Simple rules are always great. So the challenge from cockbainevents.com must be brilliant:
But, well. Turned out that there are some twists to it. I was absolutely unprepared for the fact that there are months not offering a 50 miler per default. Race months fine – don’t even need to to think about them. But what about the others? Strange. Another striking finding was that 50 mi are kind-of-longer compared to a standard long run (around Marathon). And, even more surprisingly, substantially longer. Like almost double – a distance which requires some determination to get it done outside of races.
Taking all that together this challenges requires just as much determination, dedication, consistency and grid to make it unpleasant. And I think that’s exactly what Mark had in mind. All is well. Clear recommendation. Its just that tiny amount of uneasiness that makes it extremely annoying.
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!
The sunrise of a winter sun during one of those longer adventures is a delicate thing. After 13 to 15 hours of darkness it should bring delight, joy, hope and a lot of other positive feelings – but this does not work properly while running.
Sunrises are beautiful and winter sunrises are amongst the most beautiful ones. The low angle of the sun above the horizon, the blazing hard winter skies sometimes mixed with dark black clouds – amazing.
And yet it feels distant – it feels like something behind a curtain. The hope it should bring feels weakened and faint, the joy it should bring is fragile and the offer of hope is misleading. On the one hand its overwhelming to welcome the sun again – its heartbreaking beautiful – yet, on the other hand, it belongs to a distant and somehow different reality. Its not meant for us – its meant for them. We can’t afford to truly focus on and happily dive into those feelings. We need the energy to endure and to carry on on our adventure. Every tiny bit of energy needs to be channeled into the mission to not give up – to not fail.
The sun during one of those glistening winter days feels hart and cold. Spreading all that lights on the surfaces we are used to seen in 2D LED-cones feels like wasted. All that beauty, all these wonderful reflections on all those wet surfaces are so astounding that its hart to stand. But those are not meant for us. A quick picture for social media and for the time being when the run is over is the max we can afford.
And then the sunset closes in. Way too early – as if we had known it from the beginning that this whole sun show was a big fraud. Showing the beauty of life to some but not to us. Luring us into false positive emotions.
But then – „finally“ – darkness rises once more. Bringing back the hopelessness.
After the pandemic years 2021 and 2022 with the two Slams (Titanic Slam in 2021 and Marvel Slam in 2022) it was finally time to get back to a „normal“ schedule in 2023. Whatever that would mean.
February 2023: As a kind of tradition the long-distance running year started with the Legends Trail in February 2023. It was the usual fight with the elements and with the own body – but at the end it was finish #3 at the third attempt. Maintaining the 100%. Its a race hard to describe but the final thoughts from my race report in February summarize the 280k of emotions quite well:
And then the moments were there. The moments I envisioned before and during the race – the moments I came for. Not just a usual Monday – the Legends Trail Monday. All efforts of the past long hours were meant to reach exactly this: the final 10k of Legends Trail with enough time that the finish is safe. As if nature wanted to join the party a glistening sun flooded the hills of the final stretch. It’s a bit like dream walking. Shook by the emotions of the upcoming finish. Deeply connected to the surroundings. Unbelievable thankful for being able to reach that point and to be part of this story once more. One of the last hills brought a nice view and standing there in the warm sun was an amazing feeling. It could have last forever but it was not done yet. There was a finish waiting, there were people waiting – time to ultimately finish it off – time to also tick-off the last kilometres of Legends Trail 2023.
LT 2023 – The Bus. The Walk. The Paradise.
March 2023: As a Legends Trail cool-down I decided to enter the flat 24h race in Sittard. A nice and boring course – no excuses at hand for any break. I secretly hoped for a PB (>166k; something in the range of 180k should be doable for I hope) but at the end there was still some tiredness in the body so the mind could not push and required some breaks. I DNFed with a 100 mi attempt – at least the minimum goal was achieved.
April-June 2023: In April we seized the chance to test out the new hiking trail Venntrilogie, in May we met for a running weekend in Sauerland and finally the first Backyard of 2023 in June – the Biber Backyard Ultra. Tough track for a backyard and mind and body were not really ready that day so it ended early.
July 2023: Summer. Usually a time unsuited for running. But it was time to collect another long distance and the Schinder Prison Break offered a new format for me and a new chance for some decent running. Even better: as it was an escape running event it involved a lot of planning of the best track on the computer before it even started. Something I really love. The event itself was a great journey. The first night I was alone with my backpack but then I was accompanied by a great crew. The greatest crew. Car support, running without backpack, meeting my friends. It made running in the heat much more comfortable (although it was still a real torture). 48h of escaping and 241k – it was a nice adventure.
