If you surround yourself with folks with a higher endurance score it must be something great going on. If them happen to be your friends – even better. If you end up in the middle of the night at Baraque Michel: perfection. Admittedly, we asked ourselves for a brick of a second: are we really standing up from that comfy table in the warm indoors and drive all the way up there to end up in the wet and cold marshes? Well – it was worth the decision. As always. 50 miles in the Ardennes in cool but calm conditions. The iceberg. Le basin. The most amazing café break close to dusk. The full-adrenaline first daylight hours. The relentless-endless Fagnes. We did not miss those conditions at all and yet we missed it immensely.
The rest of the weekend was well spent with the one runner I shared the most km with. After years we finally had the chance to enjoy some recovery running together which for that matter never happened before in the last decade. Time to enjoy “our” forest while discussing ultra. Guess we never came so close to expressing what ultra ultimately means for us and about the various paths to get there. And if it’s worth the suffering along those lines. And what suffering means. And if the ultimate state of mind while running can be reached, or not. And what we would want to await us there. And if it’s wise to aim for that after all.
Thanks all – lets keep adding such weekends to our agenda!
Viel haben wir im Team miteinander geschrieben im Vorfeld – am Samstag sehen wir uns endlich persönlich. Nur um uns ab 1400 deutscher Zeit dem Backyard-Format zu unterwerfen. Eintauchen in hoffentlich endloses Rundendrehen. Ein großer Dank geht schon jetzt raus an unseren Host vom TSV Katzwang 05 – super Vorbereitung, uns wird es an nichts fehlen.
Weltweit sind 63 Länder am Start – mit den jeweils 15 besten Läufern im Backyard Ultra Format der letzten 2 Jahren (August 2022 bis August 2024) des jeweiligen Landes. Insgesamt über 900 Athleten starten zur gleichen Zeit in 63 unterschiedlichen Rennen. Es muss ein Fest werden als Zuschauer.
Hier ist Team Germany 2024:
Team GER 2024
Wenn Ihr nicht vertraut seid mit dem Format – hier ist eine sehr gute Erklärung vom belgischen Backyard Ultra Account:
Für die Zahlen/Statistik-Fetischisten – hier ist Euer Link. Alle Backyard Ultra Zahlen zusammengefasst. Vermutlich sogar mit einigen Live-Updates während der WM. Einfach faszinierend. Team GER liegt vor dem Rennen auf Platz 14 – hoffentlich ist diese Platzierung nach dem Event eine besser!
Für mich persönlich geht es darum die Zeit zu genießen. Und danach noch ein wenig weiter zu machen. Ziele gibt es nicht in diesem Format. Obwohl: eine PB im Backyard, eine PB was den längsten Lauf angeht (281 km) und ach – warum nicht – eine Quali fürs Team 2026 wären schön. Nur wie viele Runden Letzteres bedeutet ist ja mehr als ungewiss. Also: immer weiter!
Viel Spaß beim Verfolgen – sowas hat es in der Größe noch nicht gegeben. Ein Format aus der Hölle erobert die Ultra-Welt. Bald wird es die echten Lauf-Rekorde auf der ganz langen Distanz gefährden, wer hätte das für möglich gehalten.
Weniger als 3 Wochen dann geht es auch schon wieder los. Die letzten Tage ungebremsten Laufens stehen an bevor es ruhig werden wird. Bevor der Atem angehalten wird; tief Luft geholt wird – nur um am 19.10.2024 um 1400 möglichst ausgeruht, fit und mental gewappnet am Start zu stehen.
Für die Backyard World Team Championship gibt es eine Qualifikationsperiode von 2 Jahren (August 2022 bis August 2024 für diese WM) in der sämtliche Leistungen aller Läufer in offiziellen Backyard Ultra Läufen weltweit gesammelt werden um dann nach Ende der Qualifikation nach Staatsangehörigkeit sortiert gelistet werden. Die Listen der aktuell abgelaufenen Quali sind hier einzusehen. Die Top 15 einer jeden Nation dürfen bei den WTC starten – jede Nation in ihrem Land – alle starten zur gleichen vollen Stunde. Die Ergebnisse wurden 2022 in einem großen Google Sheet von den jeweiligen Länderchefs eingegeben und waren damit live verfolgbar – so wird es dieses Jahr sicher wieder sein.
