Was pleased to find this route as I was meant to be hiking in the Dolomites and then changed plans to visit Innsbruck due to bad weather. I was looking on Strava and FKT for a potential route and this one stood out as a cool line. Splits are as follows:
5:50am | 0m Goldenes Dachl Put the head torch on at the base of the climb.
6:21 | 31m Hungerburg Head torch off as the canopy disappeared and the gradient picked up.
7:30 | 1h40m Seegrube A few wrong turns on the scree just after Seegrube adding up to likely around 5-10 minutes.
8:10am | 2h20m Hafelekarspitze Quick pick of the beautiful sunrise and then straight back down. Bathroom break in the woods.
9:10am | 3h20m Hungerburg Had a 5 min break as I re-shuffled nutrition from inside pack to front, filled up water at public fountain and downed some food.
9:33am | 3h43m Goldenes Dachl Snapped a quick picture and pressed on through Innsbruck.
10:14am | 4h 24m Lanser See Still feeling good at this point, temps in the sun starting to pick up. Lots more navigation required in the woods which was slow and broke rythym as I was constantly checking my phone for directions. Once on the steeper sections of the climb the route became more obvious. Collected water from a stream.
12:05pm | 6h 15m Patscherkofel Schutzhau Legs starting to feel the accumulated elevation at this point. Filled up water at a public fountain along the trail.
12:31pm | 6h 41m Patscherkofel As had been the case all day, I was aware I was 10min off the pace of the previous FKT but knew I could make up time by not stopping in the final descent. I was nervous about cramping as I started down the descent but the legs felt fine and the terrain on this descent wasn’t as loose compared to Hafelekarspitze, so I could maintain a more consistent pace. Minor troubles with navigation in the woods agin but not as slow as the ascent.
1:50pm | 7h 50m Lanser See Home stretch and back into town. Had 20min to do 2km once I hit the pavement, possible so long as the cramps held off !
2:23pm | 8h 33m 11s Goldenes Dachl Thankfully no cramps and I was able to jog in and stop the clock underneath Goldness Dachl, now with bustling with people.
Overall, it was harder than expected, particularly the second climb that doesn’t appear to be as impressive as the first but was definitely a challenge as the accumulated elevation caught up to me.
Things that could be improved:
Nutrition: Only decided to run the evening before hand and so had to buy all food at a local supermarket that had no gels.
Shoes: Rocking some clearance TnF shoes that I had pretty well worn through walking the HRP in the Pyrenees. I think roller skates would have more grip and would definitely be more durable.
Navigation: Went off trail a couple of times on the first climb (lost about 5-10min). The forested section on the second climb was slightly confusing and disorienting, tracks everywhere. constantly pulling out my phone to check, very time consuming and disrupting to any rythym (happily another 10-15 min lost)
Water: I didn’t do as much recon as I should’ve on water refill points which meant I often carried surplus or would fill up from a stream when not required.
Thanks to the Black Diamond store in Innsbruck for loaning me a running pack to complete the effort.
Note: On a recon run the day prior I identified a closure in the grounds of Vermieterakademie Tirol that were taped off and I had been told by the grounds keepers that they were doing maintenance work and not to enter. Bypassed this small section and went straight down Weiherburggasse. The route taken would be slightly shorter but is still in the spirit of the route and would not have a significant impact on the time.