Schlagwort-Archive: Legendstracking

JUNUT 239 2025

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„Jetzt ist eh alles zu spät“

Mein erster Start beim Jurasteig Nonstop Ultratrail (JUNUT) im Jahr 2022 wurde vom Renn-Abbruch überschattet. Damit war das Erlebnis JUNUT schon vorbei, bevor es überhaupt begonnen hatte. Die Phase vor dem Start und auch die ersten Kilometer sind meist geprägt vom üblichen Hick-Hack und der Aufregung sowohl unter den Teilnehmenden als auch in der Crew.

Die Chance den JUNUT in vollem Umfang zu genießen, bot sich dann dieses Jahr. Der Rennkalender einigermaßen voll und der JUNUT nur 32 Tage nach dem Finish des LegendsTrails war ein bewusst eingegangenes Risiko; aber da beim JUNUT nie ganz klar ist ob und wann es ihn nochmal geben wird fiel die Entscheidung zur Anmeldung. Dazu kommt die Tatsache, dass für mich angefangene und nicht zu Ende gebrachte Dinge einfach maximal nervig sind. Einmal den JUNUT laufen wollte ich schon – hatte ich doch viel Gutes gehört – zugleich wollte ich die Chance nicht verpassen die eher mäßigen Eindrücke aus 2022 durch positivere zu ersetzen.

Der JUNUT als Nonstop Laufveranstaltung folgt bis auf wenige Abweichungen wegen der Verpflegungsstellen komplett dem Jurasteig – einem 237 km langem Rundwanderweg in Bayern der „den Umfang und das Ausmaß der Oberpfälzer Alb in seiner Kompaktheit nahezu zusammenfassend nachzeichnet“.

Also am Donnerstag den 03.04. das Auto früh morgens vollgepackt, noch ein paar Stunden arbeiten und dann nach den 550 km Anreise schnell einschreiben, dem Briefing lauschen und die Pasta genießen. Mit generell sehr wenig Kontakt zur deutschen Ultralauf-Szene war eine spannende Frage welche Menschen ich dort wohl wiedersehen bzw. neu kennenlernen würde. Als Teil der 1100 Startwelle ging es dann am 04.04. endlich auf die Strecke. Ein Abbruch wegen Wetter stand nicht zu befürchten – wir hatten Kaiserwetter. Tagsüber stiegen die Temperaturen teils über 20 Grad, was mehr und mehr zu einem unangenehmen Faktor wurde. Da mir die ersten 50 km eh bekannt waren galt die Konzentration also eher dem Management des Flüssigkeits-/Salzhaushaltes. Ein paar erste Gespräche mit Mitläufern und einige geteilte Kilometer ließen diesen ersten Abschnitt recht schnell vorüber gehen. Das Tempo war mit 7h für die ersten 50 km recht hoch für meine Verhältnisse.

Auf dem Abschnitt zwischen km 50 und 78 habe ich das Tempo dann versucht deutlich zu verlangsamen um nicht aus dem warmen Tag mit großen Problemen in die Nacht zu gehen. Endlich wurde es auch kühler und dunkler. Der VP3 in Matting (km 78) war voll mit Läufern. Ungünstige Zeit erwischt, aber so ist das manchmal. Kurz nachfüllen aus dem Dropback, ein wenig essen und dann das erste mal wärmer einpacken für die Überfahrt über die Donau mit dem Boot der Feuerwehr. Direkt nach dem VP wurde es dabei richtig ungemütlich kalt – der Lauf startete also so langsam in die etwas interessanteren Phasen. Zu zweit unterwegs entfaltete sich kurz nach der Überfahrt auch die Magie der Langdistanz. In einem Anstieg schlossen wir zu zwei weiteren Läufern (1x JUNUT104, 1x JUNUT170) auf und es war ein Match von der ersten Sekunde an. Herzhaft wurde gelacht, leise wurde geschwiegen, Lebensgeschichten wurden ausgetauscht und die Gemeinschaft genossen. Sehr hilfreich, gerade nachts. Bis KM104 harmonierte das so gut, dass wir beschlossen anschließend zu dritt weiterzumachen und daher am VP aufeinander zu warten. Am Ende hat diese Gemeinschaft bis nach Sonnenaufgang und ein gutes Stück in den neuen Tag gehalten – verschiedene persönliche Gründe ließen unseren JUNUT170 Läufer die Flucht nach vorne antreten. 

