The run took place in supported style. We started on monday, the 9th of June at 10:00 in Marktredwitz and finished on sunday, the 15th of June in Passau, at the bridge at 13.09 exactly (total elapsed time 147 hours and 9 minutes). We had overall stable, hot(!) weather without rain or thunderstorms.
The first 86km I ran with Gabrielle ten Velde, and her Mother, Jeanette Isendoorn, was so kind to support with her Camper where a power nap took place. We had aid stations every +- 25 km. During the week, short power naps were taken in the Camper.
Sebastiaan van Tongeren joined for the first 3 nights. Erik Kemper joined on the second day as support crew (and joined some sections during the day running) and also supported with his Camper (as Gabrielle and Jeanette unfortunately had to leave after the first day). My Wife, Lotti, joined the last three days. This included a remote section of circa 50 km without aid stations; therefore, Lotti was so kind to take many liters of water in her backpack as temperatures were high (above 25 degrees Celsius) on exposed mountain ridges without shade.
We followed the GPX and trail markings, (as the Goldsteig is very well marked!). When a trail was not acessible, we took the nearest available trail and entered the original route as soon as possible (this was for example, the case straight after the start in Markredwitz as there was a road block due to construction work and just before we started the long climb towards the Arber mountain).
Recording the entire length (over 400 km!) with one Strava recording proved to be a real challenge. For an unknown reason, the recording was briefly paused and some parts of the recording show unrealistic splits due to poor GPS connectivity. We anticipated this, as I was carrying two additional GPS trackers.
There was live tracking available for the people at home and we worked together with the well-established company Legendstracking to ensure transparency and accuracy. The start and Finish times can be found here: https://goldsteignord.legendstracking.com/
The Legends tracker recorded the entire run too without pause and was perfectly traceable throughout the journey (from start to finish).
Overall, it was a fantastic experience. The nature was wild, rugged and the highest peak (1456 m) was impressive.
But most of all, I would like to thank the golden ultra team for all the unconditional support (Lotti, Gab, Jet, Seb & Erik!). We really had a great time out there together during days. That forms a really special bond. Without you it would not be possible. My heart is full. A golden adventure!