The Schwanberglauf is an iconic 10.4km hill race,
which starts in the idyllic Franconian village of Iphofen and finishes in the
castle park of the village of Castell. In between lies the sublime Schwanberg
hill, an elevation of 474m above sea level, which is to be
crossed.
This was the second time that I was running this
race. As many of you know, the hill is my preferred place to run and hike, so
this race is something special for me – sharing the paths of “my” beloved hill
with more than a thousand other runners for one evening of the
year.
In the days leading up to the race, I wasn’t 100%
sure whether or not I should participate. I felt a bit fatigued, my breathing
was causing me problems and the weather forecast didn’t look too rosy from a
runner’s perspective - +30°C and sunshine. Secretly though, I knew that I would
participate.
I had a nice leg massage the evening before the
race and felt quite fresh and rested on Friday afternoon. Since it was the
second week of my ultramarathon training plan, I decided to run without watch,
without any pressure regarding the finishing time and to just consider it a
training run. I was struggling a bit to get the weekly kilometres in so I packed
my hydration vest with water, a gel and my new Hoka One One babies and had it
transferred to the finish line in Castell with the plan to run the route back to
Iphofen after the race.
I met with the rest of the gang from the running
club before the start and everyone was a bit nervous about the upcoming climb. I
also met my younger brother who was running his first race there. He was
participating for his girlfriend’s employer and was therefore wearing her
running shirt, which looked a bit hilarious
;)
We lined up at the start line, somewhere in the
middle of the big group of runners. The sun was burning down mercilessly (+33°C)
and the minutes until the start seemed to last forever. Being surrounded by tall
sweaty men didn’t help much…
Then the race started. The first kilometre was
all about finding a way through the masses of runners heading up the hill. I saw
one guy stumble and fall in the crowd but luckily he got up again. We ran out of
the village and into the vineyards on the foot of the mountain. I was wearing my
New Balance Minimus and they felt great, incredibly light, on these first
meters. The worst part was right ahead of us though: The “Höttehött”, a steep
and narrow trail leading through the woods up to the top of the mountain. Super
runners like Kilian Jornet would probably hardly notice any elevation there but
for the average hobby runner like me, on a hot day like this, amidst a thousand
other sweating bodies, it felt like
Armageddon.
I was breathing heavily after a couple of meters already and one runner after
another passed me. It was a disgrace. The approx. 1km long trail seemed to last
forever. I felt that I was much slower than the year before, but when we finally
reached the top, unlike last year, my legs weren’t shaky and I managed to speed
up almost immediately. Looks like a the squats and hill runs are finally paying
off leg-wise
From that point onwards, the race went very well.
I didn’t know how fast or slow I was going but managed to pass one runner after
another. It felt good! Knowing the course definitely helped here – the surface
of the forest ways was familiar to me and I knew where it was possible to speed
up. True, I was taking a little risk running downhill at full speed on a rocky
surface in my minimalist shoes but it was fun!
We ran through the forest and down on the
backside of the hill, where the path lead us into the vineyards of Castell.
Running on the flat again after kilometres of storming downhill felt like my
body had pulled a brake but the finish line wasn’t far. At this point, I had no
idea about how long it had taken me to complete the course. It could have been
58 minutes but it could also have been 1 hour and 10 minutes. In the end, I
crossed the finish line after 1 hour and 36 seconds. Once again, I failed to
make it under 1 hour, the secret threshold of this race that separates the
“real” runners from the rest of the field but I was still quite satisfied with
the result – only 30 seconds slower than the year before and I wasn’t absolutely
beaten.
In the finishing area, I met a few people from
the running club again and my brother, who smashed the race in 56 minutes. As
more runners came in, I quickly downed a bottle of water and a gel, before
changing into my Hokas, putting on my hydration vest and heading back. There
were still a few runners coming down the hill when I climbed it again, which was
a nice distraction. Almost all of them smiled and we exchanged a few words of
encouragement.
The way back wasn’t as bad as anticipated. I was
moving slowly but managed to jog most of the uphill sections. Once I had passed
the last race marshals dismounting the water stations, everything was quiet and
peaceful again. I had “my hill” back to myself and thoroughly enjoyed it (if
only it hadn’t been for the midgets…)
I saw a deer grazing on a meadow near the castle and it watched me, too, but then
decided that it was safe to continue grazing. I probably looked too beaten to
pose any risk
When I reached the front side of the hill again,
the sun was setting and everything was put into a wonderful orange light. It was
one of these special moments when you suddenly know what you are running for and
that you are meant to be out there in this very moment. I was high on endorphins
when I ran down the Höttehött trail again, happy to be doing what I love and
enjoying a beautiful ending to an exciting running
day.
which starts in the idyllic Franconian village of Iphofen and finishes in the
castle park of the village of Castell. In between lies the sublime Schwanberg
hill, an elevation of 474m above sea level, which is to be
crossed.
