Like Son, Like Father

How running re-united my family. At least parts of it.

Foremost, thanks for the surprisingly large number of pre-orders of my first book, “Runhundred”. I’m honored that so many people care about this project ♥️

Like Son, Like Father

Today’s Das Z Letter has a different subject, though. I recently wrote a story for Laufzeit Magazine called “Wie der Sohn, so der Vater” (“Like Son, Like Father”). It’s about how running re-connected me with my dad. It’s in German language and available everywhere now.

(“Like Son, Like Father” story in Laufzeit #06 - German Language. And yes, I’ve seen the typo)

No Love Lost

As a teenager, I lost my heart to music. For 2 decades, all my love, time, and, yes, money flowed into my bands, my record labels, my fanzines, and my artist management agency. It was all-consuming, and although I regret nothing, I still admit that I missed the point when returns did not match my investment anymore. Both, figuratively and literally speaking. Especially, touring took way more from me, than it gave back. It had become a nerve- and body-wrecking full-time hobby with hardly any room to learn and grow. The names of my bands changed, but touring remained all the same.

No Love Found

At age 34, I discovered running, and it turned my life upside down. And yes, once again all my love, time, and money flowed into my new passion, haha! I didn’t quit playing music right away, though. My band at that time, GWLT, recorded an album, toured twice and held me captive for 3 more years. When, in addition, the foundation of my running brand Willpower came along, it started getting a bit complicated. Although GWLT never officially split up, it was obvious, that most of us longed for pursuing other life-projects. We played our last show in 2017, and I look back at it with inner contentment and warm feelings of gratitude.

At the same time, running brought numerous changes to my life. Most notably, that I lost more than 20 kg of bodyweight, felt much healthier and wasn’t out of breath anymore when taking the stairs. Great! But, besides the obvious physical changes, there’s also been many psychological and social ones. One of them was that, through running, I re-connected with my dad.

Family Issues

I was 6 years old when my parents got divorced. My mother got custody of my brother and me, and contact with my dad was limited to every second weekend and occasional holiday trips. At that time, I wasn't really concerned about this circumstance, though. I was too busy growing up in a rural town with not many options except for getting drunk at a party, or getting drunk on my own. Luckily, I discovered Hardcore and Punk music, which introduced me to Straight Edge, which, then again, saved my life.

My dad was always very caring and supportive, but we were never really close. That changed drastically when I started running. He’s always been very sporty himself, and finally, we had something in common. Our relationship particularly intensified, when he (re-)started running, as well. Inspired by the reports of my first marathon in 2015 and my encouraging words that I believe he could also run a marathon, he really caught fire.

The most significant foundation stone of our newborn father-son-relationship was running the Hamburg Marathon together. My dad hunting a Sub-4h finish on his first marathon attempt, and me as a pacer by his side. It turned out to be a wonderful experience for both of us, leaving us hugging in tears at the finish.

(Proud Sub-4h Hamburg Marathon finishers)

Since then, we have toed the line together many times. Most notably, running the Boston Marathon together and participating in the Allgäu Panorama (half-)marathon multiple times. That is particularly worth mentioning because the Allgäu Panorama Marathon takes place in a region we both call “home”. My dad was born and grew up in the Allgäu. I also spent most of my summer vacations there because my grandpa ran the “Grüntenhaus” for many years, a mountain hut on top of the Grünten, in the Allgäuer Alps. The last few kilometers of the Allgäu Panorama Marathon are headed towards the Grünten. Running this stretch, side by side with my dad, returned parts of something that had been taken from me as a six-year-old.

(Crossing the finish line together with my dad at the Allgäu Panorama Marathon)

Everything not Running

For more than 30 years, I’ve been answering this question with “Bad Religion”.

Admittedly, I make it easy for myself. With millions of bands out there and an endless flow of great and terrible album releases, it’s actually impossible to tell, which act I like most. That’s why I take a shortcut and name my first favorite band. However, despite their 40+ years of existence, Bad Religion never let me down. Sure, there’s been albums that didn’t catch me, but the band was able to rekindle themselves much more than once.

The first album I heard from Bad Religion was “Generator”. It came out in 1992, and I had just shifted my attention from traditional British Punk to the new and hot American West-Coast Punk, which was just about to explode with the release of Offspring’s “Smash” and Green Day’s “Dookie” 2 years later.

I still remember vividly how excited I was to, for the first time, hear a band that was a) playing fast and aggressive music, b) had unbelievably catchy hook-lines and melodies, and c) combined it with super-smart socio-political lyrics.

One of the greatest assets of Bad Religion is that once you fall in love with them, you have the biggest imaginable back catalog, with literally hundreds of great songs to catch up with. Until this day, I can’t believe what masterpieces “Suffer” and “No Control” are, for example.

In 1993, Bad Religion released their album “Recipe for Hate” and embarked on an extensive world tour. It was the first time I saw them live. My dad had to drive me and my brother to Munich, where they played in a club called “Terminal 1”, situated on the old airport area in Riem. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, and I was hooked for good.

Funny side note: Mike Dimkich, who joined Bad Religion in 2013 as their guitarist, is also an avid ultrarunner. And

Jim Ruland

, who wrote their wonderful “Do What You Want” band-biography is active here on Substack. Somehow, things always come full circle in one way or the other.

What’s your favorite band, then? Tell me.