How I became a "running knight" ??

2.000.000 steps to happyness and you'll never walk alone!

Or as some people say: Crazy people do crazy stuff!

My day starts at 3 a.m. at the Hotel Rappen in Rothenburg o.d.T. I had set the alarm later, but hey, there was no way I was going to sleep anyway.

Exactly three hours to go until the start of the toughest challenge of my life (so far).

I was totally refreshed, even though the clock only showed 3:24 hours of sleep.

Off to the shower, into the running clothes I had already laid out the night before and straight to breakfast. There I meet many other running maniacs.

The weather forecast for today doesn't look too good, but I can't change that anyway, so I don't want to concern myself with it at all.

Excitement rises as I hand in my two food bags and everyone gathers in front of the hotel.

What has brought me here today?

SMALL FLASHBACK - INSPIRATION

I was inspired, among others, by Jonas Deichmann , who has completed a total of 120 Ironmans around the world after 430 days, around 455 kilometres swum, 21,000 kilometres cycled and more than 5,000 kilometres run. Kind of crazy, isn't it? I read his book - Das Limit bin nur ich - faster than I could think of the task that followed.

I also wanted to know my #limit, feel my body - as Jonas described it - wanted to leave my comfort zone.

I love running, so the idea of the ultra-marathon suddenly sounded somehow quite logical. ??

As a father of two really great kids, I also want to be a role model. I want to show both of them what you can achieve if you are enthusiastic about something and work really hard at it.?

So today I will be pushing my limits together with a total of 186 other runners.

Some have chosen the 50 km route, others 70 km and some even 100 miles (160 km). My goal, with exactly 100 others like me (or "crazy people"), is the 100 km route from Rothenburg o.d.T. to my home town of Wertheim am Main - the #Taubertal100.

Now we are off to the start! Beforehand, we all received a message from a "knight".

Since we are the best and most amazing (did I say craziest) runners in the region, we should now carry (or run) this message into the country.

In a few minutes the starting pistol will fire and the race will finally begin.

As Emil Zátopek said so simply: "Here is the start, there is the finish, in between you have to run".

And that's what I do right now.

Take a deep breath, focus and off you go!

PREPARATION

?Before today, of course, a good preparation was on the agenda.

How much is enough, what makes sense and how much time do I need for it - were the first questions that went through my mind.

I quickly found Wolfgang Olbrich's website on the internet, where he shares various #ultramarathon plans with us. Based on my current level of performance and weekly time budget, the plan to reach 100 km in under 12 hours seemed reasonably realistic to me.?100 km in 12 Stunden (wolfgang-olbrich.de)

Unfortunately, there was no "the main thing is to arrive / time doesn't matter" plan. ;-)

6 am - the start is close - it's still dark, everything is going well.

The first few kilometres feel really good. Don't start too fast, your pace counts and from km 50 in Bad Mergentheim you get running support. Then the race really starts.

The sun rises after about 2 hours and nature shows its most beautiful side - at least for now.

SUPPORT & MOTIVATION

I quickly realised that I can't do it alone. So I need support from my family and friends.

The preparation will take a lot of time, a lot of training has to be done on the weekends and parties and alcohol are taboo for a while. This also requires understanding from everyone and for me, an important learning effect, you also have to be able to accept help.

?"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, you have to go together with others" - from Africa.

For me, it was extremely important that I always had a picture in mind during my various training runs (together with Kai Lewalter , Hilko Johannes Pruim , Oliver Krieger or Michael) - the finish line in Wertheim on 01st of October 2022 - perhaps around 6, 7 or 8 pm.

Of course, my #family wasn't missing in my goal picture either.

After about 2 hours, the beautiful weather is over and the predicted rain starts slowly but surely.

No matter, I think to myself, I'm not here to sunbathe, but to run. And as they say, there's no such thing as bad weather when you're running, only bad clothes.

After 5:13h I have completed the first 50km and reached Bad Mergentheim. Now it's getting easier, I think to myself, because now I'm no longer alone on the track.

My friend Oliver Krieger now accompanies me. Quite spontaneously. For how long? "We'll see," he says in greeting.

Of course, I wasn't alone beforehand, because my family was cheering for me and motivating me at the refreshment stations. So I always had new energy and motivation for the next "sub-goal", which for me is currently 60 km - I have never run that far in one go before.

I didn't even notice that I had reached my previous record. It's just a matter of taking one step at a time - blocking out everything else (as best as I can) - and not having to make any other decisions, because my head is empty in the meantime.

In the forefront I have given a lot of thought and considered contingencies.

The support vehicle is packed with many contingencies and possibilities - but I don't want to use any of them right now, or rather I don't have to use any of them right now, because everything is still going well.

After 70km or 7:43h and reaching Tauberbischofsheim, giving up is no longer an option anyway. Whoever quits now will get nothing and unfortunately this will happen to a few today as well.

I never thought about giving up during the whole run. Mentally I always motivated myself that I could do it with all the support and always believed in myself.

Nevertheless, after more than 80km, my mental strength is needed like never before. Experienced runners love to tell you in advance that a lot of it is "a matter of the head". Now I finally understand what they mean by that.

Starting up again after each refreshment station, every 5 or 10km, takes a little more effort each time.

In the meantime, the walking intervals are getting longer. And Oli? He's in a great mood, tells jokes and is still by my side. For him, too, it will end up being the longest run of his life, because he won't leave me again until the finish. That's what I call true #friendship!

The permanent sending from head to legs - keep running, keep running - is now over after more than 10 hours - enjoy the last kilometres now until the finish. But don't get any ideas about jogging, that's enough for today!

At km 95 we treat ourselves to a nice cool (thanks to the weather) non-alcoholic beer and Wertheim is in sight.

The joy increases, the goose bumps come, the finish is within reach. Now it's "final sprint" to the finish. I don't want to be taken away from that and the emotions just have to come out of me.

Pure joy!

DONE and overjoyed, but now comes the "most difficult" part of the day.

I am to be awarded a "Knight" for bringing (or rather running) the news from Rothenburg o.d.T. all the way to Wertheim. My watch shows 18:32 and my imagination from all the training sessions is now a reality.

Attention, small life hack: kneeling down is the last thing you should do - and certainly want to do - after you have run 101.75km or habe been 12:32h on your feet.

With a little (or better a lot) of help, I managed to do this and am now a really proud "running knight".

2,000,000 steps or over 2,000 training kilometres this year have brought me here.

And there's another clever saying: "The journey is the destination". It was a really long and beautiful journey for me and YES it was more than worth it.

#Thankfulness is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think back on the day now with some distance. For the support and assistance, for my family and friends, and for my health. Thank you Oli!

At the moment I am looking for new inspiration - I am grateful for every idea.??

My request to you: "Go out and do some crazy things!" and share them with me. Life is too short to always stay in your comfort zone. Feel free to write me a few comments about what motivates and inspires you. ??

Jonas Deichmann , I promised you that I would be happy to share my story. I would be so happy to meet you in person sometime - thanks for your #inspiration and have fun with your next challenge!

Don't forget: You'll never walk / ride / swim alone ??

Many thanks to my "outfitters" Brooks Running | Suunto | 三星电子 | GORE-TEX Brand | Under Armour | Dextro Energy GmbH & Co. KG