Auch der Samstag wurde wieder gefühlt zu warm für die Langdistanz – also Tempo raus und aufpassen. Irgendwie fühlte es sich richtig an weiter zu zweit zu bleiben anstatt alleine zu laufen und so wurden ruhig und fokussiert die Kilometer gefressen bis in den nächsten Abend hinein. Die zweite Nacht wurde als sehr kalt angekündigt und hat dieses Versprechen auch voll eingelöst. Da die letzten Dropback Station bei KM 202 war, war kurz die Frage nach der richtigen Kleidungsauswahl relevant. Im Rucksack waren zwar immer noch zusätzlichen Lagen für den Oberkörper, aber ich hatte mich dazu entschlossen die kurze Hose anzubehalten und die längeren Hosen im Dropback zu belassen. Es wurde also etwas kühl untenrum, ließ sich aber noch aushalten. Bei KM 202 habe ich dann eine etwas längere Pause gemacht und etwas geschlafen (INDOOR!!!) – sehr zum Unmut der zweiten Hälfte unseres Duos. Danke für die Nachsicht und Geduld zu diesem Zeitpunkt. Mit weniger als 38 km bis ins Ziel war dieses schon am Horizont – und doch sollten die letzten Stunden der zweiten Nacht eher quälend werden. Die Müdigkeit wurde ich nicht mehr wirklich los, dazu die Kälte – es war der einzige Moment im ganzen JUNUT wo ich wirklich gemerkt habe, dass das ein langer Lauf ist. Dazu kam, dass sich unsere Gemeinschaft nicht mehr richtig angefühlt hat. Zu unterschiedlich die Zustände zu diesem Zeitpunkt des Rennens, zu unterschiedlich die Bedürfnisse. Da keine Entscheidung immer die Schlechteste ist haben wir uns entschlossen uns zu trennen. Sich zu einem solchen Zeitpunkt zu entschließen allein weiterzuarbeiten war nicht einfach und doch sinnvoll. Mich hat gerettet, dass dann die Sonne endlich doch wieder aufgegangen ist. Kurz nach dem letzten VP und mit noch 13 km bis ins Ziel wurde es hell und damit besser mit den kleinen Unannehmlichkeiten. Die letzten Kilometer an diesem Sonntagmorgen waren eigenartig ruhig und leer – das Finish letztlich ein schöner, aber auch unspektakulärer Moment. Genau wie es sein soll. 45 Stunden und 46 Minuten nach dem Start war der JUNUT 2025 geschafft und damit Geschichte. Insgesamt eine erstaunlich solide Leistung unter den Voraussetzungen. Es gelingt immer mehr das eigentliche Laufen als selbstverständlich anzunehmen und so gleiten die Kilometer vorbei…

Am Ende bleibt ein sehr intensives Wochenende. Mit zunehmender Dauer hat der JUNUT genau das geboten was die Langdistanz für mich so auszeichnet. Das ist vor allem Ruhe und Gelassenheit bei Läufern und Crew. Trotz aller verständlicher Aufregung sind Hektik, Stress und laute Menschenmengen eher nicht das, was ich gerne um mich habe, beim langen Laufen. Aber die Nächte bringen meist Ruhe ins Rennen und so war es auch diesmal. Auch war es wie schon so oft so, dass sich zufällig die Läufer treffen, die auf einer Wellenlänge unterwegs sind. So war es auch diesmal. Ich kann mich nur herzlich dafür bedanken, dass wir (sei es als Duo, Trio oder Quartett) so viel gute Zeit auf dem JUNUT miteinander verbringen konnten. Erfahrung, Demut, Bodenständigkeit und Selbstständigkeit – es war alles da und der Humor passte obendrein. In solchen Gemeinschaften öffnet die Langdistanz dann die Herzen der Laufenden und es entstehen wundervolle Momente. Das hat mir viel von dem gegeben, was ich gehofft hatte zu finden und hat mich mit dem JUNUT versöhnt. Auch die Vernichtung der VP-Reste und der Pizza inkl. Bier in der Turnhalle am Sonntag Nachmittag/Abend war großartig. Diese Art von Gemeinschaft ist wunderbar. Pläne wurden geschmiedet, unsinnige Ideen eingetütet und neue Freundschaften verstärkt. Die Tage im Anschluss an den Lauf waren wie so oft nach intensiven Läufen geprägt vom Hang-Over. Mit Kopf und Herzen noch auf dem Steig/im Rennen ist die Rückkehr ins Leben immer eine Herausforderung.

Vielen Dank noch an das gesamte Helfer- und Orga-Team – es war die voraussichtlich letzte Ausgabe eines insgesamt sehr schönen Laufs. 