Das deutsche Team läuft dieses Jahr in Nürnberg unter der Schirmherrschaft des TSV Katzwang 05. Die Planungen im Hintergrund laufen auf Hochtouren und schon jetzt gilt es Danke sagen für die Mühen des Orga-Teams welches unser Team in diesem Jahr bestmöglich versorgt und supported wissen will. Alle Infos zum Wettkampf, zum Team und allem Drumherum werden hier gesammelt:
Es lohnt sich sicherlich auch den Instagram-Accounts bu_sattelite_de und pfadsucher_com zu folgen um immer mit den neuesten Updates versorgt zu werden.
Wenn ich mir den Bericht vom Lauf 2022 so anschaue kommen wunderbare Erinnerungen hoch. Zwar waren wir damals am Rand der Pandemie in einem im Umbau befindlichen Stadion in Kandel beheimatet und doch war es trotz dieser Umstände ein wunderbares Erlebnis als Team zusammenzufinden und zu versuchen sich untereinander zu stützen, zu supporten, zu pushen und für jeden das Beste an diesen Tagen herauszuholen. Die 33 Runden der Team WM 2022 konnte ich nur ein einziges Mal toppen – PB mit 36 Runden beim Legends Backyard in Belgien im April 2024 – und so gilt es dieses Mal erneut zu versuchen eine neue PB zu erlaufen. Die Möglichkeiten in diesem Format sind unglaublich schwer zu ergründen. Die Mischung aus Einfachheit die plötzlich umschlägt in extreme Härte ist schwer zu fassen. Läufer mit schneller Grundgeschwindigkeit sind eindeutig im Vorteil – da mir das verwehrt ist, bleibt mir nur so ‘schlau’ und energiesparend im Wettkampf zu verharren und zu warten – darauf dass das Ende nicht kommen möge, darauf dass die Zeit ohne zu sehr an mir zu nagen einfach an mir vorbeiziehen möge.
Das deutsche Team dieses Jahr erscheint mir eine höchst interessante Mischung aus Läufern und Läuferinnen aus den unterschiedlichsten Richtungen der Langdistanzwelt zu sein. Ich freue mich sehr darauf die Neuen persönlich kennen zu lernen und die Altbekannten endlich wieder live zu erleben. Allein das wird ein Fest. Mein Support wird mit Michael vom Biber Backyard Ultra jemand sein der das Format kennt und liebt und der schon beim Legends Backyard in Belgien wunderbar supported hat. Auch als es dort kritisch wurde konnten wir uns soweit verständigen und über meine Unleidlichkeit hinweg sehen, dass ich immer pünktlich auf die Runde kam – das werden wir in Nürnberg weiter perfektionieren. Über allem steht die Aufgabe Deutschland in der Nationenwertung so weit wie möglich nach vorne zu laufen und einen würdigen Sieger unseres Teams zu küren der zur Einzel-WM im kommenden Jahr in Tennessee antreten darf.
In diesem Sinne: stay tuned über die oben genannten Kanäle!