Prison Break 2023 – without crew you can’t conquer the desert!
August 2023: Another transition month – connecting two long events. The home event – the Monschau Marathon – offered a good chance to squeeze in a long run. I never ran the K70 distance before and with a midnight start in Aachen it nicely added up to a 100k training run.
September 2023: Showtime again. This time further away from home and for the first time in the lovely Vosges region in France. 200k Infernal Trail des Vosges was a well organized event. A bit too big and too commercial compared to what I usually run but a great team and great supporters at start/finish and the various CPs. A midnight start with a burning Infernal logo, a really spicy track, over 10k D+ of elevation gain and a brutiful landscape. On top of this – again hot weather. A tough one – 50 hours of fighting and it was done. It was satisfying to see that these things are doable backed with the experience of the last years. All in all a great trip – thanks to Claudia for the support.
The Vosges@Infernal Trail des Vosges
October-December 2023: The final period of the year. Plans were made and could not executed. As an alternative and to get another long run in I chose another hiking track which is fairly new on the map of NRW and in a region I’ve never been before. It was a nice run on the Hohe Mark Steig but also pretty lonely and tough in a most of the time empty stretch of land.
In total 5×100 mi+ runs in 2023 – 2 less compared to 2022. Around 3800 km in 2023 – also less km compared to 2022. 72k of D+ in 2023 in total. A difficult year in many aspects but a year with great moments while running and some rare shared moments with good friends.
Date
Time
[km]
#
Legends Trail 2023
17.02.2023
66h 56m
275,00
31
24h Sittard 2023
18.03.2023
24h 0m
163,00
32
Schinder Prison Break 48h 2023
07.07.2023
48h 0m
241,59
33
Infernal Trail des Vosges 2023
07.09.2023
50h 14m
215,80
34
Hohe Mark Steig 2023
01.11.2023
28h 36m
161,00
35
Sum
1262h 29m
6.676
Average
36h 4m
190,75
Updated List of Ultras – +5 in 2023
Statshunter as of December 2023 #tilehunter
The picture of the year can only be the one below – curious what 2024 may bring?!
An often discussed question while comparing different distance running tasks is: what is more difficult? The only true answer is – it does not matter.
But lets have a look into the various factors which can contribute to difficulty and what they may/should/can mean – or at least: what they mean to me while striving:
Support. Clearly this is a nice to have. Really. It helps a lot to see friendly faces esp. if their supply bottles are full. On the other hand this distracts you. Breaks your rhythm. And no matter how desperate you were waiting for those moments of relieve – at the end they are dangerous. Offering you a possibility for an easy way out. A quick DNF. You cool down (body and mind) quite fast and its getting more and more difficult to get back into it the longer you rest. To leave those nice folks to continue is getting more and more brutal.
Race Atmosphere. Also great. A lot of people source all of their energy from the competition. But to be dependent from this does not help at all. What if you end up in these useless and nonsense adventures you do with a bunch of friends. There is no one competing. No one to run to or away from. Sometimes no one is following what you are doing. What drives you then? What is THE motivation to finish although its stupid? I overcame this a long time ago. I can envision an entry into an excel sheet, a Garmin badge or the chat entry into a group of idiots as my reward and grade it equally high as an official finish at a race. I would have stopped a million times if I needed a race around me (I still enjoy the atmosphere though).
Other Runners. Also a nice thing. Even better if its friends during one of the stupid long adventure runs. On the other hand its not only you then. A certain percentages of their problems become yours as well. If the other(s) DNF what are you going to do? Will you have the guts or will you fall as well? So to be able to manage everything alone is essential. Maybe esp. in the moments where you are not alone. Because everything can happen.
CPs. Similar to support. Really nice. A warm, cozy and safe place if you are lucky. Some food. Friendly people. So why not stay for good? So many runners couldn’t resist the comfort. So enter the door carefully. Brace yourself. Make sure to remain a cold, distant and not belonging atmosphere deep inside you. While eating through delicious Tortellini with ham, cheese and pesto (credits to CP4@LT – you are amazing!) be clear to yourself: your destiny is that dark world outside of that door. All too soon you will need to face the hell again.
Conditions. Nothing to say here really: its the same for everyone. Of course that is a strange statement when its only the two of you out there on that ferry in Ijmuiden with rain and wind howling and punching your face. Its around 4°C but feels like freezing. Its the middle of the night and every human on earth is safely sleeping. But. So? Its the same for everyone. Just shout it often enough into that night until it makes you laugh or believe. Whatever. It does not matter.