Für mich war es der 46. Lauf mit 100 Meilen. Jetzt geht es wieder zurück zu den privaten Aktionen – die nächsten 100 Meilen werden für den #lotrslam gelaufen: die wahren Laufmomente. Mit ein paar Freunden werden Autos ins nichts gestellt, die Uhren angeworfen und dann wird Strecke gemacht. Ab und an ein Supermarkt aber ansonsten frei und mit Menschen unterwegs die man sehr gut kennt.

Legends Trail 2025

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Witnessing athletes go all-in to reach their goals is the most beautiful thing on earth. Once they leave their fake smiles behind, once they face their demons, once they push beyond their limits their inner self surfaces. It’s a rather private and intimate moment they would like to keep for themselves. Being with and amongst them in these hours is a truly unique and uplifting experience. It’s why we run ultra.

„There is this race in the Ardennes you should try. Could be something for you.“ Maarten (2017)

Back in the days I didn’t know Maarten very well and was really busy to DNF my first attempt @LEO180 the days after that evening. In fact it should take three more years until the time had come to enter that race called Legends Trails. That was mainly driven by the documentary „When Heroes Become Legends“ about the Legends Slam which I decided to start in September 2019 – Legends Trail 250 in 2020 was part of that slam and my first attempt.

So I did try and kept coming back to Legends Trail ever since this remarkable edition in 2020. I fell in love with the race. It offers so much more than just the distance. There is pain, hopelessness, mercilessness, darkness, misery, endlessness and the void. But there is hope as well, there are like-minded people, there is grid, determination, relentlessness – there are a lot of friends. If you are looking for ultra, for the beyond, for the undoable – this is your race.

The story of Legends Trail 2025 is a quick one. Arrived at the start with enough time to spare to greet all the familiar face on both supporters (aka Legends Family) as well as runners end. After the usual check-in routine with some new mandatory items on the list there was the time to relax and settle in the pre-race tension.

Kit check @LT

A close look on the track beforehand provided enough information for a rough race plan. With a start in the Ourthe region and the toughest section of the race being between CP2 (105k) and CP3 (157k) the only reasonable thing to do would be: start out rather ambitious to build up some time buffer to cutoff to enter the CP2-CP3 section with a comfortable amount of spare time and somewhere in the middle of the pack (to not have the trails completely destroyed by that time).

Thanks @Caroline Dupont for the amazing race pictures.

After one hour of bus transfer it was finally time to race. Always a relieve to finally being able to do what one came for. The first night and the first stretch was pretty ok – the rough Ourthe trails were not as wet as they could have been making it a little easier to not die climbing them. There were a decent amount of doable trails in this stretch as well allowing for some running – a good mix after all. Was great to be back at some really familiar parts along the Ourthe but also nice to see some new trails. After double-helping of Pasta Bolognese at CP1 the first day out there started – time to relax and enjoy the Ardennes.

I felt wonderfully calm and confident – may it be the experience, the good weather or a combination of both – it felt remarkable good to be out there so I started to let it flow. Started to enjoy the folks around, the nature, the CPs. CP2 had rice with chicken – delicious. The second night brought what I had envisioned – the by far most complicated stretch of the whole race. Ninglingspo, Chefna, Quarreux – if you know, you know. Let’s not further talk about it. It’s a stretch to just accept and not think too much about it or it may lead you to the conclusion that it’s a better decision to not do this. The second night sleep deprivation did add to the story – I tried to lay down somewhere in the woods but only managed to close my eyes for 5-7 min before it got too uncomfortable. Maarten and Mike, as part of the LT safety team, was waiting after the Quarreux decent and it was good to see a friend in the midst of the horror. A big surprise was waiting at CP3 – they had the CP4 Tortellinis – may not be relevant to most but it was a real surprise to me. After double-helping of Tortellinis it was time to leave the area of horror and start Legends Sunday. And what a day it was:

The confidence was still there. Legends Sunday means walking amongst athletes which endured a lot to get to this point. It feels truly uplifting to be amongst them. The warm and sunny weather was a huge change to all previous LTs – never saw so much of the Ardennes – never saw future Legends lay down in the warm sun to sleep a bit. Unreal. CP3-CP4 was a really long 75k stretch but with regular check-ins of the Legends Safety Team it was ok. We visited greater Coo area feat. Le Basin and Iceberg around 200k in the race and I sincerely enjoyed it to be there. The third night fell and the usual unpleasantries arouse. But the CP4 was near – so was the last and final stretch. Met a lot of familiar faces at CP4 – all of them determined. We had mashed potatoes with cauliflower. The final stretch looked rather easy on the map compared to the rest of race. The rough idea was to run against the horror of sleep deprivation and this worked quite ok. In the first half of the night the focus was there and the speed was good. Listened to some music while jogging to stay clear. Later this night the expected issues were there. My brain wandered off to the void, I couldn’t make sense of the numbers on the watch, I found myself standing for minutes looking at trees forgetting what was doing. Although expected side-effects – that was unpleasant. But Legends Monday was about to start. The final sunrise – I love this specific moment so much. And between the trees at dawn I saw a familiar figure which turned out to be real and not one of the figures of my imagination. After running roughly the same race the last days but never together (for various reasons) it was finally time to team-up with Olav. We walked the last 10k together.

