With a temperature of 20°C and a light summer rain, I began my tour around Fehmarn, far to the north of the island, at the Niobe Campground. Running clockwise, I first passed Puttgarden, the massive construction site for the Fehmarnbelt tunnel, and the Marienleuchte Lighthouse, before heading along the east coast on familiar ground (I ran the Fehmarn Marathon here in 2024) toward the Staberhuk Lighthouse. With a view of the iconic Fehmarnsund Bridge, I then ran straight west, passed the bay south of Burg - where the big VW Bus Festival was taking place this weekend - and reached the small shipyard harbor of Fehmarnsund at KM 37, my first opportunity to refill my soft flasks at a public restroom.
After passing under the only bridge to the mainland as well as the island’s smallest lighthouse (Strukkamphuk), I came to the large Orther Bay, which I already knew from a long training run with my fiancée back in 2025.
But unfortunately, from then on (~KM 40), it was all over: The sun was beating down at nearly 30°C, with no shade and hardly any wind… it was time to run & walk.
The Flügge Lighthouse served as a benchmark and an important milestone, but it didn’t really motivate me. After that, I continued toward my goal through territory I hadn’t explored before. The island’s long west coast stretched on and on, but it also offered some variety: two or three campgrounds, the Jimi Hendrix memorial stone, and then, in the northwest, the fifth lighthouse (Westermarkelsdorf). The last six kilometers back to the Niobe Campground were fairly easy again, especially since I could be sure I’d clinch that FKT - even if only by a narrow margin.