What a perfect time Late Summer Breeze floating the surrounding A whisper of summer warmth, of joy, of carelessness Drinks with friends til late at night – a mild and colorful high Dark moments remain forgotten All those 5k runs feel like flying in blazing haze
Ever so slightly the days start to shorten The returning breath of darkness makes you shiver Sometimes the shiver seems to creep into you Waking up unpleasant and dark memories Memories you though were gone for good Memories which feel vague and yet quite real
Memories of never-ending darkness Memories of trails too faint to follow in front of blurry eyes Memories of the wet and the cold and the shivering Memories of good friends quitting while you couldn’t help Memories of overwhelming hopelessness Memories of endless hours of mere stumbling Memories of pale faces on wet stones Memories of trees which turn into shelter and back to trees with you approaching Memories of unconscious brave individual wandering around without orientation Memories of longing for pain to stay awake Memories of pain and yet falling asleep while walking Memories of flashing green and blue LEDs on one of your shoulder
The undoable task to set the mind up once more is ahead No hope, no glory phrases, no strong emotion will survive the misery Those returning from out there may have their secret reasons Unspoken forces which made them tolerate the task
Lets meet at the tree down by the lake Where the reflections are superior Many passed this place – very few recognized The beauty of this spot
Best time to be there is when the sun is about to set A cold breeze from the water Cools down the heat of the day Welcomes the night with all her despair
Best time to be there is when the night is at height When the pale moon is reflected In the black and smelly surface Tricking the fools to believe it is solid ground
Best time to be there is when the sun is about to rise When the tree stands as a statue In front of the appearing marshes While vague blue endlessness reveals behind the lake
Best time to be there is when the sun is at height When the gleaming sunbeams Are reflected by a light breeze of wind Turning the lake into millions of diamonds
Lets meet at the tree down by the lake With those who treasure the marshes With those who value the void With those fascinated by the beyond
It was late 2009 when I moved to Aachen. This was two years after my first and fastest Marathon on the 13.05.2007 (3h21m). Coming from handball and cycling races I was afraid enough to actually train for that first marathon back in 2007. I came to Aachen to finish my studies here and well – stayed. I started to log my running km electronically in 2010, ran a few more Marathons the next years (Rurtal, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Norderney, Monschau, Jungfrau, Saarbrücken) and then met Helmut and came in contact with the LTB Aachen running club in 2012. While continued to run Marathons I learned that there is more. The group run Rund um Aachen 2013 (63k) opened a whole new world. Running, eating and fun were combined.
2014 started with more group runs (Limburgs Halfzwaare from Willem M.) and it escalated in my first official “ultra” (Rennsteig Supermarathon; 72k) in May 2014. I also met Björn as well as Stefan Vilvo in 2014 – this should change things dramatically. It opened the door to endless hours in the Eifel and Greater Aachen Area. No trail was too blocked, no mud was too deep and no river was safe from us anymore. I came in contact with Olne-Spa-Olne – another run that can change perspectives. In 2015 we started to create with the “matschige Aachen Marathon” aka mAMa our own interpretation of a Marathon in Aachen – and should host not less than 9 mAMa runs (10 if you count the lonely “Race Director Edition” during Corona) from 2015 til 2024. But it didn’t stop there. I ran my first 100ks in 2015 (Limburgs Zwaarste and soon after WHEW) and after that it just continued – too many runs to mention them all. The first 100 mile-attempt took place during the 24h run in Iserlohn in 2016 (148k) and was then finally completed at the TorTour de Ruhr 2016 (Arnsberg-Duisburg; 100 mi).
By sheer luck I saw and followed a really strange live-tracking page of an event on FB in 2016 and contacted the RDs Maarten and Marek end of 2016/beginning 2017 to learn more about that strange thing. I tried their LEO180 in 2017: a hopeless, pathetic and unsuccessful attempt – but one which left a deep mark and opened the book to another dimension of running. We watched the Yiannis Kouros “Forever Running” documentary on YouTube the evening before that 2017 LEO180 and M&M mentioned a famous run called Legend Trails – and that this would be the real thing. It sounded strange, abstracted and way beyond my possibilities. It was the most tiny spark imaginable that was ignited that November 2017 but nevertheless that fire started to burn and grew over the next 7 years.
The stories have been written and are all preserved on this page. What a ride it was. Endless stories about endlessness – about what happens beyond the possible. Life finally started to change in 2023 and after exactly 15 years the time in Aachen will end in 2024. Time to run those trails one last time; time to say goodbye to the Eifel, to the Ardennes and to Hautes Fagnes – I owe them a lot.
One third of 2024 is over – time to have a look behind the curtain. In a world full of shiny YouTube movies and fancy IG stories it’s getting easier for long-distance projects to stay in the dark and unnoticed void. However – some things happened.
