubehalten und die längeren Hosen im Dropback zu belassen. Es wurde also etwas kühl untenrum, ließ sich aber noch aushalten. Bei KM 202 habe ich dann eine etwas längere Pause gemacht und etwas geschlafen (INDOOR!!!) – sehr zum Unmut der zweiten Hälfte unseres Duos. Danke für die Nachsicht und Geduld zu diesem Zeitpunkt. Mit weniger als 38 km bis ins Ziel war dieses schon am Horizont – und doch sollten die letzten Stunden der zweiten Nacht eher quälend werden. Die Müdigkeit wurde ich nicht mehr wirklich los, dazu die Kälte – es war der einzige Moment im ganzen JUNUT wo ich wirklich gemerkt habe, dass das ein langer Lauf ist. Dazu kam, dass sich unsere Gemeinschaft nicht mehr richtig angefühlt hat. Zu unterschiedlich die Zustände zu diesem Zeitpunkt des Rennens, zu unterschiedlich die Bedürfnisse. Da keine Entscheidung immer die Schlechteste ist haben wir uns entschlossen uns zu trennen. Sich zu einem solchen Zeitpunkt zu entschließen allein weiterzuarbeiten war nicht einfach und doch sinnvoll. Mich hat gerettet, dass dann die Sonne endlich doch wieder aufgegangen ist. Kurz nach dem letzten VP und mit noch 13 km bis ins Ziel wurde es hell und damit besser mit den kleinen Unannehmlichkeiten. Die letzten Kilometer an diesem Sonntagmorgen waren eigenartig ruhig und leer – das Finish letztlich ein schöner, aber auch unspektakulärer Moment. Genau wie es sein soll. 45 Stunden und 46 Minuten nach dem Start war der JUNUT 2025 geschafft und damit Geschichte. Insgesamt eine erstaunlich solide Leistung unter den Voraussetzungen. Es gelingt immer mehr das eigentliche Laufen als selbstverständlich anzunehmen und so gleiten die Kilometer vorbei…

Am Ende bleibt ein sehr intensives Wochenende. Mit zunehmender Dauer hat der JUNUT genau das geboten was die Langdistanz für mich so auszeichnet. Das ist vor allem Ruhe und Gelassenheit bei Läufern und Crew. Trotz aller verständlicher Aufregung sind Hektik, Stress und laute Menschenmengen eher nicht das, was ich gerne um mich habe, beim langen Laufen. Aber die Nächte bringen meist Ruhe ins Rennen und so war es auch diesmal. Auch war es wie schon so oft so, dass sich zufällig die Läufer treffen, die auf einer Wellenlänge unterwegs sind. So war es auch diesmal. Ich kann mich nur herzlich dafür bedanken, dass wir (sei es als Duo, Trio oder Quartett) so viel gute Zeit auf dem JUNUT miteinander verbringen konnten. Erfahrung, Demut, Bodenständigkeit und Selbstständigkeit – es war alles da und der Humor passte obendrein. In solchen Gemeinschaften öffnet die Langdistanz dann die Herzen der Laufenden und es entstehen wundervolle Momente. Das hat mir viel von dem gegeben, was ich gehofft hatte zu finden und hat mich mit dem JUNUT versöhnt. Auch die Vernichtung der VP-Reste und der Pizza inkl. Bier in der Turnhalle am Sonntag Nachmittag/Abend war großartig. Diese Art von Gemeinschaft ist wunderbar. Pläne wurden geschmiedet, unsinnige Ideen eingetütet und neue Freundschaften verstärkt. Die Tage im Anschluss an den Lauf waren wie so oft nach intensiven Läufen geprägt vom Hang-Over. Mit Kopf und Herzen noch auf dem Steig/im Rennen ist die Rückkehr ins Leben immer eine Herausforderung.

Vielen Dank noch an das gesamte Helfer- und Orga-Team – es war die voraussichtlich letzte Ausgabe eines insgesamt sehr schönen Laufs. 

Für mich war es der 46. Lauf mit 100 Meilen. Jetzt geht es wieder zurück zu den privaten Aktionen – die nächsten 100 Meilen werden für den #lotrslam gelaufen: die wahren Laufmomente. Mit ein paar Freunden werden Autos ins nichts gestellt, die Uhren angeworfen und dann wird Strecke gemacht. Ab und an ein Supermarkt aber ansonsten frei und mit Menschen unterwegs die man sehr gut kennt.

Post-Race Depression

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Yes – it is real. And it does not feel very good. Especially after prime events with a lot of emotions involved both before and during the race the emptiness afterwards can be universal. If this hits in a challenging phase in life, the combination is obscure and of unreal intensity.

What should have been glorious days full of joy in light of the achievement feels like an exhaustive roller coaster. The usual go-to relief to the day-to-day challenges feels no longer easy and free but like a strange burden. Even after the body successfully finished the recovery the ease of running does not return. The emotions left out on the trails seem to be drained and gone without return. It feels strange to even think about covering a substantial distance. Why would one want to even think about it. It has been done, it has been completed and that chapter seems to be finished. It feels like digging too deep into something – everyone knows that causes trouble.

Science started to explain, to understand and to provide guidance but most articles do not fully cover the point. The closest is this article with the following section about the emotions.

I feel seen.

It´s a process – it always has been. The blues does come in different flavors and intensities. And yes, the time will heal and finally, after what feels like ages this time, the emotions will return. The joy of running will be back, the light-hearted strives through the surroundings will feel complete again.

Let’s hope it happens before the next race starts.