We were quite quiet at the beginning but then started to talk again. We met Maarten at „Chez Ingo“ 5k before the finish.

Coke and toasties at „Chez Ingo“ km 270
Chez Ingo with Maarten – the three of us own 14 LT medals
Some impressions of Maarten from this year´s LT

The sun was finally providing some warmth. We were tired as fuck and our bodies were trashed but it was the final stretch of pure ultra joy. Walking there with Olav – with the finish almost in the pocket – it felt unreal, but amazing. Finally reaching the finish line was pure gold as always.

#5

The LT 2025 was my fifth attempt at Legends Trail and my fifth finish. This is unreal. I never felt better at a LT before – it somehow came straight out of my heart – all I did was following the flow. A completely new but amazing experience. As I am a really emotional runner (you would have found me crying a lot if you would have been out there) I developed the strategy to fuel from dark moments. A grim energy of „whatever wants to stop me will make me stronger“. That was different this time. I discussed that matter with Frank the Tank whenever we met and he kept telling me that he uses energy from emotions as well: but he stays on the pure positive end of things. This year’s LT finally showed me that end of things. I know now. Not sure if I will be able to use this strategy again but I know now that it exists and that it feels great. Taking this knowledge with me and will add this weapon to the strategy set – always on the paths to find the perfect mental set to travel limitless – may it be on the real end of ultra or in the midst of the beyond.

Thanks to all volunteers in the LT Safety Team, the CP crews, the organization, the friends on the course and the support on social media/via chat. Lots of people dislike me for being so active on my smartphone while running. But to me it is a possibility to share my emotions so that they don´t overwhelm me. It helps me to stay focused and some of the audience like to be really close the action.

OIav – I think we don’t need to be sorry that we didn’t run together. I had the feeling that we were both on our missions (yours made me cry quite a bit whenever I thought about for whom you were doing) and were fine with the status of both running our own (very solid) LTs. Finishing with you felt amazing. Thanks mate. What you did was outstanding in many ways.

Next year’s Legends Trail will be a whole new story – the distance increases from 275k to 350k adding another stretch of darkness to the story. Whether or not I will be there – who knows. It’s for sure tempting to push a bit further.

Some numbers:

There is a separate blog entry about some data behind Legends Trail. Below the @statshunters view on the 5 LTs so far – quite some coverage of the Ardennes. The 5 LT 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 had a total of 1386 km with 50375 m of positive elevation gain.

The LT #statshunter overview. Some new tiles coming from the LT 2025 (yellow) – there is a square forming in the center. 5 activities 1386k.
5 LT – 50375 D+; 2x climb score of 10 @runalyze

The Moment

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You may have trained well.
You may have struggled with getting those miles in.
You may feel very well prepared.
You may feel weak and stupid for your decision to start.
You may feel rather calm because you think you know what’s coming.
You may freak-out for the 100 reasons of DNF awaiting you.
Your life may have been cumbersome the last months, stressing you out.
You may have found your inner balance and focus.
You may be well-rested and relaxed.
You may be filled with doubts.

There may be thousands of differences between us until that very moment.
The moment of race start.
The moment equalizing all those differences.

It may be an advantage to be well trained, rested and calm.
It may be that your stress vanishes at the very moment of start.
It may be that your stress haunts you for the whole race.
It may be that the sun is shining.
It may be that the weather is a serious issue.
It may be that the course is too difficult to handle this time.
It may be that things out of your control will end your race.
It may be that no matter how well prepared you are it won’t fit.
It may be that your best is not good enough.
It may be that you find out that you are capable of so much more.

Whatever was, is or will happen – we are in it together.
What unites us is the vague vision of reaching the finish line in time.
Whatever may attempt to stop us, has to be defeated.

Teuflischer Biber Ultra 2025

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Pre-Race:
The concept of the Teuflischer Biber Ultra is quite simple: run 6 loops of 60k each in 10h each while collecting pages matching your bib number of all hidden books along the way to prove you found and passed them all. This year’s start corridor was described as „between 2100 Friday evening to 0600 Saturday morning“. 4 runners were brave enough to start the TBU 2025. During the briefing at 1900 we received the .gpx file, the printed map including the 18 dots for this year’s books and the description for each book. Similar to last year I plotted those 18 points as waypoints into the .gpx file in GC trying to be as precise as possible copying from a rather blurry printed map. After the last preparation were done the runner tried to find some rest. It was possible to lay down and close our eyes for some interrupted sleep waiting for the signal to start the race. The signal finally came at 0213 giving us exact one more hour to get ready to start.