The debut in 2024 was organized by the Teuflischer Biber Ultra. A double debut as it opened 2024 and was the first edition of that event organized by Michael and his great team from Biber Backyard Ultra. A very good, challenging and interesting format saw 4 starter and no finisher in this very first edition. There is a date set for 2025 and I heard some discussion from people who really want to own this format and from some people who are interested to try it themselves. If there is one thing about it – it would be another fantastic achievement to manage all loops. But with Teun and Wouter the right folks was present in the first edition – both may be able to pull this off one day. Definitely an event which deserves more attention and will gain traction the next years.
Campfire vibes before #tbu
The usual kick-off meeting for the whole bubble in February (aka. Legends Trails) was yet another fascinating edition show-casing all aspects of endurance. If you want to do it – your last chance is 2025 – registration is open and you better start to get ready for it now! Beyond 2025 we have been promised to get to know a whole different Legends Trail. Those who know the event are a bit more afraid than they are excited about that; so better get your shot in 2025. The general feedback in 2024 was: it´s more than worth all efforts.
Chez Ingo chez Ingo aka Toastie Time
Meanwhile there have been 4 successful attempts on The Dead Marshes which is the entry challenge to next years Slam. So far I got positive feedback on my track and looking at the fantastic list of applicants and the upcoming better weather window we will see quite a few more attempts in near future. To me these are the most fascinating projects. It needs quite some planning including scheduling it in a mostly full family life, it needs real dedication while running those tracks and at the end there are only a handful people in some weird FB group chats recognizing it. Those are highly underrated attempts and experiences. There is no one cheering, the supply orga is a real thing to get under control – and at the end you arrive at a parking lot and drive away. Unnoticed and unseen. Reading stories from what happened along the way –
(e.g. Addie and Christof with the worst weather conditions ending up sitting very long in the half-way car at Dead Marshes most probably discussing whether or not it makes sense to continue (it doesn´t – and yet they did it) and then not long after they started the second loop messing up navigation and tried to cross a river ending up almost swimming)
those are the stories I enjoy the most. There is still time to jump on this project – Dead Marshes needs to be completed til the end of 2024. And there is more to come in 2025 for the happy few.
Dead Marshes @ Night
Another astounding attempt was Monica´s FKT on the Pieterpad in NL. Lots of the lovely Dutch/Belgian family stood up to support and Monica managed the 500k with an impressive amount of dedication and discipline. When I joined for a few km she was pretty calm despite the fact she was facing the fourth night. When meeting the car one could feel and see the strain, exhaustion and tiredness quite clearly – and yet she stood up from that chair again and again like playing an endless game of horror just to finally being able to finish it off. Was a nice achievement to witness.
The unexpected marriage!
During the first months of 2024 I also joined Marek for a few runs on his attempt to collect all platsnaambordjes in Brabant and he is getting really close to complete this challenge. It’s both a really stupid and wonderful thing to do. It offers the opportunity to really get to know the region, it includes a lot of boring km and at the end there is a sheet which is on Mareks drive with the list. One may think: wtf. But Marek and I share a weird love for sheets and stats. Our chat is full of numbers, percentages and formulas – most of the normal world would be shocked to see it. But we don´t really care.
Bakel-Oost
I was also lucky to secure 24h in Maarten´s schedule for a project we have been discussing ever since we met. Not that we really talked any details but we knew that day would come. A combined hobby of us is Hautes Fagnes so we met at Baraque Michel and things got out of hand. Exactly as expected. It was a remarkable time up there and probably not the last time we met at this spot. We only managed to pull-off around 70 km in 24h but those were the most interesting ones in 2024 so far. A multi-dimension experience. In so many ways.
Into the Heart of Hautes Fagnes and Further
Further
Lastly the Legends Family met again at Legends Backyard Ultra in April. Although I am really disappointed about my abilities in this format it was lovely to meet all of the folks and finally have some time for some more words with some of the runners. Just got to love the Belgian team and their friends/family – the amount of amazing runners and the quality of running over there is unmatched. Yet all of them are calm and focused, always friendly and supportive and always humble. They celebrate ultra in a way I can feel to 100%.
Loops with friends!
