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 VideoOverview of KATE180s elevation gain
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.
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.
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.
The start
The start
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.
Lights all along the coast…
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.
Sunrise
A bit of rain/bow
Dutch Savanna
WTF
WTF2
WTF3
Better watch them Germans
Endless grassland
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:
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!
Some rain again – km 175 Schoorl
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 most dangerous lighthouse!
[…]
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.
Duinhopper 2021 – job done!
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!
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!
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.
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.
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.
The Iceberg
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.
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!
Zum anstehenden Wochenende eine kurze Tour – dieses Mal der Hauptwanderweg 8 des Eifelvereins: der Hüttenweg. 40 km von Lucherberg nach Breinig. Von Aachen aus ist das sehr einfach abzuhaken: für 3 Stationen in den Zug nach Langerwehe und nach einer 3 km Anreise beginnt schon der Hauptwanderweg.
Indemann
Wie immer gut beschildert!
Wir werden diesen westlichsten Nord-Süd-Hauptwanderweg als dunkel und windig in Erinnerung behalten. Der Indemann und das Braunkohlekraftwerk Weisweiler prägen 2/3 des Weges – passend zur Geschichte der Region und zur Geschichte dieses Hauptwanderweges. Die Strecke ist nicht allzu anspruchsvoll und hat wenige Höhenmeter. Damit eignet es sich bestens für eine kurze Tour gerade auch wegen der guten Anbindung.
Damit ist der nächste der Hauptwanderwege des Eifelvereins abgehakt!
Eine doch sehr schöne und teils auch recht unterhaltsame Aktion ist beendet. Veranstaltende, Vereine und Supporter von 4 Aachener Laufveranstaltungen haben angesichts der anhaltenden Corona-Situation vom 28.11.2020 bis 28.02.2021 eine Ausgleichsmöglichkeit für das Laufen im Aachener Stadtgebiet angeboten. Ein Bluetooth Start-und Ziel-Turm samt Anleitung wurde aufgestellt und das Prinzip war denkbar einfach: App herunterladen, registrieren, vor jedem Lauf zwischen zwei Distanzen wählen (4,6 oder 9,2 km standen bei einer Rundenlänge von 2,3 km zur Auswahl) und nach dem Lauf die Zeit hochladen – Aachen Läuft eben.
Darüber hinaus wurde das Startgeld für die Aktion gespendet, weitere Spenden konnten getätigt werden und spendable Sponsoren haben immer wieder für nette Zwischen-Challenges Preise für die Laufenden bereit gestellt. Eine schöne Sache.
Ob der anhaltenden Pause offizieller Veranstaltungen nutzte ich diese Gelegenheit um einige längere Läufe auf der Runde zu absolvieren. Insgesamt sind 611,8 km in ca. 81 Stunden zusammen gekommen was 266 Runden um den Hangeweiher entspricht. Die Wochenleistungen bei Aachen Läuft sahen dabei wie folgt aus:
KM/KW bei Aachen Läuft
Ich bin also hauptsächlich im Dezember 2020 am Hangeweiher gewesen – mit der 100 Meilen Aktion am kalten 08. und 09. Januar 2021 als Höhepunkt und längstem Lauf (24 Stunden Laufzeit). Insgesamt wurde es der zweite Gesamtrang was die Gesamtkilometerleistung betraf – hinter einer unfassbar lauffreudigen Nummer 1. Irgendwie haben wir uns beide in der Überschrift des abschließenden Zeitungsartikel wiedergefunden. Tatsächlich haben wir gemeinsam die ein oder andere Runde gedreht und haben uns gegenseitig supported – es war mir ein Fest!
Jeder kennt das – man kommt mit dem Zug irgendwo an und ist sich nicht sicher warum genau man aufgebrochen ist und, noch viel schlimmer, wie man wieder zurück kommen soll. Da bleibt dann nur noch eins: einfach loslaufen. Gesagt, getan. Am Freitag den 26.02.2021 um kurz vor 22 Uhr sind wir am HBF in Bonn aufgebrochen um nach Haus zu laufen und ins Wochenende starten zu können. Ein entspannendes und ruhiges Wochenende ist immer eine gute Sache.
Es zeigte sich: dieser quasi „Feierabendweg“ ist durchaus schon seit längerem bekannt und in Benutzung. Naja – zumindest ist er in Anlehnung an einen historischen Vorgang benannt: der Krönungsweg. Hauptwanderweg 10 aka. der nördlichste Ost-West-Weg des Eifelvereins.
Über den gesamten Verlauf stets gut beschildert wäre dieser Weg im ersten Drittel vielleicht noch für historische Kutschen geeignet gewesen (eher flach, breitere teils asphaltierte Wege und eher urban), zeigt jedoch ab dem zweiten Drittel langsam aber sicher das wunderschöne aber doch fordernde Gesicht der Nordeifel. Insgesamt eine abwechslungsreiche Tour die meist gut zu laufen ist und nur einen kleinen Trail-Anteil enthält.
Nach einer sehr müden und als sehr kalt empfundenen Nacht hatten wir das Glück ab dem Morgen und ca. der Hälfte der insgesamt 140 km Stefan Vilvo mit seinem zum VP umgebauten Auto begrüßen zu dürfen. Mit diesem Support auf der gesamten zweiten Laufhälfte konnte dann nichts mehr schief gehen. Wir mussten uns nur noch auf eine Sache konzentrieren: in Bewegung bleiben. Tausend Dank Stefan!
Zu zweit und doch nicht allein. Stefan Vilvo kam mit dem VP-Auto und der Kamera. Danke dafür! Fotos von Stefan.
Wo Stefan ist – ist seine Kamera nicht weit. Besten Dank für eine tolle Ausgabe Eifelimpressionen. Wenn da nur nicht ständig diese zwei Typen durch die Landschaft schleichen würden…