At the end it should be crystal clear: it does not matter. Not at all.
What drives me at the end is shear determination. Determination to get the task done. What else would have made me finish?
That one LEO180 at the end of night 2 – alone for what felt like days. With a bad ankle. It hurt quite a bit and although nothing serious it was immensely annoying. I stuffed frozen gras into my socks to cool. Then I met a surprise support which felt nice until I realised that the promised Coke was empty. There I stood. Too far from finish to dream with enough issues for a solid DNF. With my no coke face. But I started to realize that I should accept all my issues. Welcome them. Collect them. Wear them like an invisible crown. Make them my little treasures and make it my task to deliver them to the finish.
That other LEO180. This time it was the two of us. After a horrible second night we were left with 60k and 10h of time limits. Moving with 4-5 km/h. A clear DNF – 0% chance to finish. Both of us were at the very low. But B. came up with a little game. We should run 6k starting from the full hour without any excuses and stops and were then allowed to walk the rest of the hour. We finished with 50min spare.
There are tons of more moments like this – you will find them in all those report across that page. Letting the demons and problems being a part of you has been THE essential thing to get it done. Each and every situation was too much to endure – the relieve of resistance and finally finishing is a priceless reward.
The Hohe Mark Steig is the main hiking route in the Naturpark Hohe Mark. Its a pretty recent addition to the hiking trail network and was opened during Corona times. Next to the main route there are tons of shorter side/theme/connection trails. The 6 main stages of the #hohemarksteig from Wesel to Olfen add up to roughly 140k (I started at the train station in Wesel). There is an extra section called „Wasserroute“ looping back from Olfen to Haltern am See. All in all it added up to somewhat around 160k – and we all know what that means.
As it was a last minute decision I parked the car in Haltern to be able to have one supply/safe spot after 94k and a secured ride home. After the usual DB experience in the trains between Haltern and Wesel I start around noon from Wesel.
Here is the story of the run:
As a start into the run season with very view CPs I decided to go all in with gear. This means 3-4 L of liquid, 1-2 kg food, a bag of additional/replacement clothing, first aid equipment, a certain amount (ok a rather generous amount) of electronic (power banks/cable). All in all with backpack 10-12 kg.
The Hohe Mark Steig connects like a band the interesting areas in the Naturpark Hohe Mark. As there is a lot of connection needed long stretches of the Hohe Mark Steig are broad and straight forest/open field stretches. Also lots of km following canals/rivers both „on Deich“ as well as on asphalt are included. This is worth mentioning for the pure trail guys – nothing for you. The best description would be the german race category „Landschaftslauf“. All in all a wide open, empty and flat area and the Hohe Mark Steig connects it well. The smaller areas like the Venn part at the beginning the Hohe Mark forest as well as „Die Haard“ forest are nice to visit (for whatever reason some of them were pretty dark so don’t ask for too many details – I may have missed them). If you are interested in visiting the area but not interested in running it all I would plan 2-3 loop tours starting in Haltern covering Die Haard, Hohe Mark and the lake area. Should be easy to squeeze those day tours out of Hohe Mark Steig and all of those connection trails/theme routes. Also Wesel and the Venn area would make a nice day hike. Lastly to those real ultra runners: go grab an FKT. With support this should be a really fast 100 miler!
I took it easy trying to enjoy the environment as much as doable. Tried to reset the tiredness with a one hour car break from 0230-0330 in the night – repacked food and water as well and started on the last stretch.
All in all a nice little adventure. The feeling of remoteness, endless nights and disconnection with the world is back. Tempted to say finally. It´s the love and hate relationship between real discomfort and the feeling of wandering beyond which defines distance running for me.
Few more pictures:
General Remarks:
Last not least: the marking is really good for 98% of the way. Very view sections are not perfect. The marking did not match the GPX to 100% as well – but this may be my mistake. Also there – its really close and not a big deal. Only those who zoom in on their devices would notice. One thing though: they build up new shelters along the – many of them. Which is great. BUT: there is nothing in – only a small board at the back where you can stand/lean/sit sort of thing. NO bank to properly sit and sleep. I mean – that is clearly a missed opportunity. The official banks you find plenty along the way are nice and purple but only designed so that two people can sit on them. Most of them have no back and are way to short to lay down. Can it be that they are not meant to sleep on? Can’t be or?
Change of plans. Instead of the planned long run it will be a shorter edition starting tomorrow around noon. Exploring the Hohe Mark Steig (https://www.hohe-mark-steig.de).
