6h-German Championship in Dreilinden, Kleinmachnow, Germany

Saturday morning we started towards Berlin. Dreilinden, which is south of Berlin, was roughly 460 km to drive and traffic jams where already broadcast. After an 6 hours drive, which was almost without jam, we arrived at the B&B hotel. It was an excellent location, since it was just next to the running course. After check in we went to pick up my start bib. It was in the old watch tower placed at the old inner German boarder. Florian and his family joined us as well, just before we left to pick up. After we went for dinner together.

Next morning we had first a huge breakfast. The start was at 9am, so there was no reason to rush. Just past 8:15am we went slowly towards the start area. There was also the place where people can storage their own supplies. Flo brought a small table, but there where already tables with rain shields set up by the organizer. They where much more comfortable. In time, at 9am, about 100 runners started on the 1019m lap. It was a flat loop within the industry area. Tomas Komass and Frank Merrbach ran fast from beginning on. They where followed by Michael Ohler and Ivan Penalba Lopez in quiet a distance. In compare to them Flo, Marko and I ran slowly and comfortable. We targeted to break the 70km mark and started with a 5 minute per kilometer speed. In my opinion it was already too cool, but most of the runners preferred these temperatures. It was a bit cloudy and about 20”C (68F). Marko fall back after about three hours, but caught up later and speeded up. While Marko was running faster, I had to slow down a bit. Also Frank seemed to have some issues, because Toms was continuing alone and Frank remained at the aid station. At this time the support station ran out of coke. At the beginning there was only water, ice tea, and some snacks. After three hours of running they also supported coke. Unfortunately, the demand was so huge that they soon ran out and it took a while till they got more. In the end I did not reach my 70km target. But together with the 73km from Marko and 72,5km from Flo we managed to get second place with the team. With all the good teams (LG Nord Berlin, Die Laufpartner, LG Mauerweg Berlin, and LG Ultralauf) I did not really count on it.

The award ceremony was starting quickly after the race, but finally took for ever. Since the entire event was only organized outdoor, it was then getting chilly. So, one was even more happy to get a hot shower after in the hotel. The following day we went home with a small detour via the Tropical Island.