On Saturday was the 30th annual 80K (50 mile) Fidelitas Night Run in Ruppurr, by Karlsruhe, Germany. This was the third year that I participated in the race, here is my story.
I arrived at the PSK sport center almost two hours before the start of the race and got my start packet before it got busy. One of the members of my running club was already there, so we sat and chatted until the rest of our group showed up. There were five of us running the entire race, plus five running the relay – four as part of our running club relay, and the other for another club that he belongs to.
It was a beautiful day outside, sunny with a cool breeze, around 26°C/79°F – hot, but not too hot. We visited until shortly before the race started, then lined up at the Start. I settled in toward the back of the pack and soon we were off.
I really wasn’t sure what kind of performance to expect from my old bones as I started over the first few kilometers. I had run my fastest marathon to date just two weeks before, but knew I had had a good recovery and this would not be an excuse. I settled into a comfortable pace, around 6:00/km (9:39/mi.), and just kind of played it by ear.
I ran and chatted with a couple guys that were running about my pace for 15-20 minutes until they decided to speed up. We let the forested section of the course and turned into the town of Durlach. At this point it was still semi-shady so I kept the pace going. We passed by the train stationed and eventually back out of town. At this point the hottest section of the course began, a roughly five mile section of unshaded, asphalt bike paths that would bring us to the town of Grotzingen and our first hill climb.
There were a couple aid stations along this section that were very welcome, I was sure to drink at each one. I entered Grozingen and stopped at the aid station for a banana, then headed up the hill bringing out of town. I ran about half the hill, then walked the rest, I knew I needed to conserve my energy for later. At the top I passed the 20K point (according to my Garmin), my time 2:01:42, very good considering walking the hill. I cruised along the familiar trails where I run my long run on weekends, eventually heading down the other side of the “mountain” into Johlingen.
On the other side of Johlingen we again climbed, this time a series of three smaller hills, I elected to walk most of them, my time was already 10-15 minutes ahead of lasts years time. I passed one of my running club members, Walter, around the 30K point (time = 3:07:29), he was slowing but still seemed to be moving well. Later I would find out he dropped out after around 35 km – knee problems, the same problem as last year.
I ran down a long downhill section into the town of Singen that left my right knee feeling a bit sore, I ignored it and kept moving, the biggest hill climb was right before me. The hill out of Singen to Mutschelbach is the longest and steepest hill of the race, I again chose to walk it. This was a good recovery for my legs and especially my knees, they felt like they took quite a beating coming down the long hill into Singen.
I passed through Mutschelbach and an aid station, a couple of my running club were there, they asked where Walter was. I mentioned that I passed him around the 30K. I kept moving, climbing a long, but not so steep hill towards Langensteinbach. On the way I passed the marathon point, in roughly 4:33:13, about five minutes ahead of last year.
In Langensteinbach I stopped at the aid station at the firehouse where my drop bag was. It was still much too warm for a running jacket so I tied it around my waist. I had a PB & Honey sandwich in my jacket pocket but could only eat half of it, my stomach was not in the best of shape. I gathered my things and ran on. It was getting dark, but I was still able to see enough without my flashlight.
I trekked through a forested section and then climbed up the hill, then down a steep hill into Ittersbach, passing the 50K point in 5:38:26. I drank a couple cups of sports drink at the aid station and climbed the last major hill of the day. By this time I needed my headlight, and to make matters worse was starting to have some digestive issues. I spent several kilometers hoping I would find some bushes if the need should arise and also trying to figure out what I ate or drank that was throwing my system off.
At the next aid station I started drinking cola and ate a couple pieces of dry bread. My stomach was rumbling up a storm and I felt like I was going to vomit or worse at any time. I did my best to ignore my inconvience and plodded on to Langenalb. At the Langenalb aid station a runner caught up with me that I recognized from several ultras that I ran, we talked a bit and he suggested that I drink malt beer (non-alchoholic) or cola, and not to drink any more water. My stomach was still unsettled so I tried the malt beer and headed out.
The course headed down a 2-3 mile, gradual downhill through one of the darkest sections of the course. The forest was thick and black, even with a headlight you had to stay concentrated on the logging road in front of you to avoid tripping over a stone or root. This part of the trail seemed like it goes on forever, mostly due to the tunnel-vision I guess.
I was glad when I finally popped out onto the lighted streets of Marxell. I ran by a co-workers house and down the last hill to the aid station below. I drank some cola, ate another piece of bread and kept moving. After a few minutes my stomach ached, I almost wished that I would vomit and get it over with. But this was the least of my worries in the moment, I was in desperate need of a restroom and there were none to be had. I walked for a minute or two and weighed my options, the next town was about 8K/5M ahead. We were running through a dark, forested section on a logging road and I saw no lights around – so decided to keep running and stop if I had too.
As I ran my stomach settled down somewhat and I managed to keep going to the next aid station. I drank some more coke and moved on. My urge for a rest room declined and I was able to push forward, running most of the way to Ettlingen. As I left the dirt logging trails and started pounding my way along the asphalt streets of Ettlingen my knee started to ache again. As I pulled up to the aid station I grabbed some more coke and walked a bit. The relay members of my running club and Walter were just outside the aid station, I was able to cry on their shoulder a bit. Walter said my time was still really good, I would at least break 10 hours if I could keep the pace going.
With 9K left and nothing better to do I moved on – around the corner where I prompted threw up! So finally getting that behind me, I was able to again pick up the pace and run a bit more comfortably. Actually I was running and walking by this time, but now I tried to limit my walking to 20 steps before pushing on for another kilometer or so. According to my Garmin I alternated a 7:00/8:00 pace every other kilometer (around 12:00-13:00/mile) through this section, not bad for this stage of the game.
With 5K to go my stomach was feeling slightly better (finally) and my knee at least allowed me to run. I was so ready for the race to be over with, I just wanted to sit down. I crossed over the bridge of the Autobahn and knew I had about 4K/2.5M to go. I plodded on trying to keep up with a couple people that had past me at the last aid station. With about 2K to go they stopped ahead of me and started looking for trail markings – nothing. We talked about what we should do, then decided to take the path that led straight on. I was not in shape to argue or to think or that matter, so followed along.
We came upon some marking and figured we were good to go, a few minutes later we rolled into the stadium, unfortunately the wrong one – we were back at the start, the finish was in a different stadium. By this time a couple more runners showed up and we mingled in confusion for a minute, then decided to backtrack. We took another path that eventually led us to the proper stadium, but of course on the wrong side – but the helpers waved us in and over the finish line – from the wrong direction – but they didn’t make a big deal out of it – apparently we were not the first ones to lose the way. And not the last, people were going from every direction imaginable – it seemed like the funniest thing at the moment.
Anyway I crossed the finish line to the cheers of my running club group and others around, my time a satisfying 9:31:41, 6 minutes slower than the year before, but very good considering the stomach issues.
I found something to drink, then joined my club members as we waited for the other to arrive. Birgit arrived about 20 minutes later, good for under 10 hours and a new personal best. The last of the relay team accompanied her in. Her husband Andreas came in five minutes later, also under 10 hours, great job.!
The first half of the race went really well, if I hadn’t had stomach issues I would have probably finished closer to 9:00-9:15, but that’s what makes an ultra so interesting – you never know what you’ll face when you start running. I guess I did okay hanging in there, I think next time I may need to bring my own sports drink – what was offered didn’t work for me this time around.
So know I look forward to slowing down for a week or two. It is Monday as I write and I already have run my first recovery run. My knee is a bit tender, but after it warmed up it didn’t bother me any longer. Have a nice week!
