Montane Legends Trail 2022 – thoughts

Veröffentlicht am 2. März 2022 von Pfadsucher

Respect
Acceptance
Gratitude

There are not too many things really matter at the end. With the past weekend fresh in mind this will not be the ordinary race report but some thoughts which came to my mind or were the results of the discussions prior, during and after the Montane Legends Trail 2022 edition. The race report itself with an overview of what happened can be later found here.

Entering Montane Legends Trail 2022 was a kind of spontaneous decision for me. With finishing the 2020 edition (LT250) and the Legends Slam 2019/2020 everything was like it should be with no need to continue the Montane Legends Trail races. I still consider myself als a lucky one that these 4 races 2 years ago could take place (Corona) and that I was able to finish all 4 of them. So why should I go again? I decided to not register for the 2021 edition and Corona cancelled the whole event finally. So thats it? Still following the news of this race and being in contact with registered runners I did not loose contact to the Legends Trail family. Somewhen end of 2021 the message came through that the registration re-opens with some last places available. I did not wait more than a few minutes after that messages and got my ticket – I am still not sure why I was so clear in my decision that moment. But I think one part of it is, that Legends Trails is way more than just a race.

It starts with that uncomfortable pre-race hustle and bustle no one really likes. The week before the event you are organizing a hell lot of things including how to get to the event and back to normal life again. On race day the entry procedure includes a detailed kit check, check if all information you entered while registration are correct, you get your GPS-tracker, your race number, need to place your drop back, etc… Finally when all of this is done successfully the waiting for the start begins. Although waiting for start is never nice – this is the moment when the spirit of Legends Trails begins. It was so nice to sit together with the other participants (with most of them either being good friends or people you know from previous editions) and the whole Legends Trails crew and Legendary Friends. A lot of stories to tell, a lot of memories to share. Long time no see. Good to finally meet again and to be able to renew the bonds. All in all there was a huge gratitude in that room that we could be there and that we could spend our next days with something we love. This is not for granted with all what is going on in this world.

Montane Legends Trails has a set of rules which are quite easy to understand and even more straight forward. They are not just there for your safety and for the safety of others but they are also part of what is the DNA of Legends Trails. Especially the part of no support is always worth mentioning. Although it may sound like the race director only wants to make it more difficult it implies quite the contrary. When entering this event you should be an independent runner and should be able to fix and solve all possible problems you may encounter during the race with the stuff you have packed and with your mind. Only when accepting and respecting this you are eligible to become a legend.

In my eyes acceptance and respect are anyway important guidelines throughout the whole event. Legends Trail is so long and so demanding that you kind of need to free yourself from every schedule, every detailed plan and every expectation as the race will anyway kill them all. This does not mean that you should not have a well-sorted and planned drop back as well as race pack and that you want to have a look on the time to meet the cut-offs but other than that… For me one enters Montane Legends Trail best with a mind setting that whatever comes – no matter how difficult – is to be accepted. With that spirit one does not need to worry or complain or being frightened but just head through. This already safes a lot of unnecessarily spend mental energy which can be used for more important things.

Finally the gratitude returning to start/finish is something overwhelming and hard to describe. With all you put in you finally re-enter that room where it all started and everyone is there. Those who did not made it tend to stay a while after their race, those who were supporting and still supporting are there – a bunch of finishers. With that spirit in the air that something worth memorizing just happens. Its like coming home after a weekend spent out there with lots of adventures. A weekend which may not have been pleasant all the time but a weekend where you invested everything to get back to exactly that place. It´s the warm campfire after the long and dark cold. Stories to be told and beer to be drunken until it finally ends.

For those who know – sunset on top of the iceberg. Heading into night #3.

Titanic Slam Results

Veröffentlicht am 19. Dezember 2021 von Pfadsucher

The Titanic Slam is over. All attempts have been made – all stories have been told. The overview of the achievements is listed on the Titanic Slam page. The summarized final result looks like this:

My personal Titanic Slam is depicted in the following. The numbers will tell you something, the stories behind are way beyond this and have been already told throughout the year:

It was after all a nice challenge but also a lonely one. Good that this chapter is closed and the next Slam is done.