Loop 1:
At 0313 we were finally allowed to start. The first climb to Book 1 gave a vague idea that this year’s edition could be a spicy one. Teun, Helge and me teamed up during the first climb onto Book 1 and sticked together for a little while longer. It somehow made sense to work together to find the books in the dark Eifel. With 6 eyes we were surprisingly fast in finding the first 8 books. Although the running speed of Teun and Helge was a bit above my comfort zone I tried to stick with them – an extremely important decision as it turned out I would need every saved second later on in loop 1. We split at Book 8 by coincidence – Teun ran the downhill way too fast for me and while trying to follow him I lost contact with Helge. For the rest of loop 1 I focused on pushing as hard as I dared with the fact in mind that there were more loops to come.With one eye on the timing I realized on the last 15k that there was no other choice than to go all-in in trying to get loop 1 done within time. Teun and I met once more at Book 10 which gave Teun a bit of a headache – together we found it and he could continue taking the lead. As the track was not only longer but also harder and equipped with more books compared to the 2024 edition I needed to fight for every minute at the end of loop 1. Finishing loop 1 I met Teun only 300 m before the HQ. He had his break and was starting loop 2 roughly 20 minutes ahead of me – something was definitely wrong at that moment – Teun should have been more than an hour ahead of me with his goal to finish all 6 loops.

Loop 2:
After 3 minutes refill and receiving the new bib number I started loop 2 with only 7 minutes spare to the 10h cut-off. It was crystal clear to me that I would not have the slightest chance to finish loop 2 in time – but so what: I was allowed to continue so why not at least try to relax a bit and collect a few more pages in the beautiful Eifel? Later in loop 2 I called the RD to pick me up – the fun was gone and to continue a journey I knew was a DNF seemed stupid. Even more surprising was that Teun also did not manage to finish loop 2 in time. This years TBU ended after two loops.

The TBU 2025 provided a beautiful course, wonderful books combined with perfect weather conditions. I finally had some time to discuss running and life with Teun – thanks for that, that is probably the best part of ultra: connecting to like-minded people and discuss one of the things we really love. Normally there would be hours between Teun and me running but this time we shared some time on the trail together – thanks mate, that was great and apart from the difference in running abilities we can work together quite nicely. Hope we get some more chances to do so.

After a short and cold night of sleep (which should have been a night out on the trails) we had the first coffee together wondering what happed and why we were already sitting there. We had several theories of why it went the way it did – later at home with a proper look at the data we found those theories to be true. We returned to the TBU with the impressions of the TBU in 2024. The track back in 2024 was a bit shorter than 60k – in fact it was only around 55k as the data show from both our watches. The 2025 track was around 63k. So we had to run 8k more compared to last year. Combined with a more technical track and a decent plus in D+ and 3 more books it finally made sense. The 2025 edition was way harder compared to 2024. Although it is of course the decision of the RD to create whatever he wants – this was too much of a change. It does not matter too much for myself as my abilities will never last for the complete distance but I feel really sorry for Teun. He prepared himself specifically for this event with the aim of finishing it off – only to be confronted with a 1.5h longer track. With this dramatic change it may not make sense to consider a third try at this race. At least the distance should be kept somewhat constant to attract runners for more than one try and give them at least a theoretical chance to finish. There are enough other variables (number of books, track design, D+) to provide something new and spicy every year. I truly believe the format is a great opportunity to provide something interesting to the BENELUXGER running community but only if it is kept in a reasonable and constant frame. The tendency to glorify certain events over there in the US is a mistake in my opinion and is not really helpful for the race future. It should be hard – it should seem impossible to most but it should provide a chance to finish so that the best can’t resist and can’t wait to line-up and give it a shot.

Nevertheless – thanks to the whole TBU team, the runners and supporters for another nice weekend!