By following the live-scoring of the individual Championships of Backyard Running (aka. Big Dog´s Backyard Ultra) which may or may bot approximately half-way of what everyone think could be the limit – there is an interesting terminology to be found on that tracking page.
In normal ultra races there are usually three things which can happen apart from finishing:
DNS: Did Not Start/Showaka „something went wrong and that’s why I couldn’t come“
DSQ: Disqualifiedaka „oops“
DNF: Did Not Finishaka „‚something‚ happened along the way which, unfortunately, made me diverge from the initial plan of finishing. You know. Well. Fuck.“
The Backyard family added three more detailed sub-levels to DNF – among them one really great one. Those three sub-levels are:
OVER: Backyard-specific expression of finishing (a loop) but over the given time limit of one hour per loop.
DNC: Did Not Complete loop. Well – it says quite clearly what it is. But in an honoring way. Its not a simple DNF – it values somehow the runner who had the guts to start the (most of the time) hopeless try to complete another loop. To go out another time. To fight the overwhelming task.
And then there is:
RTC: Refuse To Continue. And I mean: wow. Its not a simple DNF – its an RTC. A REFUSE to continue. Its a different and way more intense expression of a delicate situation. We all know runners (incl. ourselves) and their (our) various reasons and explanations of why they (we) did not finish a certain run/race. But the deeper story behind most of those „stories“ is nicely summarized by the expression: RTC. Because at the end – whomever/whatever we are blaming for our failure – the reason of discontinuing is mostly to be found within ourselves. The strong inner voice, the strong outside discomforts, the whatever – it is our decision and its an active one. We actively refuse to go further because in front of us lays the uncertain beyond, even more misery or whatever makes us pull the easy option. The way out. The instant relief.
And by that I don’t mean to underestimate any effort taken nor want to criticise any RTC. It never comes easy and may be the better/safer/more reasonable/healthier option in many cases.
But still. Did Not Finish is a fact. REFUSE TO CONTINUE requires an active decision. A decision which could have been a different one. It feels like it leaves the door to continue a tiny bit open. Some would say both expressions are the same and technically that’s true. On the other hand – its a completely different view on the things – a view only those can understand who really dealt with certain circumstances…
Next time casualties arise I will try to remember – try to make myself clear that its me, and only me, who is making an active decision to not continue. It will certainly make the decision more difficult and by that hopefully pushing me beyond that point.
„We don’t have enough stories to tell in the dark nights anymore – we used them up already.“
As if the #fenix wanted to confirm the waves of dark premonitions it gave the daily notification: „30 min to sunset„. Just like that. The darkness was approaching. It was bound to happen and yet – even after all these years – it came as an unpleasant guest to an already demanding party.
Nights are an unavoidable part of long distance running events. And they are a fascinating part of the game. By time and experience one gets used to most of the things happening but the interesting thing is – no matter how good one is in controlling the night challenges – it still can change the run/race dramatically. To name a few unwanted things bound to happen in those dark hours:
loss of the desire to eat and drink (which will reduce the performance dramatically if the regular drink/eat schedule is neglected)
even with enough food intake: the stomach will revolt on one point – too full or too empty or kind of right on spot – its just not made for 24h processing
no matter how good the beginning of the night may feel – the dead hours are usually those between 0300 and 0600
even with some sleep breaks – it gets a bit better but there is ultimately no escape from serious sleep deprivation side effects
with more than one nights in a run those nights are most of the times different – either they are getting increasingly worse or your body tricks you with a solid second night after a horrific first but is secretly planning on a third night disaster
the light cone of your headlamp will delete most of the third dimension from the world and will reduce your being to this small path of LED-lid surface
re-starting running after a safety-blanket-power-nap (#sbpn) really is the worst – all that shivering stiffness – takes some minutes of jogging to shake it off
despite the experience that talking/discussing is THE key for a bearable night performance – most of the time its ending up with running next to another lacking the energy to talk: silently grinding in the dark
f*** those stones really look like animals are there humans between those trees over there – silently staring? wow look – a sheltered place to finally sleep a bit: oh wait – its just some trees… climbing these steep trails is a really really bad idea in dark nights now everything is moving on the edge of LED circle what are those animal eyes staring at? is this dusk or just the emission of yet another distant city we are just so fucked-up and lonely in this ocean of darkness
And yet: the night is dark for everyone. All of the others (if any) will need to endure parts of the above. Its just another challenge. Another hurdle to overcome. And it offers a possibility to make a difference. By not losing the battle against the demons and making it to the other end of the night there is a fair chance of gaining. Gaining some meters compared to the others, gaining some experience in endurance, gaining some places in the ranking compared to those who lost their nightly battles. It anyways feels like a lost battle at night – so its exactly the right time to push as good as possible.