Looking forward to the next period in 2024. Teun is going to tackle another GR aiming for an FKT, there are several Dead Marshes attempts coming soon and if we survive the tough off-season period (aka summer) the World Team championship of Backyard Ultra is coming. Although I don´t like it, it still fascinates me and I can’t wait to watch the battle between US, AUS and BEL – going to an epic one.
O schaurig ist’s übers Moor zu gehn, Wenn es wimmelt vom Heiderauche, Sich wie Phantome die Dünste drehn Und die Ranke häkelt am Strauche, Unter jedem Tritte ein Quellchen springt, Wenn aus der Spalte es zischt und singt! – O schaurig ist’s übers Moor zu gehn, Wenn das Röhricht knistert im Hauche!
Fest hält die Fibel das zitternde Kind Und rennt, als ob man es jage; Hohl über die Fläche sauset der Wind – Was raschelt drüben am Hage? Das ist der gespenstische Gräberknecht, Der dem Meister die besten Torfe verzecht; Hu, hu, es bricht wie ein irres Rind! Hinducket das Knäblein zage.
Vom Ufer starret Gestumpf hervor, Unheimlich nicket die Föhre, Der Knabe rennt, gespannt das Ohr, Durch Riesenhalme wie Speere; Und wie es rieselt und knittert darin! Das ist die unselige Spinnerin, Das ist die gebannte Spinnenlenor‘, Die den Haspel dreht im Geröhre!
Voran, voran! Nur immer im Lauf, Voran, als woll es ihn holen! Vor seinem Fuße brodelt es auf, Es pfeift ihm unter den Sohlen, Wie eine gespenstige Melodei; Das ist der Geigemann ungetreu, Das ist der diebische Fiedler Knauf, Der den Hochzeitheller gestohlen!
Da birst das Moor, ein Seufzer geht Hervor aus der klaffenden Höhle; Weh, weh, da ruft die verdammte Margret: „Ho, ho, meine arme Seele!“ Der Knabe springt wie ein wundes Reh; Wär nicht Schutzengel in seiner Näh, Seine bleichenden Knöchelchen fände spät Ein Gräber im Moorgeschwele.
Da mählich gründet der Boden sich, Und drüben, neben der Weide, Die Lampe flimmert so heimatlich, Der Knabe steht an der Scheide. Tief atmet er auf, zum Moor zurück Noch immer wirft er den scheuen Blick: Ja, im Geröhre war’s fürchterlich, O schaurig war’s in der Heide.
Anette von Droste-Hülshoff; “Der Knabe im Moor“
There is this one place to whom we owe a lot. It has been featured in each of the Legends Trails and it left a mark.
We started to include it into our projects as well. In 2021 during our Titanic Slam this place played an important role in the KATE180 track. Most of the runners were a bit of overwhelmed that one had to cross this area not only once but twice – a rather interesting twist.
In 2022 during the Marvel Slam the track The Dark World combined three heavy loops in that area into a 100 mi long endless journey – most probably the only 100 mi in the world in these kind of environment. A really unique but rather unknown challenge.
