(Belated) 7th Running Anniversary

Willpower Crew at "Jetzt erst recht" Zugspitz Ultratrail

(Pic by David Rott)

Willpower Crew & Force Majeure

(Pic by Selbstauslöser)

ISPO Nightrun 5k Endspurt

(Pic by Lisa Mehl)

Olyberg-Marathon-Schrott

(Pic by Lisa Mehl)

Olympic Spirit. Every Day.

(Pic by Stephan Wieser)

Rodgau Love

(Pic by Stephan Wieser)

Rodgau Love pt.II

(Pic by Stephan Wieser)

Hoch3 - The Aftermath

(Pic by Nils Laengner)

Hoch3 - Bergsprint

(Pic by Nils Laengner)

Ultraks Life

(Pic by Stephan Wieser)

Lenertz Hochzeitsgesellschaft

(Pic by Martin Liebl aka Kein Hochzeitsfotograf)

On July 12th, 7 years ago, I started running. Well, it’s late December now and thus a bit late for my obligatory „Running Anniversary“ posting, but I simply didn’t feel it in July. It took me another couple of months to reflect on this very special (running) year to finally come to the conclusion: It was awesome. 

I know this opinion might be rather unpopular, but 2020 was one of the best years in my life. Besides endless bliss coming from my little family, which includes 2 cats and my lovely girlfriend Lisa, drinking incredible amounts of great coffee and seeing Willpower move on from a hawker’s tray to a multi billion dollar business (ok, I am calming down now), there’s also been plenty of experiences, that made running great in 2020. Here’s my personal best of running 2020: 

• Despite being very few, the races I did in 2020 were all absolutely wonderful. I can literally count them on the fingers of one hand: Rodgau 50k, Ispo Night Run 5k, Mayrhofen Ultraks and Hoch3 aka „Mini TAR“ in Imst. These few turns definitely made up for the all the cancelled events, which I already have forgotten. 

• Doing our own private Zugspitz Ultratrail (ZUT) with Team Willpower was also an A-Z extraordinary experience. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed running in the mountains as much as on this weekend. It was just the right people at the right time in the right place. Everything was awesome. 

• When the pandemic hit humanity hard for the first time, I was in the midst of training for a fast half marathon which obviously got cancelled. Despite a little nick-neck on my shin I sort of finished the training and ran this private half marathon all by myself on a measured 5k route in the Olympiapark, Munich. It was raining heavily and my body hurt from top to bottom, but I hardly ever felt so strong and focused. I really enjoyed myself.

• Speaking of the Olympiapark: What would I do without you? I literally live 400 meters away from this running paradise. I have no idea how many thousands of kilometers I have run in this wonderful public park, but I don’t think I ever disliked being there. The main features of the Olympiapark in short: 

  • All terrain, from hilly to flat, from muddy to road, from straight to curvy

  • No traffic lights and no cars

  • Two public restrooms (won’t lie, this IS awesome)

  • A giant hill (breathtaking 50m high)

  • And most of all: A truly inspiring olympic spirit

• About that giant hill: It’s called „Olympiaberg“ and really, it has an elevation of almost exactly 50 meters. So one day Michi Knoche and me got the idea to run up the Olympiaberg until we have gained 1000m in elevation. Let me help you do the math. Thats twenty times. „Not too much of a problem“ is what we thought. Thoughtlessly we picked a 2,8km route for our early Sunday morning endeavor. In retrospective a little too ambitious for my training level during that time. After 42.2km and 750hm I threw the towel. A true „Schrotthaufen“ experience, being completely exhausted but happily laughing. 

• Ok, and here is my last highlight: I am very thankful that I could run 4000+ km in 2020 without any noteworthy injury. As a matter of fact, I am hardly ever injured, but I do not take this for granted at all. Some of my closest friends struggle with constant on/off running injuries and I sincerely feel their grief. 

Once again I apologize to all my non-running friends for making you suffer through this text. To my defense I would like to mention, that, over the last 7 years, running has become much more to me than just a „hobby“. It shapes the way I look at things, teaches me important lessons, regularly points out my boundaries and at the same time makes me feel more alive than anything else. 

Thank you, 2020. Thank you, running.

Das Z 

PS: Bonus highlight —> I was invited to the most pleasant and fun wedding of my life. Christiane and Henning Lenertz succeeded at what most other happy couples fail terribly by setting up a very casual, low-key and absolutely loving wedding weekend that everyone enjoyed very much. And yes of course, running and eating were involved.