Since I expected to do most of the climbing and possibly some of the more difficult terrain in the Zittau mountains, I decided to start in Zittau at about 7 a.m. My first destination was a small cafe in Jonsdorf called "Schwerdtner's Eisgarten", which was about 23 kilometers from the start. It was still early in the morning, but the cafe was just about to open. After a short break with some food from my back and some drinks from the cafe I continued to my next aid station which was the "Diska" supermarket in Großschönau. I stocked up with everything I needed for the next 30km and continued to my third and last aid station on my route, which was the "Sprint" gas station in Neusalza-Spremberg. I took a long rest there, as I wanted to cover the remaining 40km without any significant breaks. Sunset was coming soon, so I had a few hours to run in the dark, which was harder than I expected. The last 20km from Sohland to the Valtenberg were quite difficult and I slowed down significantly due to a combination of fatigue, sleepiness, a rooty and slippery trail, and last but not least because I took several wrong turns as the trail was hard to see in the dark. Although I was an hour slower than expected, I still made it to my destination around 23:30.