Countdown BYU World Team Championship

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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!

Impressionen aus 2022:

Late Summer Breeze

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

Less than 6 months.

The tree down by the lake

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

The End

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.

How distance running started in 2014:

And how it ended in 2024:

Underground Update

In an uncertain world – endurance is the answer.

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.



Hautes Fagnes

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:

About Facebooking

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 Moresnet – das fast vergessene Land

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:

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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)

Insgesamt eine schöne Tour:

Anbei noch ein paar Bilder…

… und ein paar Eindrücke per Video:

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!

Are you ready for Legends Trail?

“There is a button on your tracker. When you press that button for 3 seconds you will feel it vibrate. Once you do that we consider this to be a REAL emergency and we will try to be at your position as fast as possible. On your number and hopefully in your phone there is a phone number. If you have a problem, or another runner has a problem you can call this number and we will try to help you. Please do not call if you are hungry, feel tired or feel lonely.”

A wise man.

Are you ready for Legends Trail” was one of the most asked question in the last 3-4 hours before the start of 2024 Legends Trail. The question came from runners/volunteers/crew members. The only honest answer – and the answer I gave – is “no“. My opinion is that one is never truly ready for such a challenge. One reason is that the amount of uncertainties is enormous (and its impossible to prepare for the unknown) and the other reason is that Legends Trail is a really long race. Really, really long. For the shorter distances you can take measures such: at this point in race I do this or that and that will safe me for a certain amount of time/distance until I do the same thing again. If that does not work I have here a plan B/C/D/E/F – one of those plan will ultimately do the trick and will make me finish.

Most runners (including me) try to apply similar strategic breakdowns to the Legends Trail – simply to make it a bit more manageable in the head before the race. Although that might be an important first step to do to not already freak out at the start line most of us secretly know that this is not worth for the whole thing. The amount of plans you may need during Legends Trail exceeds the letters in the alphabet and then there is the unknown hovering above the runners as well. Waiting to strike.

Lets take one step back and have look at the question from a different perspective. If the question only means: “Are you prepared for Legends Trail” the answer should be a different one. The answer should be: “I did everything under my control to prepare myself“. This preparation should include running, gear and mental preparation. And this preparation is or at least should be the basis for even thinking about starting

With regards to running everyone has very unique strategy but there are two general thing to take into consideration:

1. Go out when the conditions are the baddest you can think of. Because that’s a very likely scenario at Legends Trail. And you don’t want to be surprised by wind, rain, cold, hail, snow or ice.

2. Know the nights. Really know them. Embrace the darkness. Know how and when to sleep rough. If all goes down the drain at Legends Trail you may stand in pouring rain at freezing temperatures, shivering as hell already, but deadly tired with nothing else in mind than the urge to sleep. You may want to make sure to know every step you need to do in exactly this moment which safes you and prevents the DNF. Because the DNF will seem like the only way out of this situation.

With regards to material and equipment the considerations of Maarten “BEN JE KLAAR VOOR DE LEGENDS TRAIL?” are worth reading. Also his Material Checklist and his blog about feet and how to keep them operational should be must reads. The topic feet (an important one) and other packing considerations are also addressed here. Not everything is a 1:1 adaption but there is inspiration and there are successful strategies out there to copy from and to adapt so that they work for your individual needs. What also applies here: know your stuff. You may find out that you work best if you change shoes, you may find out that you want to wear multiple layers of socks, you may find out that waterproofs kill your feet – just make sure you find out BEFORE Legends Trail. Another advice would be: do not freak out at the CP sitting in front of your drop back. I don’t know to whom I talked about it lately but he/she mentioned that he/she wanted to change to new clothes at one of the CPs and ended up to put on the wet base layer from the stretch before just because it was too “complicated” to search for a fresh and dry one in the drop back. Stupid but it happens with a fucked-up mind. Live with it and don´t let it kill your race.

Well. Nothing really to say about the mental preparation. That’s an individual thing. My mindset is to be humble and thankful for the fact that I can take part in these kind of adventures and to embrace every step during it no matter how painful they may be. And I know that there are people both at the finish line and watching the dots which I don’t want to disappoint. I own and embrace a deep desire to make them happy. That does the trick for me. Make sure to find your best motivators and strategies as well.

