Das M4Y-Buch
06.04.13 - Gozo Ultra Trail Run
Challenge Yourself! (Engl. Version)
Challenge yourself
My biorhythm has already adapted to the given conditions, I feel relaxed in a fairly Mediterranean way, maybe even questionably slow for someone about to participate in an ultra-marathon race. But I do not even care. Unhurried I start checking my equipment. It is required to carry at least one litre of water with you at all times and to wear trail-running shoes. In addition to that a cell phone is required. I am also requested to carry the phone number of the race director and the (hopefully not necessary) first aid number with me. All Hellfire founders stress one more time that this event is not (all) about speed but also about defying your own limits.
Race day morning begins for most runners with their special ritual. At the start I meet David who seems highly focused. Squatting on the ground with his head lying on his bent legs, he starts smiling as someone pats him on his shoulder. David, born in Africa with English and Scottish ancestors, lives (and runs) on Cyprus and has a special ritual as well: He takes up dust and sand from the ground with his fingers and trickles his arms, legs and hair with it. Later he will explain to me that this is his way to express his connection to “Mother Earth” who, he believes, gives him power and speed. He is looking forward to enjoying the audience applause after finishing in a few hours. Nobody yet knows if they will reach the finish line. There are way too many imponderables that we runners cannot control. There is always the risk of suffering from stomach problems, getting injured or even lost.
"Life is like a box of chocolates…
…you never know what you're gonna get" says Tom Hanks right at the beginning of the movie Forrest Gump. Today my box of chocolates is 32 miles peppered with countless ascents and descents. Every bitten off piece melts in your mouth and you cannot wait for the taste of the sometimes sweet, bitter or even hot surprising filling. I am sure to enjoy whatever is inside my box.
Bodypainting
It is past eight o’clock. For the first time I can write that a race did not start as scheduled. Finally the last runner receives his marking. The waiting has finally come to an end and the race starts.
Along with the ultra-marathon runners a few mixed teams, comprising two alternating athletes running and cycling the course side-by-side, rise to the challange. Mountain biking and running as a team? This used to be a new and daring concept a few years ago. Today there will be a second starting signal especially for the solo mountainbikers and half-marathon runners three hours after we go out on the course.
The individually numbered men and women cannot be stopped now. Shortly after the starting signal sounds athletes begin to separate into different speed groups. Soon after we leave the town, the trail starts and for the first time that morning I can hear the waves and smell the scent of the sea.
However, this island seems to be popular amongst the “descendants” of Jacques Cousteau, since I see dozens of neoprene-skinned explorers prepared to submerge. An ambulance is always on-site – just in case. I am on the course now for less then an hour and can already feel the bleakness of everyday life vanish as I soak up all those stunning colours and the warm air. Especially during this season where the German spring is a joke with its temperatures around freezing point and where my yearning for fresh spring colours and warmer weather has reached its peak. Here, though, wildflowers spread widely before us representing all different kind of colours.
Shortly afterwards, I approach the Mgarr ix-Xini canyon leading from the sea into a small bay. I, now, have the beach all to myself apart from the tiny orange-coloured runner behind me who is slowly coming closer. Michele, bib number 43, lives in Palermo and when he is not running, he drives coaches, like the one of the soccer team ACF Fiorentina. Another runner joins our group: the Maltese Antonio (wearing number 9). It is his home race, because he is not only born and raised in Malta, but still lives and works here.
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