LEO180 2021 – The Void

Veröffentlicht am 14. Dezember 2021 von Pfadsucher

Antworten

„There are no questions for the answers I found.“

What was initially planned as an adventure for two was unfortunately at the last moment cut down to only one runner. What was initially planned as an early Saturday morning start was at the last moment changed to a Saturday midnight start. It is never a good idea to directly head into a weekend run after a full work week and it is certainly stupid to undertake such a mission alone. But the time for discussions, re-planning and worries may come – last weekend was not the right moment for these things. Time was ticking for the Titanic Slam finish and the circumstances, the spontaneous last minute changes set the frame for the weekend: it was time for all in. With only a few days left in 2021, with the memories of the DNF during the first attempt in mind – there was no room for hope.

A midnight start after working the whole day plus two hours of driving through the darkness meant a cold and somehow unprepared start into the 222 km long adventure. It meant also that the first 77 km would not offer any supply possibilities. Not that this was needed but it always feels good to have some spots with breaks coming up and dividing the distance into smaller pieces. But well – it was not going to be a comfortable run. Oirschotse Heide at night is always a blast… the constructions at the canal Groote Beerze destroyed the track two times causing a lot of delay and extra kms at detours… all in all it was a considerable tough first half night – 8 miserable and dark hours.

After an amazing 1h15m lunch break at km 77 at Maarten´s with some nice discussions about the next parts, tactics and the usual nonsense the journey continued. It was a depressing feeling with 16h of darkness ahead. This second night was bound to bring the decision to the one or the other end and I was really interested on which and it would be. Before the second darkness there were a few hours of good weather, of light and even sun:

The first half of that second night with another car stop run by the brilliant Monica & Berry support team was still feeling somewhat normal. I reached the DNF point (km 140) from this summer around midnight with 24h of running done. From there I was heading into some unknown parts as the Titanic Slam Edition of LEO180 features considerable different areas – especially in the part between km 140 and km 180.

And there it was: the real struggle. Unbearable sleeping attacks, parts where moving felt like being under tons of water, the freezing cold from outside and within, the upcoming wind and rain – pure horror. What to do with no decent place to sleep? With no support in this darkest moment? Zombie walking through the streets, standing around with no orientation staring into the wet darkness for minutes on end, several sleep stops barely covered with the emergency blanked trying to find some sleep in the rain. It was a clear DNF with more than enough reasons for a cry for help – for someone to pull me out of it and making it stop.

The worst. This was not even up to my usual standard. Apologies.

I somehow managed to sustain until 6 in the morning (although losing 2-3 h from the schedule within only 20 km) and Monica and Berry came with the car once more. Wow. Warm soup, warm coffee, some minutes of sleep inside the car, some humans to talk to. Here was the DNF chance but deep within I knew I had to continue and Monica and Berry were quite strict on that as well.

Finally the light came and with the light the assurance that the third darkness would come as well – with so much time lost in night number two. I ran into Sander who brought soup again around km 180 – how amazing was that. He even joined me for some km of „running“ towards the Loonse and Drunense Dunes. Sorry Sander that I was not the best partner for conversation but it was good to see a friendly human and hear some talking in this huge, dark, grey, empty and tired Brabant.

What felt like barely conscious I walked through the dunes and fought through to the city Haaren. Sunday weather was miserable – all grey, rain every other hour and not even getting really bright. Whatsoever. If there is misery usually someone just adds more misery. I did not care about anything anymore. And then everything felt like gone. All emotions, all power, all motivation, all the fight which brought me to Haaren at around km 200 was gone. I was empty but so deep within like never before. I entered the void. I knew I there was no medical emergency that would stop me from finishing, there was plenty of time as well – but what for? It was a frightening feeling: not seeing a sense or a reason in anything. Not even in reaching the finish. I slowly walked through the empty streets somehow not stopping to call for help. I took the phone out and called Maarten as we planned that to arrange and discuss the finish schedule. It was weird to discuss that: I knew that it was the correct moment to do that and justified as well but what in the hell would push me through the last 20 km?

