https://www.facebook.com/susanvanduijl/posts/10158052642190552
Sometimes the GPX file from the Ahrsteig website and the signposting did not match. We followed the signposting in that case. We had stashed water in four places along the route. I ran together with Jeroen Krosse until 76 km. He finished in 12:28.
Trip report (also on Facebook) Adventures in times of COVID-19
A couple of weeks ago when our yearning for adventure started to become untenable, Thomas and I started thinking about a semi-allowed and responsible way to get our ultra kicks. Running the Ahrsteig solo in opposite directions starting at the same time on a weekday, waving at each other somewhere along the route seemed to make the best sense logistically, speed-wise and corona-wise. I got to pick my direction (Blankenheim - Sinzig) which meant that Thomas would end up with 500 meters more elevation gain than me... Jeroen was ready for some ultra training too and joined me for a mixed team FKT attempt.
On Thursday night after a quick stop at Thomas' place to exchange finish bags and to take the usual setting-off-on-an-adventure picture, we drove towards our starting point. We dropped off three liters of water at the 18 / 82 k point, parked in Blankenheim, and transformed my car into a camper. Unbelievable but it worked and I even slept well! We woke up at 6 AM and after having near-synchronous cups of coffee and more over Whatsapp with Thomas, Jeroen and I walked to the source of the river Ahr in the town's center, where we started at 7:06 AM, a few minutes after Thomas on his end.
The weather was perfect (blue skies!) and the first 40-something k went by quickly and felt pretty easy. We could run most of it, although the first steep uphill where we thought walking was justified came as a bit of a relief. I definitely prefer the hike-run-fly variation in the mountains over the continuous hill running! After 46 k we met Thomas and symbolically exchanged car keys. Pretty soon after this, the adventure started to hurt. Shot quads already?! It was hard to keep going and despite taking only 5 hours 40 minutes for the first half, I already knew there was no way we would maintain that pace. Passing through our beloved training grounds near Altenahr and replenishing our water gave me some new energy but I could tell Jeroen was still in the pain cave.
A long stretch of flat (?) running along the Ahr near Rech definitely didn't help but after a cold splash of Ahr water and the signpost that said 24 k left to Sinzig, I got a second wind. My legs almost felt fresh again. Well, sort of. Quads were still shot, but with the finish in sight, Jeroen and I decided to each continue at our own pace. At 78 k I found our last stash of water (hidden in the grass under a tree) and started calculating if I could still make it under 12 and a half hours. It seemed barely possible but I ran my heart out for another two hours, frantically updating the calculations in my head until 3 k before the end I was sure I would make it. (If I had been able to properly count during running, I would have known this well before of course...) It was all downhill from there. I arrived at the castle in Sinzig after 12 hours 16 minutes, welcomed by Thomas, who had finished after 10 hours and 57 minutes in Blankenheim and then raced back (in my car) to where he started in the morning. Jeroen took a nap along the way and ended up running his heart out too, finishing after 12 hours 28 minutes.
A damn good adventure if you ask me! Thanks guys!