Woerschacher 100k Moorlauf

i was browsing the net before i boarded the train to woerschach, a tiny village in upper styria, halfway between graz and salzburg. i was just surfing the usual ultrarunning sites, the race reports, looked through equipment lists... all in mental preparation for the Woerschacher 100Km Moorlauf - my third ultra marathon after the deutschlandsberg 50k and the 90k comrades marathon. on stan jensen's page i ran across a quote that gave me a good giggle:

"Any idiot can run a marathon. It takes a special kind of idiot to run
an ultramarathon" - Alan Cabelly

little did i understand then, how much truth i would discover in that quote.

finishing the comrades marathon strong and with close to negative splits in june made me cocky, i felt well trained, i was lean (relative that is), mean (relative that is) and definitely up for all kind of mischief. i had remaind unhurt through some hard weeks of training, a 50k lsd a couple of weeks ago felt quite doable, and i knew that physically i was ready.

i made it to woerschach in time for the pasta party where all 37 contestants were welcomed. a couple of us crashed with sleeping bags in the hall of the local school but a good night sleep it was not. after a lot of tossing and turning i got up around 4:30, moseyed over to the start, picked up my number. when the gun went off at 6:00 it was still pitch-black out with the 2km course beautifully illuminated with candles. i had bumbled, i had my number in hand, i had lost my safety pins, but as all the other 36 runners had already taken off, so did it. i could hear a river to the right of the dirt road, i then crossed a field on a little trail, joined another dirt road which brought me back to the start. i settled into a nice pace of 6min/k as i had planned. i felt that if everything went optimally, i might be able to hold that for a good portion of the race and finish somewhere within striking distance of 10 hours. although the trail was clearly illuminated with lights i could not see another runner anywhere and was wondering whether i had taken a wrong turn. i got new pins when i passed the start/finish area and somehow got the number stuck to my shirt, i still had not been halfway through my third turn when i was lapped by 10 guys - well about a third of the field - all huffing and puffing like steam engines. over the first 5 laps i was passed by a total of 32 out of 37 runners, by most i was passed at least twice actually, and i was wondering whether they knew something that i did not - "pardon me, has the distance been changed to a 10K while i was not looking?" but they were already again out of acoustic range - i stopped puzzled and seriously considered bagging it. my sweetie and my folks, all three had agreed to be support staff, would not get here for another 2.5 hours, it was close to freezing, the area was pretty, so, what the hell, i continue my run. i was moving through scenic, quiet wetlands, slowly appearing through the lifting fog, dawn was braking, and some shear rock faces all around us were slowly taking shape. i felt comfortable, my legs moved in a steady, relaxed and efficient pace. every couple of minutes, however, i felt like i was stuck in lewis carrol story when another single runner or small group whizzed by, breaking the silence with blinding speed and heavy breathing. pictures moved all the time, majestic mountains changed colors with the arrival of dawn and the rising sun, my mind was at ease, the laps clicked by, harmony ruled and life was good. the sun had climbed higher, my support crowd had arrived in the meantime, i was pleased when i reached the marathon mark in 4:20 feeling strong. somehow the field had thinned considerably by then and it was only occasionally now that i was lapped by a runner - it turned out that many had given up by that time, maybe they suddenly realized that half marathon pace wont fly in a 100k - i still have no idea what they had in mind with their strategy :-O i celebrated the 50k mark in 5:20 with my sweetie mooi who joined me for a couple of laps.

trouble started a few laps later when each lap suddenly felt like it lasted much longer compared to before, even though my watch indicated that it did not. time, which had previously flowed past smoothly, suddenly got stuck on my shirt and could only be removed with a lot of effort. sure, legs were tired, they had been for a while, but this now was different. i was bored out of my mind, i knew every damn turn of the road, every tree that waited behind, even the mountains began to weigh on me. 28 laps down, 22 to go :-( the further i went, the longer each lap lasted, with each step approaching eternity. that was when my mind again dragged out that quote that i had giggled about the day before:

"Any idiot can run a marathon. It takes a special kind of idiot to run
an ultramarathon" - Alan Cabelly

now i knew what he ment - i felt it with gut-wrenching intensity - especially when you run and run and run and still remain on the same stupid little spot on earth. i spare you the details of the marathon from hell that followed. there was never a question whether i would finally finish within the cutoff, no bones where sticking out anywhere, blisters were under control, physiologically i was in reasonable balance, and i was still moving - but i had lost my mental focus and all i did was fantasize now about finally being able to stop. as always i am deeply indebted to my sweetie and my folks, first a couple laps with my dad, and then the last 10 with my sweetie took some of the monotony off my mind - but these laps still lasted forever.

i finally did complete the 50th lap just under 12 hours, second to last of those who finished, i was exhausted and broken. none of that exhilerating feeling of having achieved something that one is sooo incredibly proud of, no, this one was the toughest battle that i have ever waged with myself, i had reached my mental limits and struggled with them for many hours. there was no doubt that i would eventually win, but the process had bruised me deeply. maybe i had not fully recovered from the comrades, maybe i was lacking the determination i had then, maybe it was because my comrades buddie keith was not there, maybe it was running the same stupid lap over and over, but i have seen my limits so much clearer than ever before. i had planned to try for the western states next spring, however, if i want to join this league, then i will have to do a whole lot more home work before then.

a bit happy, but a whole lot more tired,
lobsterman


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