And then I defeated the void. Not sure how, but I managed to find my emotions again. I did not care if they were good or bad – it was just good to feel anything. Anything to build-up fear or hope on, which then would lead to a little bit of adrenaline and finally to a little bit of running. Slowly I re-entered the world. That was a completely new experience. The last 15 km were the all-in again. I did not care about anything anymore but to approach the finish.

The back of the most famous sign in Brabant.

To finally end this dark horror. And after 42 hours and 15 minutes it was done. Maarten was there to pick me up and everything turned into a painful but shiny after run joy. We stayed awake for some more hours just to discuss running a bit, to enjoy friendship, to eat and drink.

Relief. I came back from a different place for exactly that moment.

It was a hell of a journey which would not have been possible without the support of Maarten, Monica, Berry and Sander and the possibility to take HQ for this foolish run at Maarten and Linda – thanks for the support and for having me. The Dutch Ultra Family was once more there when desperately needed.

I really like to sit, eat, chat and drink on that table somewhere in Goirle. But sometimes I just need to stand up and go for a LEO180 run. LEO180 is tough for a reason. That makes it unlikely to finish but interesting as well. Finishing LEO180 Titanic Slam Edition within 2021 also meant to finish the Titanic Slam itself. But that will be another story.

KATE180 2021

Veröffentlicht am 2. November 2021 von Pfadsucher

If you go for a run and come back with some nice memories… All is well.

What has been a failure last year, came to a happy end this year. KATE180 finally saw her first finishers. A group of 9 runners started off and 8 returned with finishing times between 36 and 45 hours.

The concept of KATE180 was to combine the beautiful and yet challenging area around the Rursee with some well-known tracks in the Hautes Fagnes area and connect both of these areas through nice trails to Aachen – to form a 205 km loop. The little downside of this concept and the actual trails behind is, that the distance of a Marathon on them is already exhausting enough. The second little challenge of running the combination in the proposed direction is, that the difficulty slightly increases by time. The longer you are on your feet the more draining the course gets.

The feedback on the track was satisfying – made for a special type of adventurers it really delivered what was needed for a memorable time out there. Most of the runners had to leave their comfort zone to reach the finish line – and appreciated it.

Luckily a support team consisting of Stefan Vilvo (car support from km 40 to km 100), Inga (car support at km 130) and Rainer (car support at km 162) helped the runners to stay in and fuelled. All runners have been extremely thankful for this amazing support! It has to be noted that the first group of runners (3 of the pack decided to actually run) did not benefit from this amazing support as they have been, well, too fast.

Stefan Vilvos Support Video

With the finish of KATE180 3 runners of the group also finished the Titanic Slam (finish 4 tracks between Halloween 2020 and Silvester 2021). The rest of the Slam attendees have one or more finishes left with two month time left to complete this little challenge.

Race report/post collection:

Marek – https://www.acceptnolimits.eu/killing-kate/
Martino – https://www.instagram.com/p/CVuYhHCoceDNFcDE2Qx_bcU8MlD2got1PnYE8E0/
Olav – https://www.instagram.com/p/CVyHHOtLdKR/
Maarten – https://www.acceptnolimits.eu/kate-2021-ouderwets-doorpakken-zoals-het-hoort

Duinhopper 2021

Veröffentlicht am 5. Oktober 2021 von Pfadsucher

A true journey changes those who are brave enough to travel wholeheartedly.

About:

The Duinhopper is a 220 km long GPX track provided by acceptnolimits.eu on the Duinhopper page. It covers the whole coast of the Netherlands between Hoek van Holland and Den Helder. How you organize yourself while running, how you manage this long distance is your problem – there is no further service provided. If you are interested in running this track – get in contact with the guys from acceptnolimits.eu and check out the above mentioned Duinhopper page for reports, hints and videos. The original Duinhopper is meant to be run in the winter time in the months January or February.