And finally the #fenix again: „30 min til sunrise„. Adrenalin – followed by more adrenaline at the moment where light is fully back. For some glorious moments the world is whole and light again. Walking feels like running and all tiredness is forgotten for good. All too soon the hormones are used up and the suffering is back. But hey – its another day – its some decent hours of light – its some hope. Some hope to use as energy – until the sun sets again…
It was one of the moments I realized what I would be facing – in the first night approaching a climb I saw headlamps. But not somewhere in front of me but literally ABOVE me. I stopped for a moment hoping it was the moon or some bright stars shining through the trees but no: those were cleary moving LEDs. Seconds later the crawl started.
L´ Infernal Trail des Vosges is an (ultra) trail race in the Vosges mountains in the North-East of France. Covering distances from 15 to 200k this event is for everyone. And apparently everyone accepts the invite. The tiny town Saint-Nabord turns into a huge trail running festival for a whole really long weekend in September (2023 was the 15th edition of the event). Some of the shorter distances have more than 500 participants – a whole runners village/expo is built up – a sound system, light shows, fire work – you name it. Normally nothing I desperately hope for but the vibe was great – festival feeling. 700+ volunteers work relentlessly to run the village and all CP along the course. Although you don’t get anywhere with English they do their best to care about you and whatever which you may have. Big shoutout to orga/volunteers – this was an amazing job. Magnifique!
Luckily the #IT200 as the longest race starts first – so the hustle and bustle was not too bizarre at the start. I am lucky to have great friends and could take the train to Freiburg where I was picked-up and brought to the start (and picked-up after the finish on Sunday). What a service – thank you! Midnight start is not my favourite kind of thing as it just adds more sleep deprivation to the story. We arrived in Saint-Narbord 3 hours before start – enough time to place the drop-backs, check the backpack, make it through the kit check into the huge start area to wait for the start.
What a start it was. After a few probably useful information in French which I did not understand we were ask to quiet down and epic music was played culminating in the countdown to start. A proper firework, more music and a burning L´ Infernal logo sent us off into the Vosges night – pretty emotional for a start.
Although I obviously checked the track, the total distance and the elevation gain quite a bit upfront to the race I was unsure how this would actually feel in reality. The first climb made one thing really clear: it was going to be brutal. From the LegendsTrails runs I am used to ridiculous climbing but the Vosges are higher and steeper compared to the Ardennes. Overall it was a bit less technical (e.g. there is no Ourthe part in IT200) – but only a tiny bit. There were Mountainbike parks, ski slopes, senseless up and down on small rivers, straight and direct climbs with more than 30% slope – both up and down. In summary: a real brutal and pure ultra experience. And it never stopped – there was no mercy with the runners at all. One hit after the other. Something which drains you both physically and mentally until you are stripped-down to your core with nothing left. To continue in this stage is what ultra is all about. On top of this the weather added another difficulty with bright and sunny days with 30°C on Friday and even a bit hotter on Saturday. Heat can be a real problem. Nothing you need on top of the above described.
On the other hand: Vosges – how beautiful are you? Superb landscape, fantastique views! Not too many people out there – a perfect area. It was a great journey through those valley and over all those hills/mountains.
The checkpoints provided the needed breaks from all of that. In addition to the CP there were some unmanned water points dividing difficult stretches – well organized. Always enough water and supply at hand even in hot conditions (although there were stretches where I consumed 2L of water). The strategy for me could only be: stay focused and don’t do mistakes. So I set the watch timer to one hour and took a salt pill every hour and made sure to drink enough. This saved me from heat damage and worked really well in the given conditions. The rest was the usual fight. There were dark moments with lowered motivation, there were critical situation especially in the third night (unstable running, deadly tiredness, loss of focus, being chased by hornets) – but I was awaiting and embracing them and therewith taking their force away. At a few checkpoints I closed my eyes for 10-15 min each: this helped to ease the moments of fatigue so that I did not need to sleep on trail.
Overall everything worked-out as well as I could possibly hope for. Crossing the finish line at 0214 in the third night after 50h and 14 min of travelling through the Vosges was a great relieve.
A nice finisher hoodie, a worn empty bottle of coke were the rewards of yet another great, rough and truly ultra experience.
Clear recommendation for everyone who wants to push beyond. Be warned – the elevation is really extraordinary outside of the real mountains.
not even complete – @runalyze gave it climb score of 10 🙂
