Rothaarsteig 160km from Brilon to Dillenburg, Germany

The Rothaarsteig is one of the most popular wandering routes in Germany. But this weekend it was used by eleven runners as a 100-Miler. Some of the runners arrived on Friday evening and slept in a private accommodation at Mattins house. He was the organizer. The start was scheduled for Saturday morning at 6am at the market place of Brilon. Before the start there was a photo shoot and a preliminary discussion. At the time of the start the weather was cloudy and cool 16°C. The weather did not change until Sunday. Time to time there was a breeze, which prevent rain. There were also some break through of the sun, but it was possible to count them on one hand.

Because of the storm Kyrill in February, the runners had to run some redirection. Also the original Rothaarsteig is not exactly 100 Miles. To compensate the missing miles there were two retour parts to reach aid stations. It was no official event, so every runner had to have his own supporter. It was possible for him to reach designated points to support the runner. Between the aids stations the distances were between five and sixteen kilometres. The marking was the official Rothaarsteig signs and a road book. It included the most important redirection. Even the cleaning up was in good progress, there were some trees to climb over or run around. This made the course besides the 3000 meter altitudes more difficult. On the other hand, there were beautiful views, because of the swept hilltops. René and I ran together from the beginning on and broke away from the rest. We were supported by Angi, his girlfriend. During the race we were informed, that four of the runners got out of the race quite soon. After Peter missed one of the retour parts we caught up to him at approximately 100km. After we passed him, we got lost. When we caught him the second time, we decided to continue together. Especially at night six eyes can see more than four. But that did not prevent us to get lost again. After some additional miles and a phone call with Mattin, we got back to the course and arrived at the next to last aid station. Ralf and his two friends, which started in Heinsberg, already arrived there. They left the aid station first, so it took a while until we caught them. Because nobody craved to finish the race with racing each other, we continued together until Dillenburg. Also the rest of the runners, Jens, Stephan and Franz decided to finish their 100-Miler together. They arrived about 1³/4 hours after us.

After arriving, we went to the leased rooms to have a shower and rest a bit. It was just a short rest, because at 8:30am there was a breakfast buffet prepared. All of us, runners as well as supporters were meeting there again before everybody was leaving home.

Results of the organisation Report of the organisation Report DUV Report of the DUV 03/07