After the latest activities at the Dutch coast there has been an update post – see here:
En dan is er ineens weer ultra activiteit op het Duinhopper parcours.

The Plan:

While checking possible dates for long distance running weekends in 2021 we found the first weekend of October as one of the few possible options this year. As the Duinhopper is part of a private running challenge the decision on the course was easily made. We decided to keep our appearance on the coast secret until the very start of our run. For the fun and the surprise of it. As mentioned above the DH is normally meant to be run in winter but the challenge allows to differ from that. The final thing to do was logistics planning and it turned out that the best option we found is to park the car in the middle of the course at a train station (from where we could shuttle to the start and take a train back from finish line to the car as well). We decided to use the official parking at Driehuis train station which is 1,2 km off track but good connected via train and at km 120 of 220.

The travel to Driehuis by car and the train transfer to Hoek van Holland was horrible. We lost one hour in the traffic jams around Amsterdam and another hour because of a closed bridge (train just stopped and we had to wait for a transfer bus to the next station to pick-up another train). We finally announced to our running family what we were going to try and hit the start button on all our devices. Game on.

The First Night:

We started on Friday 1st of October at 21:37 – with the 48h time limit we had only one task: to reach the finish in Den Helder on Sunday 3rd of October before 21:37. Sounds like more than enough time considering that it is 220 km run.

We had light rain and some wind – but nothing too horrible. After a few hours the sky became clear and we had great running conditions. Within the first marathon the haven and boulevard of Scheveningen was probably the highlight of the night. Always amazing to enter civilization after hours of dark and calm nature. We made quite good progress and our first 15 min break around km 50 because we were quite tired. But sun was near.

The First Day:

Around km 50 the Dunes became more and more serious. The track does not alway uses existing patches – as with every great adventure: you need to walk your own path if you want to succeed. The sun was rising revealing the surrounding – and no kidding: we were amazed. What a beautiful coast. Km 50-99 cover a variety of different Dune areas – all of them different – all of them beautiful. Sometimes Savanna-like (a wide grassland full of animals) sometimes Sahara-like (sand) and sometimes covered with dwarfs (don’t ask). We had a blast. Not too fresh anymore, not fast but we had good weather and moments of pure unity with nature. We even stopped for the second 15 min break to take a nap in the sun. A dear was lying 5 meters away from us and stayed there as if he wanted to protect (or control) the sleepy Germans.

At the end of this stretch the next most welcomed surprise was waiting for us. Maarten and his car with some supply.

The news of us travelling along the coast was squeezed through the secret channels of the internet (we know we have to thank Maarten for a lot of work behind the scenes) and we were closely watched and supported by an amazing Dutch long distance running family. Maarten met us a second time at around km 103 – sending us on our last part to our car. He even found the time to shoot an amazing drone video:

Thanks to Maarten for this amazing shot!

The Second Night:

We reached the car at km 120 in the dark and in more and more intense rain. Long distance running reality hit us hard. All wet and freezing – changing clothes – repacking backs – trying to dry the feet a bit – eat something – finally a sleep in the warm car. The moment the alarm clock rang was so absurd. Kind of warm and dry sitting in a car looking into what was now clearly more than light rain and wind… In these moments: if you have any doubts don’t speak about it. We both were thinking the same about what would be reasonable to do but consequently did the opposite of it. I think we can agree that we do not want to speak about that second night. Luckily we managed to move a little, luckily the hardest rain and wind stopped after a few hours, luckily we were wise and brave enough to split up (after all these years of running we did this the first time) and luckily even the darkest and wettest night has to end. Even in the hardest moments with your best friend you have to stay rational and make wise decisions. Both of us were fighting different battles – and we did this alone. Pushed by the hope that it would be beneficial for a united finish. At the end of the night we were joined by Addie and Margret and had another section of great support. Can’t thank you enough!

