Step by step, keep on going !

Posted On October 20, 2020

106 km, 2700 m elevation gain, 28 hours

In April 2020 we were supposed to take part at the Megamarsch in Hamburg: 100 km , 350 m altitude difference, 5 add stations with food and drinks. Due to Corona the event was cancelled so we decided to do our own Megamarsch: 106 km, 2700 m elevation gain, 28 hours.

What did we know before starting ?

Not much about how hard it will be
There will be no people to cheer us up .
No aid stations on the way
We need enough food and water with us since there was no place open where we could buy something.
The rucksack should be as light as possible, but warm clothes should fit inside.
If one of us is tired and feels demotivated, the other one plays the supporter role.
If one of us cannot continue, we just stop without blaming each other.

The route

Thorsten did the route. Of course I had to complain a bit, otherwise we would have ended up with a higher altitude difference and a longer distance. Reversing the walking direction and skipping the romantic sunrise after 80 km of walking, in a very could morning, was also a pretty good idea in the end. So direction was: Bruckmühl, Bad Feilnbach, Fischbachau, Schliersee, Hausham, Miesbach, Weyarn, Valley, Feldkirchen-Westerham, Bruckmühl.

Our Megamarsch day was 04.04.2020. We woke up around 8 AM, had breakfast, prepared the rucksacks and sandwiches, then we were ready to go.

What did we take with us ?

12 huge sandwiches with a lot of cheese, salami, ham, eggs, butter. Yummy!!! No restrictions, we needed the energy :).
Energy gels, magnesium, coffee shots, dark chocolate, electrolytes powder to mix with water on the way.
I took 3 litres of water, Thorsten 5.
Lots of plasters
Warm clothes: warm jacket, warm cap, gloves, warm sweaters (more layers – onion principle)
I even had 2 pair of socks and 2 pair of shoes, which for me was really worth it
Head lamps
Power banks to charge our handys on the way
Ibuprofen, Aspirin, Ginseng
First aid kit
Map saved on our handys

The first 60 km

We started around 12 o’clock. The day was beautiful and sunny, even warm. We were excited to begin this adventure: walk more than 100 km without sleeping. My feelings were mixed: I didn’t know what to expect and I was afraid that my brain will give up earlier than my body. But deep inside I felt a strong motivation and the will to finish the 100 km.

The first 60 km were easy. We began with 20 km flat, were I wore my street running shoes.

Afterwards the landscape changed: we started to walk up and down through the forest and hills. I changed my shoes to the trail running ones. Parts of the route we already knew since we ran there a few times.

Between km 60 and 70

After 60 km it started to get harder. The night came and with it the cold. We couldn’t really stop and eat since I was freezing if I stayed more than 2 minutes in one place. So we ate while walking.

We also did something that we quite often do: took the unnecessary longer way and did an adventurous hiking down :D. And when we thought that we were the only crazy ones walking in the night somewhere in the mountains, we saw the light of a head lamp. Apparently there was someone else not sleeping at 2 AM. These crazy people ?.

Before starting I was afraid about walking in the forest during the night. I don’t like the spooky sounds and the darkness. Surprisingly I could do it without being terrified. I concentrated myself only on the path lighted by the head lamp and was thinking only at my goal: finish the 100 km.

When you really, really want to do something and direct your thoughts into that direction, somehow the stars align and help you push through. Another thing that helped a lot was NOT to think like: “OMG it is 3 AM in the dark forest”, but see this from another perspective: “it’s 3 AM in the dark forest, but only 4 more hours until the sun comes up.” And we found also something funny to do at 3 AM (we ran fast when we observed that people heard us outside ?‍♀️ ?‍♂️).

Between km 70 and 80

After 70 km the sun was up, but somehow not on our side. We still had shadow and it was soooo cold. We couldn’t move faster to get warm. One of my knees was complaining. We walked like this for 2 hours and the kilometers didn’t look like getting less. At Schliersee I changed again my shoes and this time the socks too. It made a difference for me. We met people on the way walking their dogs or having a morning walk. They all looked so rested. Our appearance might have been quite deplorable, because they all watched us with kind of compassion.

But then the sun came to our side too, the forest was smiling at us, the paths were so nice, the water so blue. We met people having a hike and when they heard we walked already 80 km without sleeping, and still have 20 km to go, they were all very impressed. This pushed us a bit, but our bodies were very tired and in pain. My feet were burning like hell. Thorsten’s thighs and calves were screaming at every step. We became very slow.

Between km 90 and 100

The weather outside was so beautiful, but we couldn’t really enjoy it. Even if it was warm, I didn’t really feel it. Without energy the body doesn’t get warm so easily.

We stopped at some point to eat and could barely get up. At km 90 or so we decided to go 3 more km until the next place and look for a taxi afterwards. Somehow it didn’t feel right, but we were out of “batteries”. Due to the pains we had, we moved with the speed of a snail.

I remained behind for a few minutes to check for blisters. Then I had to move faster to reach Thorsten. I observed that it is equally painful to move slow or fast, so I proposed to increase the tempo. And it worked out !!! It was painful, but we advanced faster and the motivation came back. No, we don’t look for a taxi, we walk further !

We did another 5 km like this, then we stopped and refilled the energy with some peanuts. The body was tired, but this time the brain was strong. Around 10 km from home I had a low phase and this time Thorsten pulled me up. Only 10 more km ?.

At some point we reached the 100 km. We couldn’t jump from joy, we didn’t have the strength.

Between km 100 and 106

We were close to our destination, 6 more km to go. The painfullest ever for me until now. Every step was a torture for the feet, but we pushed through. In the end the brain was fitter and didn’t let the body give up.

After 28 hours we reached back home. 106 km, 2700 m altitude difference, no sleep. Hard to describe what we felt inside. We looked destroyed, our bodies were in a terrible shape ( NO blisters though !!! ) But it didn’t matter, we did it !!! We did it !!!!

Step by step, keep on going !

We kept repeating our motto: “Step by step, keep on going ! “, and apparently it worked out.

If there is something that is meant to be and if you really want to achieve that, you will always find a way. It might be hard or painful or you loose hope on the way. If you think that you are at the end of your powers, you are not ! Push a bit more and you will be surprised to see that you can move further! And most probably you will be able to move until you reach your finish line, whatever that will be !

Step by step, keep on going !