With these point you should be prepared for Legends Trail (as good as you can do) so why are you not ready?

Because Legends Trail is absurd. Its a challenge which is tough from the very first step. Relentless climbing in ever changing but never easy conditions. Topped with most of the time interesting weather in the Ardennes in February. The energy the average Legends Trailer takes with them lasts roughly one day. The first night is considered to be kind of ok given the conditions and the first day is mostly fine as well. At the end of this time period (mostly around CP2) the energy is used up. It was a rough and very difficult 100-130 km ultra and its time that its over. Although perfectly normal feelings, this is the point in Legends time when the race slowly begins to start.

And no one is really ready for this second night. A night meant to break the runners, to finally crack them. To strip them down to their pure will and mental strength. One needs way more than those 100% to make it out of this second night. And there are still 24-30 hours left of Legends Trail at this point. Undoable.

Legends Sunday is usually a fragile construct. On the one hand its daylight (which makes things considerably easier) on the other hands the finish is too far to feel realistic and to pull you mentally. Its a demanding battle of attrition against Legends Trail and against yourself. And the worst is yet to come: night 3. If night 2 was already something one was not ready for – night 3 is the ultimate trip.

Things tend to break apart in night 3. Just like that. From one second to the other. The ability to orientate and to navigate is gone, the urge of sleep is overwhelming beyond description, your tired brain paints things into the forest which seriously distract you. You may see runners staring at stones. For minutes. You may find them wandering off track. You may find them crying, you may find them lying down with hypothermia, you may find them talking to themselves. Nothing prepares you for this. In night 3 everything finally collapses. The worlds disappears and you are not quite sure if the world may resurface. The only hope is daylight on the morning of Legends Monday.

Day 3 (aka Legends Monday) is the saviour, the ultimate relieve. You may be unprepared for the fact that you are not longer able to control your emotions. Every ever so tiny encouraging or beautiful thing you see or encounter may make you burst into tears. But in a good way. Close to the finish with the main effort behind you its an absolute astounding feeling. These moments as well as the moment of finish are the moments you came for. And they are beyond description but more than worth the effort. They truly belong to you and they will last. Most describe them as something which becomes part of their identity.

In the Trailmagazin Podcast Tom (LT finisher from 2024) is being asked if the race director of Legends Trail is just inhuman and cruel. Tom´s answer fits perfectly as he says: “I think its quite the contrary”. I truly believe its exactly this. Legends Trail is designed to confront runners with the DNF – to push them on the edge of their limits and then continue to push further. Only by doing this, certain abilities, certain mindsets are revealed. The lucky few escaping and being able to finish Legends Trail have gone further than they thought they could. Its deep in the DNA of Legends Trail to reveal exactly this in the competitors. To be able to great these people at the finish line and to live with them through their emotions must be a truly satisfying moment. My believe is that Tim is truly worried about if the Legends Trail is difficult enough to push us that far but that he truly respects and admires the ones he can congratulate at the finish.

No, one is never ready for this. To a certain extend you go there empty handed but you if you manage it its truly unique.

10 years

Back in 2014 we had no idea:

2014 – Limburgs Halfzware 75k

Back in 2015 we asked ourselves some questions:

Limburgs Zwarste 2015 – 100k

Back in 2016 we started to explore…

2016 – random fun

Back in 2017 we met new friends:

2017: DCUrbN 100k

Back in 2018 we tried new things:

2018: TTdR 230k

Back in 2019 we received some Dutch Bling Bling:

LEO180 2019 – 210k

Back in 2020 we explored the darkness:

2020 GR Hageland – 150k

Back in 2021 we figured daylight is also ok:

2021 Krönungsweg Bonn-AC 140k

Back in 2022 we started to conquer the unknown:

2022 The Mystique – 200k

Back in 2023 we started to relax:

2023 Biber Backyard Ultra

And what is next? After thousands of shared kms we rarely meet to run these days. But when we meet its for something big, something new – its for an adventure. On, on we go. Hop hop don’t stop!