Starting a Legends Trail always means that an awful lot of things are uncertain. Especially with this year’s prolonged edition more variables entered the game and with them the need to somehow prepare for their possible consequences. While thinking these new variable through one thing became quite clear – there is no chance to prepare as factors like: running a fourth night has simply never happened before. So what to do? What to plan? At the end I couldn’t really prepare anything special for the extra distance – I trusted somewhat my experience and had some ideas in my mind regarding my food strategy to help me through one more night. One idea was a pretty simple one: try to avoid gels as long as possible and switch them in with their full effect at night four.
Prior to a Legends Trail there are tons of things to be sorted out, to buy, to pack – luckily this is by now a well-known routine. The more important part is to me to prepare mentally – to collect memories and thoughts and a to develop a strong need and visualization of the finish itself. With the reveal of the course a week before start everything finally became real. And with a look on the course I started to really look forward to the event. All the well-known and loved parts of all previous editions in – a big loop full of LT and Ardennes finest. Something I really hoped for in advance. As I like to take a very detailed look on every course upfront a race (which sometimes drives other people crazy) I noticed a second thing: the course was not as hard as it could have been. The micro-design left certain horrors out, avoided some steep climbs/decents and skipped some offtrail sections we had in the past Legends Trails. So all in all a beautiful design which would be hard because of the longer distance – but see from a Legends Trails course perspective: the course was longer but easier compared to previous years editions. Could it be doable with decent weather?
Race Thursday came and the usual process of signing in and waiting while greeting the family went smooth. The weather forecast promised not too much rain within the first 24h of the race; another sign of hope for a decent start of the race. Kick-off happened Thursday 19.02.2026 at 1800 – cutoff of the race was Legends Monday 23.02.2026 0937.
The first night was sowhat dry with some cold fog on the heights and, naturally, with a pretty soaked trail from the rain during the days before race. The track headed south towards the Ourthe and was quite ok to maintain a decent speed. I tried to fully sink-in into the race and stopped to look at the track for a second. A good reminder and a few meters extra – it’s about to find the right balance between totally blend-in with the race and still be super aware with in terms of navigation, nutrition and not doing any stupid mistakes. While getting closer to the Ourthe memories of my first ever Legends Trail came to mind. We ran parts of the last 20k of the 2020 Legends Trail – I remember as if it was yesterday the horror of that third night, the fear of not having enough spare time on cutoff before hitting the Ourthe trails. Really good to run that part again with rather fresh legs. Turned out it wasn’t too difficult. But it was my first third night back then and it changed the way I look on rough moments. Nothing ever came close to these hours. The 2026 course parts down at the Ourthe were a bit like coming home. Countless hours of Legends Trails and private (slam) runs are connected with these trails. Memories of Björn and me debating about math and philosophical questions because we just hoped to stay alive and awake on one of those Marke Vis masterclass tracks. Compared to what Marek had to offer the Legends Trail 2026 stretch down by that river was of rather good quality.
After CP1 the first day was a transfer up north to get closer to the greater Coo area. Clearly a stretch to be cautious of not making any stupid mistakes and not overpace the whole race.
From CP2 onwards the second night slowly fell. And with it the expected difficulties started. Weather was turning a bit sideways and the rain started. On top of that – the greater Coo area with Le Basin up and down, Iceberg up and down as well as the last stretch entering Malmedy area meant that the race was slowly about to get serious. With nightfall my biggest sleep deprivation problems started. For a few hours I was deadly tired. Good thing was that I know the area quite well. Memories of countless runs in that area including the two glorious days of looping the Iceberg for the Titanic Slam – what a nice reminder. Once again I was grateful for the fact that we had only one Iceberg climb to do and not 42. The idea of restricting myself as long as doable from high-dose of amino acids/coffeine was a good one in theory (as it was intended to ease the nights number 3 and 4) but maybe I shouldn’t have been that strict in night two. Never mind – I entered CP3 (160k) in Malmedy in that second night – really happy for the break. Not so much for the break itself but for getting rid of one more hour of darkness with it. I decided not to sleep although everyone told me to do so. To me it made more sense to wait and sleep – if at all – in night 3. During my previous Legends Trails I only slept once outside of one of the CPs and it did not help a lot to get less tired – it just broke the rhythm.
