Race Report Rennsteig – Part 1

Race morning was a bit chaotic. My parents overslept, so we left a bit later than I would have liked from our hotel. After we got to Eisenach, I took a few photos and checked in my clothes (to be brought to the finish in Schmiedefeld). The lines in front of the toilet were a bit long at 10 minutes before the start, but I still decided to wait (not many people coming after me, though). Some people in front of me left for the start, but it was getting awfully close. I had to take a deep breath to remind me that it probably didn’t matter if I was a few minutes late for the start. So I took my time and listened to the start count down from a porta potti. When I finished a minute or two later and made it to the start area, there were still enough people waiting to start. So I just got going, and as Rennsteig is a modern “chip time” race, it wasn’t a problem at all.

Right before crossing the start-line.

It was quite cold, so I started with my long tights. An easy jog through town, a right hand turn, and the first hill. People started walking, and so did I. A little bit later we left the road for the smaller trails and there was a bit of unplanned walking because of the congestion. The uphills continued, and so did the walking.

My time plan was out of the window as soon as I hit the 5k mark - a bit over 40 minutes instead of the “guesstimated” 35. The pace felt okay, relaxed but not too slow, with some walking when the uphills were getting steep. So I decided to continue in that fashion and not worry about any time goals I may have had.

View of the Wartburg (in fog) after about 6k.

After 6.8k we hit the first aid station, and a bit afterwards I saw my wife and my parents. Smiling, I gave them my long tights (it was getting warm enough to run in the short tights) and told them I’d be a bit slower than planned.

The next time I saw them was at the 17.7k mark. The uphills were taking much more time than I had planned, but I tried to take things easy and controlled.

It’s still a cross country race!

At the 26.8k mark, I had hit the end of the long uphill section. Unfortunately, that also meant going on the first long downhill section – but that was way too steep to be properly runnable and not really a chance to make up lost time. I was more than 20 minutes behind my initial time plan – so instead of 8 hours (as planned) 9 hours was a bit more realistic. Again, I saw my parents and my wife (more smiles) and ate a bit at the aid station.

I felt okay, I hadn’t wasted any unnecessary energy, we were having some nice weather (clouds and fog had given way to sunny weather), great scenery and I was really enjoying myself.