The Tale of the Years of the Third Age

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[…]
He followed the voice through the snow and the trees
Until it lasted saw – a sight beyond belief
A world of color, light and sound
A world where anything was possible

And the robot felt alive – it danced and sang and laughed with glee
In this world of magic it was finally free
And as the night gave way to dawn
The robot knew it had found
A home in this world where it could always be safe and sound
A home in this world where it could always be safe and sound

To construct a GPX track is a very beautiful thing to do. Once the general idea and location is set, the OSM map layers unfold their special magic at the highest zoom levels. The tiny red-dotted paths where one can only guess if they are, were or never really have been. Wandering along them connecting interesting looking spots on the map – slowly but sure a general backbone appears out of thin air. A few re-work and release cycles to improve some details, to include some actually useful spots (supermarkets etc) and to polish the distance to match the idea. And: done. Yet no one has ever been there. The .gpx remains silent like an unread chapter in the great book of running. Until it is finally loaded onto a device. Until someone finally hits the start button.

The idea of the „The Tale of the Years of the Third Age“ as part of the Lord of the Rings Slam 2025 was to cover a region I always wanted to visit: the Vulkaneifel with plenty of the round Kraterseen and – as it was close – the Mosel valley around Traben-Trabach. At the end the track looked beautiful on the map, long enough and interesting enough. As a nice side effect some river valleys provided natural connections between the parts (although I should hate myself for that a bit later in the real game). Olav and I both qualified for the slam and considered an early January test of materials and bodies would nicely suit in the Legends Trail preparation scheme with the pleasant side-effect of ticking off one of the first of the three big slam runs early in 2025.

We started Friday 10.01.2025 around 1500 with the idea that this would us bring nicely in time to the opening of the only supermarket on the whole track at km 105 (opening time = 0800). We also decided to park one car at km 52 to provide us some shelter during the first stretch of dark hours. Weather was bright, clear and crisp. The trails were traily – like we prefer them. Some of them were less visible or existent than expected – like we prefer them. The first night turnend out to cool down to -5 to -7°C. Which itself is not a huge problem but provides a nice twist to the story. To keep moving at low intensity while constantly eating is the only real strategy which we followed without thinking about it. A rather big problem was the ice on the concrete parts. That significantly slowed us down (especially me after the first unpleasant ground contact). Luckily we safely reached the car and decided to have an extended break to completely warm up and eat away some of the dark moments.

After a transition stretch the Mosel area was reached around sunrise. Just wow. The high water of the Mosel forced us to adapt the track at one stretch but apart from that – the valley and the hills and the views: worth a visit. Two breaks for coffee and food (we were 3 h behind plan and it was around noon already in Traben-Trabach) – and then we started the last 65 km stretch. The first 25 km of those covering the wine yards. OMG. Steeper than expected. But with some nice views from the various tops. Darkness hit way too soon and the last Marathon was on the menu. As things should in the second night it all went a bit sideways. The returning cold (although milder compared to night one), the returning darkness, the slower speed – I must admit the expected hit was a bit harder as it strictly necessary. But well – I was with Olav. Two of the loneliest robots in a frozen world. On top of that the last section along a river valley called the „Lieserpfad“ reminded us a bit too well of some of those valley in the Ardennes. Ongoing forest work provided some more challenges. The mud was frozen on the very top but not enough to hold the full weight and dozens of trees covered the trail. For some seconds I could feel the cold grasp of the LT horror – the emptiness, the hopelessness. But the only way to escape from that is to take a step back with the mind and watch the body do the inevitable. And then it was done. 180k on the watch 37h and 45m in the dark and cold January. 25% of the #lotrslam2025 done.

All in all yet another great adventure. Thanks Olav for the company – it is a huge relief to work with someone with your experience.

Marathon + number 278 // 100 mi + number 44 – check.

The next weeks will be focused on the Legends Trail end of February with one longer escape beginning of February. I am looking forward to the tasks ahead although the Legends Trail is a frightening beast lurking around at the horizon.

2024

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End of October is the usual time to draw the line. To sum it up.

Although the year is not over yet the yearly circle is closed for me. Starting November it usually is the time to start the preparation for the Legends Trail happening late February the following year.

The new circle starts right now.

Numbers:
In 2024 I ran 38 Marathons+ distances so far. With a handful more to come in the remaining of 2024 this will be the highest number in the records. With 600 missing km the chances are quite good that I will beat the 5000 km/year for the second time ever. All this wouldn’t have been possible without losing my job in February 2024 and the separation from the rest of the family. After all a quite difficult and painful process. Life is not as straightforward as expected; a lesson familiar from ultra running. Let’s see how this will turn out and what the future may bring. Together with Marek I immensely enjoy an interesting running challenge and this yearly review is a great opportunity to highlight the current standings on my end. The task is to run a Marathon+ on each and every calendar date available. Start date of the run = date for the entry in the sheet. Multidays/longer runs over multiple days count as one event. I guess no one else in the world cares but til end of October 2024 I reached 56% of all dates possible (204/366). This years highlight was the completion of February 29th – a rather difficult date. Focussing a bit more on the sheet and taking care that the longer runs are scheduled best possible certainly helped to increase this number. Whether or not it will be possible to complete it – who knows. But I am definitely looking forward to at least try it.