The Second Day:

The first daylight of day 2 revealed the Dunes around Schoorl. A nice hit in the face. And, even more horrible, the last 9 km of real Dunes down to the beach. Exhausted, hopelessness, slightly unconscious and zombie-walking through the endless hills. It. Must. End. So pissed about the Dunes at that moment. But finally – the Beach – and another family member: Francois. Three figures shuffling on the beach. Absurd feeling. Would this endless beach really bring us to Den Helder? Still 38 km to go – long hours of „running“ ahead. But we were still in, we had support and we had hope. We met Francois´ car at km 191 and 204 – great to have something to hold on. It felt like no progress at all sometimes but slowly we were approaching.

The Final:

We left the beach 12km before the finish line. From now on it would be cycling/walking paths through mild Dunes followed by the last long grass part on the dike of Den Helder. Completely exhausted the final relief was slowly approaching. We would really do it. Together with this certainty the sun was back. Some unforgettable km up there in North Holland. Painful but happy moments.

The FB call from our running family was the ultimate sign – we did it. And off course we were not alone – Francois came with beer. I mean: how great was that.

The numbers:

225,66 km; 45:35h; 2600D+; 50% TS

The Shoutout:

Maarten, Addie, Margret, Francois, Stefan, all members of the TS group – one for all, all for one! Fantastic long distance family!

BjöTiFul 50 2021

Veröffentlicht am 29. August 2021 von Pfadsucher

Antworten

Back in 2015 we created a track inspired by the group run „Rund um Aachen“. We thought: the concept is nice but why not extend the loop a bit to include some of the more „interesting“ parts of the areas.

In 2015 we did not find the time and the endurance to actually run the whole loop. We did the first and the second half and even DNFed the second half because we knew that the last 14k are somewhat traily and difficult. This has been finally corrected. It was amazing to run a 6 year old GPX, share old memories of the parts, acknowledge the fact that if would create it these days it would be totally different. Lots of surprises – lots of throw-backs. All in all the track is very diverse and includes all available surroundings. Mens-high thornes, nettles and grass, traily trails (we saw some parts of mAMa) and some parts where running is possible as well. The weather played its part nicely as well and flooded us especially in the second half regulary (which did not improve the trail conditions).

It was good to be out there again – we enjoyed the views!

DNF LEO180 2021

Veröffentlicht am 4. Juli 2021 von Pfadsucher

Next to all the stories, myths and legends about crossing borders and pushing limits there are also these moments where your are so far away that you simply need to accept your failure and identify your mistakes.

Nevertheless – it was great to meet and connect – to discuss and to plan. Thanks for supporting and hosting me.

Rivers of Hautes Fagnes

Veröffentlicht am 6. Juni 2021 von Pfadsucher

Antworten

Always fascinating to to leave or enter the high plateau of Hautes Fagnes through one of the countless river valleys with their unique atmosphere.

The overwhelming sound of water in these small canyons. Not a single spot of ground without mud, water, roots or stones. Every part of your body and mind focused on the technical details. Not a single easy step. A special kind of horror in situations where you have already been running for a long period of time or are still recovering from the last adventure. If you happen to enter these parts in dark, wet and misty nights the setting is perfect. Throw back UTDS+ or Legends Trail. Lovely moments.

The power and beauty of nature are so close in these narrow canyons. The central nervous system of the Ardenne Bleue – the bridge between Hautes Fagnes and the more serious climbings further down there.

To top this – there is still Hautes Fagnes waiting on the upper end of these stretches. Alway amazing – especially during the hours of dawn and early morning. Worth every effort.

La Statte – Lookout 1 mi upstream of the parking.

#iceberg42 2021

Veröffentlicht am 25. Mai 2021 von Pfadsucher

The idea was born and grew within several chats on various platforms during the 2020 summer – impossible to nail it down to one single conversation. It had something to do with: we still need a fourth run for our challenge – let’s do something with loops – what about a bit of elevation gain? At the end The Iceberg track was born. It was a co-production of acceptnolimits.eu and pfadsucher.com which more and more turns into a fruitful collaboration.

