Chiemgau Trail Run 2023

Today is Tuesday, August 29th, 2023. A relatively cold, rainy day in Munich which follows two weeks of extreme heat. It has been a moment since GWMD has had an update but it was not due to lack of trying. When I opened this particular "edit" window there was already a title: "Chiemgau Trail Run 2023", and there were four opening words that had already been completed: "Four weeks ago already". Doing some detective work along with some simple math shows that, since the Chiemgau Trail Run 2023 took place on Saturday, May 6th, it was somewhere around June 3rd that I last tried (in vain) to keep this particular corner of the Internet up to date. But, nearly three months later, we will try again.

It was nearly 4 months ago now that I participated in the Chiemgau Trail Run Marathon distance -- the "classic" as they call it: Der Klassiker beim Chiemgau Trail Run – die 42 km Distanz. The 42 km distance includes 2560 metres of climbing which, for those who are not so well versed in the sport of trail running, is a lot. I don't have too much to say about it because somehow over the intervening four months I've forgotten most of the details. I do remember, however, that I (as usual) had been suffering from some sort of pain / ailment that necessitated cutting back on training and visiting the neighbourhood physiotherapist and I remember thinking that since I wasn't really properly trained that my main goal would be to beat the cut off time. The cut off time was 10 hours and I essentially annihilated that goal by running 7 hours and 54 minutes. It's good to have modest goals I guess.

Another thing I remember is that it was a lot of fun. Somehow not trying to go as fast as possible (just trying to stay alive in other words) and knowing that you just have to beat some fairly easily met cutoff time can be quite relaxing, low stress, and fun. One cool thing is that they took some nice pictures. And since I don't have so much to say I'll let those pictures do the talking for me. Enjoy!

I think I might even do it again next year.