The Date Game – 31.10.2024

The year 2024 started with the our usual mAMa (matschiger Aachen Marathon) edition. With me no longer living in Aachen the future of mAMa is still in discussion at the moment. mAMa was followed by the first edition of the Teuflischer Biber Ultra – a great concept. I only managed to complete 1.5 of the 6 60 km loops but I think more is possible. If all goes well I will attend the next edition in 2025. Legends Trail 2024 was another huge test for body and mind but it ended with finish number 4. In March 2024 I had my go on the qualification run for next years LOTR Slam.

These slam projects really evolved in a small group of runners. After the Titanic Slam and the Marvel Slam this is already Slam number 3. We changed the concept a bit so that 2024 is the qualification year (you have to run a certain GPX within 2024 to access the 4 challenges in 2025). That keeps the concept alive but relaxes the time schedules a bit. So far we have 15 runners who completed the entry challenge – the Dead Mashes run (209 km). I am very pleased by the enthusiasm and the discussion in those underground Facebook chats. Proud to see how them undertake the Dead Marshes track – which happens to my GPX. Looking forward to see how those 14 and myself (or more – two more months to complete the entry challenge) will try to schedule 3×100 mile runs and a special surprise into our running agendas 2025. But I am certain that there will be finishers.

In April 2024 it was time to visit the loops again – Legends Backyard Ultra in Belgium. The aim was to qualify for the 2024 Team Germany at the World Team Championships in Backyard Ultra in 2024. The 36 loops were enough to achieve that. Huge thanks to Michael from the Biber Backyard Ultra Team for the support – both at the LBU as well as at the World Team Championships. To have a crew is crucial in this strange running format. To recover from all these loops it was time for a long trail adventure. Claudia and I tried to run the Westweg and managed 210 km. Although we did not manage to complete the whole Westweg it was a great time out there with the most spectacular polar lights night I ever saw. During the summer I tried to maintain some running abilities and attended at the 24h Lauf Dorsten (100 mi). Last but not least B. and me finally had the chance to run together and to complete the 100 mi at the Breckerfelder Flower Power Ultra – which was the last test before the Backyard Ultra World Team Championship with the German team in Nürnberg.

All in all 7×100 mi plus runs in 2024 – increasing the count from 35 to 42.

Apart from all these official runs 2024 was a great chance to expand the part of running/exploring I enjoy most. With Marek I have been trying to complete as many new tiles from @statshunter as possible. The side effect of this was that Marek could also increase his plaatsnaam bordjes count for his private challenge (collect all towns in the province Brabant in NL and take a picture of the town sign). My statshunter page looks like this – looking forward to to hunt more tiles in the next years:

Statshunter status 31.10.2024 – max square = 24×24

Another key figure in 2024 was Maarten – thank you for all those countless hours of madness – both underground and in the marshes. Lets try to conserve this in the future.

And 2025? Lets see.

A lot of plans have been made. The first focus will be on the Legends Trail 2025 – the last Legends Trail in the well known format. It would be a dream to finish this beast once more.

Dead Marshes Loop 1 // June 2024

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Things sometimes don´t go according to plan. We did not manage to finish the 208k of Dead Marshes; somewhat around 80k most of the group decided to stop after loop 1 // 120k. The rest of the group took a while with accepting this fact but was happy with the decision after a while. All in all a really nice experience out there with the those two. It really is different to attempt do ultras with the experts and even better to sustain through surprisingly dark moments on this shorter run. Everyone stayed calm when things went sideways in an unexpected way. We have seen the all shades of that darkness – although we expected it 100k later.

I have to admit – to see Dead Marshes in the summer was a blast – quite different to my first attempt in March 2024.

Pictures by Maarten, Marek and me.

Maarten did his usual genius on the collected video impressions and formed another masterpiece:

Climb Score view from Runalyze

If you want to find out more about it – refer to the LOTR Slam pages here and here.

210k Westweg

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Already a month ago (9th of May 2024) we had a go on the Westweg in Southern Germany. The Westweg is a premium hiking trail crossing the whole Schwarzwald from North (Pforzheim) to South (Basel). Westweg has two variations West and Ost – we used the West variant. Strategy was to place two cars along the way (km 140/km 210) and we were lucky to get some company from fellow runners – which gave us another car opportunity to refill at km 50.