I was really looking forward to the next stretch of the course – the Haute Fagnes. The climb up to Hautes Fagnes was a stretch I hiked with the family quite a few times and was not that often part of runs. Especially one specific hike with the kids came to my mind – a summer hike under blue skies with flowers and insects all around. What a contrast. With the sunrise at Legends Saturday and the constant climbing up to Hautes Fagnes the Legends Trail 2026 finally showed his true face. The trails were packed with ankle-deep mud, all rivers with high waters, parts of the trails overflown, stretches of the trail so wet that one easily end up knee-deep in ice-cold mud. The higher we got the more slushy snow covered all this misery (and made it even worse). No safe step possible – focus at peak to not end up falling into one of the Hautes Fagnes rivers. At the top of Hautes Fagnes a strong wind and mild to heavy rain were added to natures gifts. What a horrible day to be up at Hautes Fagnes closing in to km 200. But somehow it made me calm. At least we had some weak copy of what should be daylight. And this was finally it – the stretch I love most in the Ardennes at conditions close to making it undoable. It felt like my time was finally there.
Flashbacks to runs with Maarten and Marek in Hautes Fagnes in January 2020 trying to prepare me for my first LT (I considered them being mentally challenged guiding me through knee-deep ice-cold waters; now I know this was exactly the right thing to do), flashbacks to countless Hautes Fagnes crossings with Björn – mostly at night – learning a lot about this area and last not least that one day up here with Maarten in 2024 where we did a rather detailed look on special parts of Hautes Fagnes – learning a lot about techniques crossing the rather difficult sections of it.
All that came to mind and the more difficult it got the more safe I felt crossing the flooded Hautes Fagnes. Hardly ever saw that region in more difficult conditions before. Nevertheless it was a huge relive to reach the timing point tent up at Baraque Michel and have a quick and wind-proof break with some hot soup. No time to waste – the part downhill to CP4 (230k) would cover the river valleys Hoenge, La Statte and Sawe, well known to me from Maarten’s Dark World loop for the Marvels Slam, a sections not really fast so maintaining a hiking speed as fast as possible would be key.
At CP4 I did try that sleeping thing and slept outside the CP for 20 min. Although it was warm enough and the gear/setup seems to work – the sleep did not feel any good. What was more, my body started to shut-down as the race end seemed to be there. Took quite a while to wake my body up again. During the third night we covered Spa area (including going all the way up to the Fagnes above Spa) and were slowly getting closer to the last CP and the final stretch. During the whole race I maintained a 4-6 h gap to cutoff as planned and was still trying not to lose too much of it to safe some time for the final stretch. Higher doses of amino acids helped quite good to bann the sleep walking effects in night 3, nevertheless everything was on the edge. Hallucinations at the edges of view, difficulties to properly see (especially the parts outside of the head lamp), hard to tell surface properties and small height differences in the usual way – all in all ultra was back. The brain started to switch off unnecessary parts to focus on the few life-maintaining things. Why a clear vision is not one of them – well I guess you are not supposed to run the trails in those moments.