This was the second time that I was running this
race. As many of you know, the hill is my preferred place to run and hike, so
this race is something special for me – sharing the paths of “my” beloved hill
with more than a thousand other runners for one evening of the
year.
In the days leading up to the race, I wasn’t 100%
sure whether or not I should participate. I felt a bit fatigued, my breathing
was causing me problems and the weather forecast didn’t look too rosy from a
runner’s perspective - +30°C and sunshine. Secretly though, I knew that I would
participate.
I had a nice leg massage the evening before the
race and felt quite fresh and rested on Friday afternoon. Since it was the
second week of my ultramarathon training plan, I decided to run without watch,
without any pressure regarding the finishing time and to just consider it a
training run. I was struggling a bit to get the weekly kilometres in so I packed
my hydration vest with water, a gel and my new Hoka One One babies and had it
transferred to the finish line in Castell with the plan to run the route back to
Iphofen after the race.
I met with the rest of the gang from the running
club before the start and everyone was a bit nervous about the upcoming climb. I
also met my younger brother who was running his first race there. He was
participating for his girlfriend’s employer and was therefore wearing her
running shirt, which looked a bit hilarious
;)
We lined up at the start line, somewhere in the
middle of the big group of runners. The sun was burning down mercilessly (+33°C)
and the minutes until the start seemed to last forever. Being surrounded by tall
sweaty men didn’t help much…
Then the race started. The first kilometre was
all about finding a way through the masses of runners heading up the hill. I saw
one guy stumble and fall in the crowd but luckily he got up again. We ran out of
the village and into the vineyards on the foot of the mountain. I was wearing my
New Balance Minimus and they felt great, incredibly light, on these first
meters. The worst part was right ahead of us though: The “Höttehött”, a steep
and narrow trail leading through the woods up to the top of the mountain. Super
runners like Kilian Jornet would probably hardly notice any elevation there but
for the average hobby runner like me, on a hot day like this, amidst a thousand
other sweating bodies, it felt like
Armageddon.
I was breathing heavily after a couple of meters already and one runner after
another passed me. It was a disgrace. The approx. 1km long trail seemed to last
forever. I felt that I was much slower than the year before, but when we finally
reached the top, unlike last year, my legs weren’t shaky and I managed to speed
up almost immediately. Looks like a the squats and hill runs are finally paying
off leg-wise
From that point onwards, the race went very well.
I didn’t know how fast or slow I was going but managed to pass one runner after
another. It felt good! Knowing the course definitely helped here – the surface
of the forest ways was familiar to me and I knew where it was possible to speed
up. True, I was taking a little risk running downhill at full speed on a rocky
surface in my minimalist shoes but it was fun!
We ran through the forest and down on the
backside of the hill, where the path lead us into the vineyards of Castell.
Running on the flat again after kilometres of storming downhill felt like my
body had pulled a brake but the finish line wasn’t far. At this point, I had no
idea about how long it had taken me to complete the course. It could have been
58 minutes but it could also have been 1 hour and 10 minutes. In the end, I
crossed the finish line after 1 hour and 36 seconds. Once again, I failed to
make it under 1 hour, the secret threshold of this race that separates the
“real” runners from the rest of the field but I was still quite satisfied with
the result – only 30 seconds slower than the year before and I wasn’t absolutely
beaten.
In the finishing area, I met a few people from
the running club again and my brother, who smashed the race in 56 minutes. As
more runners came in, I quickly downed a bottle of water and a gel, before
changing into my Hokas, putting on my hydration vest and heading back. There
were still a few runners coming down the hill when I climbed it again, which was
a nice distraction. Almost all of them smiled and we exchanged a few words of
encouragement.
The way back wasn’t as bad as anticipated. I was
moving slowly but managed to jog most of the uphill sections. Once I had passed
the last race marshals dismounting the water stations, everything was quiet and
peaceful again. I had “my hill” back to myself and thoroughly enjoyed it (if
only it hadn’t been for the midgets…)
I saw a deer grazing on a meadow near the castle and it watched me, too, but then
decided that it was safe to continue grazing. I probably looked too beaten to
pose any risk
When I reached the front side of the hill again,
the sun was setting and everything was put into a wonderful orange light. It was
one of these special moments when you suddenly know what you are running for and
that you are meant to be out there in this very moment. I was high on endorphins
when I ran down the Höttehött trail again, happy to be doing what I love and
enjoying a beautiful ending to an exciting running
day.