All in all a very nice experience in good company. We decided to call it a day after 210 km in Hinterzarten and not go for the last stretch to Basel. Strategy worked out fine but we did not had the urge to really push all out and finish it. Sometimes to not go ultra is also a legit thing. We had a good supply plan – everything worked out as expected and we had spectacular views (including a night full of polar lights), great company and lots of fun.

Some pictures and video expressions below:

With regards to statistics – this was number 39 100 mile plus run and continued the 200k plus streak to 4 months in a row.

The Dead Marshes 2024

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Gollum laughed. ‚The Dead Marshes, yes, yes: that is their names,‘ he cackled….

‚Who are they? What are they?‘ asked Sam shuddering….

‚I don’t know,‘ said Frodo in a dreamlike voice. ‚But I have seen them too… grim faces and evil, and noble faces and sad…. But all foul, all rotting, all dead.’….

‚Yes, yes,‘ said Gollum. ‚All dead, all rotten…. The Dead Marshes. There was a great battle long ago, yes, so they told him when Sméagol was young, when I was young before the Precious came. It was a great battle. Tall Men with long swords, and terrible Elves, and Orcses shrieking. They fought on the plain for days and months at the Black Gates. But the Marshes have grown since then, swallowed up the graves; always creeping, creeping.‘

The Two Towers, LOTR Book 4, Ch. 2, The Passage of the Marshes

What is this?
The track The Dead Marshes is the entry challenge to be part of next years #lotrslam2025. All information on the slam and what you can expect can be found here and here. To sign up for The Dead Marshes just enter your name in the sheet and download the GPX from there as well. You have until December 31st 2024 to complete The Dead Marshes and to prove your completion with your .fit, .gpx, your Garmin or your Strava link sent to slam@acceptnolimits.eu. Upon verification we will publish your attempt in the above mentioned sheet and you will receive the GPX files for the 2025 Slam on 01.01.2025.

About The Dead Marshes
Whenever I create a track in an area I know well I try to make sure to include all the highlights I know but to also use ways/paths I never took before. The Dead Marshes is a tribute to Hautes Fagnes but also includes some nice spots in the Rursee area in Germany (featured during KATE180) and the Coo area in Belgium (aka. Iceberg and the Basin). Hautes Fagnes is exactly in the middle of those two „ends“ – thats forms a nice concept. Start/Middlepoint/Finish at Baraque Michel also provides the opportunity to enter and leave Hautes Fagnes not 1, 2 or 3 but 4 times. A nice tweak – you should be really obsessed with plankjes, dark/rocky river valleys and wet grass/endless marsh areas.
While finally running The Dead Marshes it felt a bit weird. There are quite some stretches of big paths easy to run and quite some streets/asphalt parts as well (esp. in the German part). All in all the first 120k until one reaches the car to complete the first loop has more runnable parts compared to the second loop (90k). But dont be mistaken: there are demanding marsh stretches, longer climbs (total of > 5000 m D+), forgotten river valley, there is the Basin downhill (which is not fun), Iceberg uphill (lots of fun) and last not least Schloß Rheinhardstein area (serving the steepest ups and downs right around 190 km on the watch – exactly when one does not want to climb anymore). After running it myself I think I am happy with it. Not too hard but certainly nothing one can run at marathon pace for the whole time. Make sure to embrace the Fagnes – its more a scenic adventure than a Legends Trail; exactly what it should be.

How it went for me
Well, it took longer than expected. I started with a night with the idea that I would finish the first 120k in 22-24h so that folks could join me in the evening for the final 90k. Company is always good to have. Turned out I finished the first 120k in 23h as planned but it also turned out on very short notice that the support would not come to push me/us through the second night. The second night alone was horror then. Sleep depriviation effects hit harder than expected so I found myself safety-blanket sleeping for 3 times 15-20 minutes and still had to push harder than I wanted to. As if the Legends night 3 was making a surprise visit (not that I would ever ask for such a visit). Weather was a bit unstable with somtimes light and sometimes severe rain and lots of wind up in the Fagnes. To be fair there were also some more stable weather windows in between. All in all I managed The Dead Marshes in 46 hours and leave it up to the rest of the fellowship to follow me. The path has been layed and I am really curious what the others will experience! Have fun – if there are any questions: don´t hesitate to ask!

Elapsed Time Moving Time Distance Average Speed Max Speed Elevation Gain Calories Burned
45:59:45
hours
45:59:44
hours
213,91
km
12:54
min/km
2:10
min/km
5.496,00
meters
13.156
kcal
⛰️ Honigberg (495 m) • ⛰️ Signal de Botrange (694 m) • 🦶⬆️ 2024 = 35,371 m | 🌐 👍 97.83 new kilometers — From

Are you ready for Legends Trail?

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„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.