Reports 2014


German chapmionship 100km in Husum, Germany

Husum is located at the north end of Germany. Still this little village offers something which attracts many runners – the German championship in 100km. A few weeks ago I wrote that Kienbaum is a long traveling distance for us people from Würzburg. But it is nothing in comparison to Husum. Georg Braungart, Florian Reus, Adam Zahoran and Walter Zimmermann left Würzburg on Friday morning about 9am and arrived at the vacation home at 6:30pm. My wife Grace and I used the time in the north also to meet some friends. That is why we left earlier on Thursday evening. We stayed at their house and continued to Husum on Friday. On the way we also stopped in Lübeck to do some sight seeing and an IVV permanent trail.

We arrived before the rest of the running club and used the time to check in at the vacation home. We picked up the start numbers after they all arrived. In a parking slot of the hotel was an organization tent was set up. There we picked up our race numbers. It was obvious that more tents will be there, but not before the start of the race. It was obvious that it was not possible to have any breakfast before the race. Luckily we already had decided to breakfast at the accommodation before we arrived here. It is more comfortable and minimizes the waiting time at the chilly start area. And it was very chilly! Friday’s weather was not good. A strong wind blew and there were many showers. It made us afraid, that we will get many winds facing us during the race. After we had picked up the start numbers, we went to get some stuff for the breakfast. Next to the shop was a pizza service. So we changed our minds. Instead of going to the restaurant we picked up some pizza and had dinner at our accommodation. Therefore we did not have to search for a restaurant and saved some time.

At 5am a silent and relaxing night sleep ended. But we had enough time to have a relaxed breakfast and get to the start in time. While I was having breakfast, I recognized that was not as hungry as usual. Also the toilet room seems to attract me very much.

There were still many empty parking slots when we had arrived at the start. We built up our personal aid station next to the car, so our supporter had the opportunity to warm up and be protected from the weather inside the car.

The start was at 7am – finally. In my opinion already quite late, because it had been bright sky for a long time. Adam was distanced himself with a small group after the start. Old rabbits as Jürgen Hooß and Michael Sommer had joined him. Adam had announced that he planned a final time of 7 hours. Based on his 50km result he was one of the favorites for the top placements. Unfortunately the course was quiet boring, because the “loop” was just on the bottom of the enbankment. It was up and down between two turn around points and had a little loop through the aid station area in middle. The enbankment was protected well from the wind. Still we got some parts where the wind slowed us down. But the strength was nothing compared to the previous day. In the morning it had been a light breeze, during the day it got less wind and the sun broke through. But in the afternoon, when I was in my last loop, the weather got bad. The wind blew stronger and wiped the rain across the faces of the runners. Florian and I ran together for the first three loops. Then I had to let him go, because the toilet was “calling” me again and my stomach problems started. It got slowly better, after my whole breakfast had been gone out. I had to find the right speed, so I could build up some energy again and prevent my stomach from getting worse again. It worked out very well and after 65km I was able to keep up again. There was no doubt, that it was to late to get a good resulting time, but still it was not possible to stop or to run slowly. We had a team and wanted to get to the top placement. Because Florian Böhme, running for Kusterdinen, could not start, we had good chances. The leading group did a great race. They ran together and changed the leader position so everyone could benefit from the wind shadow. In the end Adam sped up and won the race. But behind him there were some more changes in placement. While Michael Sommer caught up more and more, some other runners had to stop. Also Branka Hajek had to stop. She led the women for a long time, but then had stomach problems. Pamaela Veith, well know at ultrarunning, won the women’s race.

After Adam and Florian had finished, they were driven to the accommodation by my wife. So they could use the time to shower. It would be stupid for them to wait almost an hour to take me as well. After I finished there was still not much around. A small Red Cross tent had been built up to serve some drinks for the runners; a food truck sold some food and another tent was getting prepared for the award ceremony. Oh, by the way – showers! I think there was nothing like that. At least there was no sign for it. Not long behind me Georg finished as well. So we both could take together a ride to the accommodation. Luckily it was only two kilometers away. While my wife and I left Husum after the race, the rest of the LG runners stayed until Sunday. They had enough time to stay at the award ceremony and have together breakfast on the next day.

Results:
Men: Women:
Place Name Surename Time Place Name Surename Time
1 Zahoran Adam 7:09:03 1 Veith Pamela 8:15:09
2 Sommer Michael 7:15:56 2 Mallmann Barbara 8:32:28
3 Hegmann Tobias 7:31:28 3 Stöppler Simone 8:51:31
14 Koch Rainer 8:33:54 14

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