I made it safe to CP5 when it was already dark and night 4 had started. Uncharted territory both distance and time on feed-wise ahead. Plus a fourth night without sleep – I was curious to see what that would bring. It was a good feeling to leave CP4 and enter that last part as it meant the finish was somehow not longer ages but only one night without too many issues ahead. Problem with that thinking: one of the issues ahead was the course. Chefna, Quarreux and the famous Ninglingspo during the first 25k would certainly do some harm. As I left CP4 with only a little more than 2 hours on cutoff there was not too much time to waste and much would depend on that first 25k to the last timing point 20k before finish. If I somehow would reach this spot in time a finish would finally become highly likely. Got some company from Onno – always handy to enter misery together. I switched my nutrition strategy as planned from solid food to mainly gels. It was a good idea to safe them for the last night – the energy was there and the focus maintained at an ok level. In the midst of Chefna, Quarreux and especially Ninglingspo every step counts and the adrenaline helped to stay alerted. The howling rivers, the missing bridges, the watches almost impossible to read, countless of trails in the fog/rain – everything collapsed. I never got Ninglinspo 100% right at Legends Trail. And Onno and me did some climbings too much as we could mot figure on wich side of the river we should be, which bridges to take and which not to take – then we reached the one spot where the hiking trail just crosses the river (easy to do in summer – life-threatening in winter) and I had forgotten in which direction the next bridge was. Totally out of control, the peak of Legends Trails was reached. Random dots, confused lights in a wasted land. Alone. Together. Wow. We managed not to get too angry with our limited capabilities and both helped each other best we could to stay in the moment and to finally find the right bridges and path leading out of that horror.
As soon as we were out of the biggest problems Onno sped-up. I tried to push as well – the last timing point and with it the last cutoff in race was ahead. I made it in time – Onno was still sitting there. Soup again, Nick was there as well. What a moment. At that very moment I was certain it would be a finish. What a relief. After more than 80 hours of racing it was finally coming to an end. Just mere 20k with roughly 6 hours of time left. Onno and I left together but split soon after. Being alone again was good and bad at the same time. I felt now again really calm. The rain was easing, I could read the watch again and my brain took a break as well. Wandering around. For the first time ever I saw me from out of my body, could watch myself from the outside. It was not freighting at all – I understood well why my brain did the split with what seem endless and meaningless suffering. It also didn’t feel unpleasant at all – I accepted this as the new normal. Navigation still worked, I was still moving – so no harm done. The issue with this state is that I forgot what I was doing – not in a way that I forgot that I should move and follow a track – but in a way that it was a race with a cutoff. I spend two very peaceful hours but it was also good to meet the safety team again 10k before the finish. They reminded me that I was in a race and it would help to speed up a bit to not run into troubles with cutoff. So I ran. It did not matter to me. I still had the energy to run and speed-walk (no idea why), I was peacefully blended into nature – felt as being part of the Ardennes; deeply connected to the nature around, the story of Legends Trails, connected to the spirit of the event which for that one Legends Trail week hover above the Ardennes. What a great feeling. The dawn of Legends Monday brought some reality back and ended the mind-body disconnect. Everything became more real again but it made it even better. Close to the finish with enough time. I was finally able to understand the numbers on my watch – and it was all well. The distance counting down fast enough. What a joy to see. The last climbs. The view of the finish from a few hundred meters away. Running the last stretch and finally reaching the finish. Somewhat sad that the journey would end but what a relief at the same time – getting that medal number six surrounded by some of the best human beings – pure love.
Legends Trails 2026 had it all – all the beloved parts of the Ardennes combined in one big loop – the superb Legendary friends – amazing checkpoints – perfect weather for this kind of event. Like a great ending of a long story. Being finally home after all those years. It was again a run pretty much under control. The race against cutoff worked well, the fourth night was somehow manageable and at the end a nice new experience, seeing all the familiar face both amongst the runners as well as the Legendary friends and Legends Safety Team was truly uplifting. Last not least I like to see me run the Legends for all of them – as a tribute for their efforts. With the history of all the previous Legends Trails – the phrases I heard a lot were similar to: „you are safe – you know what to do“, „these are your conditions“, „you always finish so you will do this time“ – and at the end of it all they were correct. Not to underestimate the effort behind, not to underestimate the level of horror, being way beyond the comfort zone, the level of adrenaline while running the Legends Trail – but all of it are part of this story. Another chapter is added to the book.
