74km P-Weg German championship in Plettenberg, Germany

It is a very strange year. In the previous years the LG Würzburg always had many runners at the championships and therefore many teams. But this year it did not work out well. Also at the Ultratrail-Championship in Plettenberg we only had two runners on the start.

Georg drove with us. My wife and he still had to work on Friday, while I already had vacation. First, I picked up her from work and then picked him up at home. Afterwards we drove to Plettenberg. It was about 350km to drive that is why it was too far to drive up on the day of the race. At 6pm we arrived and immediately went to pick up our start numbers. On the way to pick up our start numbers we already met some friends. A small talk here, a small talk there, but finally we got to pick up the numbers. After that we went to the gym to get a sleeping place. Already some other runners were there. But we were lucky because there were still some free gym mats. So we did not need to use our own mats, as well it was much more comfortable to sleep.

At the next morning breakfast started at 6am. It was just a few meters from the gym to reach the breakfast room and the start line. But there was not much time for having a long breakfast because the start was already at 7am.

After the start a small group of five runners ran away. With them was only one group runner. All the other group runners are far behind us, the following group. That situation remained until the end. It turned out again, that a group not always is faster than a single runner. After the start there was immediately an uphill. It was the first of three big ones. Compared to 2008, when Plettenberg had the German Championship the last time, the course was longer. Now we had 74km and about 2000 altitudes. But the three big uphills remained. Before the race, I had planed to run slowly in the beginning of the race. That means to run slowly for the first 50k and therefore for the three uphills. After the first hill we ran down to the biking track. This was a flat and brought us to the second hill. That was tricky, because it induced us to speed up. During the night it had rained a lot. Therefore the ground was soaked and slippery. Luckily, during the day it remained dry. Only at the late afternoon, when just a few runners are still on the course, it started to rain. Even it remained dry a few runners fell. Also in the leading groups. Nevertheless the ranking remained as it was. Finally, during the last 24k, I passed three runners. So I got on the fifth place.

After I had finished, I just went to shower. The warm days had passed, so it was no fun to stand around at the finish line at the buffet. The showers are placed about 500m away at the bauhof. It was a simple shower, but very warm. After showering we had to wait for the award ceremony. The award ceremony from the club was already at 2pm. But the award ceremony for the championship was at 4pm. It started in time, but just after it started there was a break. According to the judge the winner signed in to late. Therefore he should not been counted for the championship. After some discussions they decided to do preliminary results and count him as the winner. Later everything should be checked again to finalize the results. Because of that many certificates had to been printed again. Finally, at about 6pm we left towards home. So, until we arrived at home, it was again a very long day again.