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Fifty-five kilometres in one push
The Eifel ultramarch is an organised long-distance walk: a fixed start in Stolberg, a waymarked route with aid stations along the way, and a certificate at the finish. Officially it's 55 kilometres; my watch made it 56.4 — plus around 1,200 metres of ascent, all in a single day. Finish time: 11 hours and 42 minutes. The march was — with thanks to the organisers and the many volunteers — very well run.
It started just after eight under the start arch, still in morning haze. The loop runs south-east from Stolberg into the Rureifel and back: meadows and wooded hills on the edge of town, wide fields and pastures, a quiet stream in a valley fresh with spring green, grassy tracks through flowering broom, a decorated maypole in a village — and finally the old town of Stolberg. Through the day the sky cleared — haze gave way to sun and big clouds.
Fifty-five kilometres are not nothing. The ascent is spread over many small rises rather than one big mountain — no pass, just a steady up and down that adds up over the hours. Happily, the earlier tours on Lanzarote and in Scotland (the Cape Wrath Trail), along with my training, had left me fit; this time the distance felt surprisingly easy — not least because I wasn't carrying 18 kg on my back as on the multi-day treks (5 kg of food and 2.5 kg of water alone). Back in Stolberg came a medal and a certificate. More about the event: ultramarsch.de.