Last and most certainly not least in 2024 applicants for the Lord of the Ring Slam in 2025 have to finish the entry challenge The Dead Marshes – in which start, end and middle point are once more right in the middle of that area. One has to leave, return, leave again to finally return…
Here are some somewhat recent impressions of: Hautes Fagnes – collected as yet another collaboration between acceptnolimits.eu and pfadsucher.com. Providing some unique shots of the beyond following the motto: “the tendency is to push it as far as you can“:
A bunch of older video content featuring Hautes Fagnes from Maarten:
I am receiving a lot of criticism for posting #whilerunning. While I get the point that its annoying you: the option to block or unfriend me is a valid escape from those updates. While most of you probably think I am only doing this because of my desire for attention – this is not true. What you don’t know is that I have a lot of friends with special interests:
some are really interested in dead animals and parts of dead animals – so I take a picture of each of them I can find
some are really interested in blue bordjes with white writing on – so I take a picture of each of them I come across
some are interested in wrotten/old/degenerated/at risk of collapse buildings – so I take a picture of each of them I can find (outside and inside if doable)
some are interested in old/new/wrotten/in action military stuff – so I take a picture of each of them (if I can safely get into camera reach)
some are really interested in coke bottles/coke advertisements/everything coke-related – so I take a picture of each sign of coke I can find
some are really interested in caves – so I take a picture of each of those as well (with GPS coordinates)
some are really interested in forbidden/restricted/fenced/poisoned/radioactive areas – so I take a picture of those places (with GPS coordinates)
some are really interested in funny stickers on cars/street lights/houses etc. – so I take a picture of them as well
some are interested in flowers – so I take a picture of all of them (I really enjoy the winter)
some are really interested in different fences and how they are constructed – so I take a picture of all of them as well (GPS coordinates for the interesting ones)
some of them are really interested in everything related to the Netherlands and Belgium – so I take pictures of those evidences (cumbersome to run in those countries…)
some of them are interested in pictures of mud – so I take those puddle pictures
some of them are interested in pictures of everything related to alcohol (abuse) – so I take a few shots for them
some of them are interested in pictures of wooden planks – so I picture these as well
some of them like pictures capturing feelings like: pain, despair, endlessness, eternity, hopelessness, wideness and loneliness – so I take a few more pictures (tbh – I love those as well)
some of them like blurry pictures shot during horribly bad weather second or third ultra nights full of despair with numb fingers and half conscious brains – so I try my best of fiddling my phone out of the pocket (while asking myself: “how did I end up here – again?”)
Its not about me – its about my friends and what I can do to make their life´s a bit better. Its the small things that really matter at the end of the day. Please respect this. Its a gesture of respect to send those pictures to them. My way to say to them: “I feel you and I am here for you”!
Neutral für immer, belgisch vielleicht – preußisch niemals!
Ein Projekt welches schon lange auf Umsetzung wartet ist nun endlich vollendet – die Umrundung der ehemaligen Nation Neutral-Moresnet. Für jene die in Aachen bzw. der Euregio wohnen und unterwegs sind ist der Name Moresnet allgegenwärtig. Schließlich heißt ein Ort in der Gegend noch so. So richtig beschäftigt mit dem Thema Moresnet und der überaus verblüffenden Geschichte hinter dieser Bezeichnung und dem Staat Neutral-Moresnet der für immerhin mehr als 100 Jahre in dieser Gegend existierte hatte ich mich persönlich vorher ehrlich gesagt nicht.
Gut, dass der absolute Lieblingspodcasts “Geschichten aus der Geschichte” eingesprungen ist und die Story schon vor Jahren aufbereitet hat. Gehört hatte ich die Folge vor ca. einem Jahr und sofort war der Plan geboren doch einmal die komplette ehemalige Grenze abzulaufen.
Bevor es hier aber weitergeht bitte zuerst die unten verlinkte Folge hören; anschließend geht es darunter weiter:
Der Wikipedia Artikel hält noch ein paar weitere Infos und Daten zum ehemaligen Zwergstaat wie zum Beispiel die Flagge von Neutral Moresnet bereit:
Die Planung der Laufrunde erfolgte war dann doch recht simpel: zuerst den ehemaligen Grenzverlauf möglichst exact auf die Karte bringen (rot im rechten Bild) und anschließend schauen welche Wege möglichst nah an dieser Grenze verlaufen (blau im rechten Bild). An einigen Stellen war dann doch etwas Kreativität gefragt; gerade die letzten 2-3 km hoch um Dreiländereck haben keine wirklich passenden aktiven Wege entlang der ehemaligen Grenze. Da war also im Vorfeld klar, dass es etwas durchs Unterholz würde gehen müssen um einigermaßen korrekt zu bleiben.
links: Karte mit Grenzverlauf von Wikipedia; rechts: Übernahme des Grenzverlaufs auf die Karte (rot) und Steckenverlaufsplanung (blau)
Vielen Dank an Daniel und Richard von Geschichten aus der Geschichte für die schöne Aufbereitung und die Inspiration ein Stück Heimat noch besser kennen zu lernen!
