FKT: Christina Kirk - The Pendling Express - 2025-07-05

Athletes
Route variation
Standard route
Multi-sport
No
Para athlete
No
Gender category
Female
Style
Self-supported
Start date
Finish date
Total time
8h 3m 25s
Report

I wanted to run this route for a while now. This year it seemed like the perfect opportunity to use it for my GGUT (Großglockner Ultratrail) preparation 😃.

I have to admit that I underestimated the course a bit. While preparing for the run, I uploaded the GPX into a tool, that's usually quite good at predicting my run times based on a reasonable flat equivalent pace. According to that I should have been able to stay under 8 hours without much effort. Well, that's not how it went 😅 Especially the first half was very technical, and the path was not always clearly visible. Starting from the Buchackernalm, it went much better 😊

Since water shortage was mentioned in all reports so far (the one by Benni and Lukas and the one by Michael), I took extra care and resupplied at the Pendlinghaus (costs 2€), Höhlensteinhaus, a creek and two springs. 

I traveled to Kufstein by train and caught a bus to Brixlegg Bahnhof once I had finished splashing around in the river 🏊‍♀️.

Short weather report: I was aware that July is not really the best time to run here, because it can get quite hot, but in the end I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of shade, since most of the route is actually below treeline. Around noon, some clouds provided cover from the sun. When I was almost at the top of Voldöpp it looked like a thunderstorm was coming, so I put in a good effort to get down. In the end it only rained for a bit during the last downhill.

Run/Walk/Stand according to Garmin: 3:21:32/4:24:23/17:30