June 20 2015, Saturday morning 7:15am in Grainau, Germany: more than 700 ultra trail enthusiasts start running into the misty mountain range around Zugspitze to participate in the fifth edition of the Salomon Zugspitz Ultratrail (ZUT), a 100k, 5.380Hm race. I am one of them.
There is a long story how I came to be part of this spectacle, how I trained and prepared for it, and I will write about this some other time in excruciating detail. The short story is that exactly one year prior to this event I had already been to Grainau: to celebrate the engagement of friends of mine. It was there that after the party we went to see a match of the soccer world championship in a local event venue – which that day doubled as the finish line for the 2014 ZUT. The impression of runners reaching the finish after running 10-26 hours in the mountains was absurd… and strangely tempting. As Rumi famously said:
Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.
That day a friend of mine and I – both of us never having done a run longer than a marathon, let alone a mountain run – decided to participate the following year. You know, jokingly at first, but it was a decision and we never changed our minds.
Back to the starting line: it had rained throughout the past night and rain with snow in higher altitudes will dominate the weather for the entire race. From the shelter that was provided by the music pavilion at the start, which the day before was also the venue for the opening ceremony and race briefing, the pack slowly starts ascending.
Trail conditions for the most part can be described euphemistically as soft ground. Large parts are extremely muddy. Some pathways in steep segments resemble mountain brooks, leading cynical participants to joke about ZUT as a canyoning event, not a trail run.
The route takes us on a counter-clockwise tour around a mountain group called Wetterstein with its main summit and highest peak in Germany: Zugspitze.
With start and finish in Grainau we pass Eibsee after easy 10k to get everyone warmed up and in running mode. The orange sign indicating “95 Km to finish” feels ridiculous, everybody is chatting and relaxed. It follows the first stretch of significant climb towards the German-Austrian border. Of course it is still raining, but the mountain rescue staff is as friendly and positive on either side as numerous people serving at the aid stations and preparing drinks, cake, sausage and fruits.
Starting from V3 Pestkapelle all participants are required to wear long outerwear due to freezing temperatures in the altitude. Because of the extreme weather conditions and safety concerns race officials also decide to shorten the race by about 9k and 800Hm and not let participants go up to Feldenjochl and Alpspitze. Although this makes this year’s ZUT not a true 100k race it was probably the right decision considering the condition of runners after 15+ hours in soaking wet gear, with cold and humid air going into the dark.
Next stops are Hämmermosalm and the climb up to Scharnitzjoch, which certainly was my personal highlight. Not only was it the highest point of the race, but hiking up to the snow-covered high alpine saddle above the tree line through low hanging clouds is absolutely spectacular and breath-taking (pun intended).
After an intense and technical downhill section we reach Hubertushof followed by a long very runnable section towards Mittenwald. At this point Michael Arend already finished 1st at 9:44h. For me the last long ascent from Partnachalm to Talstation Längenfelder begins: roughly 10k and almost 1000Hm. This is the first time my stomach feels odd and I have to stop fueling for a while. My mp3 player’s battery died several hours ago, but frankly the audio book I had listened to – Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth – was not going to push me up anyway. Instead I tune in Metallica on my phone (part of the mandatory kit). It helps, I gain a few positions and reach V9 relatively energized.
Darkness sets in for the final downhill back to Grainau and I am happy about a 1000 lumen headlamp. My quads took a heavy beating up to this point and I can only keep a running pace thanks to my trekking poles absorbing some of the impact of every step. Parts of the way are super slippery and I – just as many others – take a fall. The final kilometers are on road – of course it still rains – but the flat is a great relief for my knees. Running the last stretch in marathon pace I finish #182 (of 490 listed, 60 more DNF) in 14:54h. What an epic day!
Here is a video of a fellow ultra trail runner who apparently shaved off every extra gram from his race equipment so he could carry a GoPro and document the run. If you are not put off by the background music I hope you can enjoy some impressions of this adventure from the comfort of your couch. Unfortunately I don’t have a cameo appearance in the video, since I was about 1:30h faster than the camera 😉
References
- Official ZUT website: http://www.zugspitz-ultratrail.com/
- Grainau tourism: http://www.grainau.de/
- Another YouTube video, in Spanish, with beautiful shots
- Official YouTube video by the organizer