On Thursday evening, January 29, 2026, we started at 11:20 p.m. in Kressbronn on Lake Constance, with temperatures around 0 degrees Celsius.This was our second FKT attempt on this route, after we had failed about halfway through on October 22, 2023 (due to injury).
The biggest challenges of this project were (as partly expected) definitely the cold and the wintry conditions. A partially clear, cold night, with icy fog, mirror-smooth roads (right from the start), kilometers of frozen snow, completely iced-over trails, and visibility that barely reached 20 meters in the early morning hours. As expected, there was also only one hopefully reliable water source in Markdorf.
This then formed the basis for our water management plan at the start. With 4 liters of water per person, plus 1.5 kg of gels/bars/etc., and extra warm clothing to avoid having to drop out due to hypothermia, the running pack weighed in at a hefty 6 kg.
After a good 8 hours in the dark and a constant battle against the cold, we had completed about 60% of the course. But the second half, as expected, was a real challenge. The otherwise good terrain offered a series of steep climbs, icy trails in the shaded areas, and rock-hard frozen snow on the meadows.
Additionally, at kilometer 93, there was a barrier due to forestry work, which we didn't want to cut because of the FKT. So we had to find a strenuous route through the undergrowth parallel to the main trail; this partly explains the extra kilometers.
The actual elevation gain of the entire route is approximately 2500 meters, which is significantly more than what common apps calculate from the GPX file.