If you wonder about the name „Iceberg“ of the run – well, that is a different story. To be told one day. Maybe. Different platforms show different values on the actual track lengths but we agreed to make it 100 mi. At the end (during the race) we decided that this means 42 loops.

Hard to describe the running itself. At the beginning (first 5-8 loops) it was really enjoyable. You run up and then down again where you find your car parked and packed with all the supply you would possible need. And then you do that again. And again.

And again.

Slowly but surely you enter in a different dimension of time and meaning. There are two numbers you keep an eye on: loop time of the current loop and the total loop count (at the beginning you count up, at the end you count down). Everything else vanishes behind a blurry curtain. Because nothing else matters. To continue is the key, no matter what. The focus on the loop was extreme after a while. Every step felt like automatic. At the end you look on a root or a stone or a puddle in the focus of your headlamp and know immediately if you better use your right or your left foot, where exactly you need to place your poles and how much strength you need to manage that step. An extraordinary level of details are burned-in your head.

Really difficult to describe. We had all kind of weathers (expect snow) and the course really suffered. At the end it was a muddy, slippery, horrible steep something we were climbing up and down again and again. What keeps you moving? I heard different explanations during these two days in Coo but you need to find your own answer by trying to finish. If you manage to find something that pushes you enough you may be one of the happy few lunatics.

50% done!
Everesting!
Finish!

After 41h and 27m it was done. 168 km (my GPS jumped somewhere) and 11.213 m of elevation gain. An interesting experience. Thanks to all who finished, tried to and supported – it was a really intense 48h time period on this parking lot in Coo and we will tell the story a lot in the future. Next time we go there we better visit the theme park over there and take the ropeway to visit the tower. Or we directly jump to the part of drinking a beer together.

Here are some runalyze.com exports of the run data:

A nice description of the loop included in the race report of Marek can be found here.

25% done.

HWW5 – Wald Wasser Wildnis Weg

Veröffentlicht am 10. April 2021 von Pfadsucher

Antworten

Die Geschichte ist schnell erzählt. Falscher letzter Zug. Gestrandet in Kall – sowas ist immer ärgerlich. Um das Gemünd zu beruhigen schnell am dortigen Nationalparktor vorbeigeschaut und dann auf dem schnellsten Weg zurück zu einem frequentierten Bahnhof. Das war in dem Fall Langerwehe – perfekt zu erreichen über den Hauptwanderweg 5 des Eifelvereins von Gemünd nach Langerwehe. Elegant.

Nachts allein im starken Dauerregen war die erste Hälfte ereignisarm. Mit ca. 2 Meter Sichtweite im kalten Regen war es so eine der Passagen in der der Genuss ganz im Vordergrund steht. Scheinbar muss man auf jeder Tour durch die Nordeifel einmal nach Schmidt hoch – warum auch immer. Sonst waren große Teile der Strecke bekannt vom Wildnistrail und dem Nord-Eifel-Ultra von Stefan. Also schnell durch und ab in den Zug in Langerwehe.

Wald – auf jeden Fall, Wasser – reichlich von oben, Wildnis – vermutlich war ich verantwortlich für 100% der Mobilitätsdaten in der Nordeifel in dieser Nacht. Allein und doch beäugt von zahllosen Augen zwischen den Bäumen inmitten gleichgültig fallenden kalten Tropfen.

Damit ist der nächste der Hauptwanderwege des Eifelvereins abgehakt!

pfadsucher.com

long distance running

Archiv der Kategorie: Laufberichte

Montane Legends Trail 2022 – thoughts

Gefällt mir:

Titanic Slam Results

Gefällt mir:

LEO180 2021 – The Void

Gefällt mir:

KATE180 2021

Gefällt mir:

Duinhopper 2021

Gefällt mir:

BjöTiFul 50 2021

Gefällt mir:

DNF LEO180 2021

Gefällt mir:

Rivers of Hautes Fagnes

Gefällt mir:

#iceberg42 2021

Gefällt mir:

HWW5 – Wald Wasser Wildnis Weg

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