At the 10th Self-Transcendence-100km-Race in Vienna on the first of June 2003 54 runners gathered at 6:00 am on the Prater Hauptalle.
The task was to accomplish the 100km as single runner or in a relay.
The lap of 2,5 km had to be repeated 40 times.
Thirteen hours were available to the runners for this task.
We waited at the start a view minutes for the Hungarian female top runner Edith Berces to arrive and have a flying start.
The atmosphere was very good from the beginning and the two top runners, Dr. Markus Thalmann and Edith Berces took immediately the leadership.
The runners were inspired by many cheerings, balloons and different music groups along the track.
Through the 40 laps there was the possibility to refuel every 2,5 km the calories at the food station.
The tables were bending under the homemade toppings, cakes, soups, bananas, drinks…
Each lap the runner was counted and cheered by his personal counter.
As the name "Self-Transcendence-100km-Race" says, the task was to detect its own limits and take a step further.
It was a enormous challenge for the body, but also for the psyche. The longer the running distance is, the higher are the demands to the Mind.
During this countless hours every runner had his highs and lows, and every single one had to find a way to motivate himself during the lows to keep going and keep the goal in mind.
There is much more to ultra distance races then just to run loads of kilometres.
Once I asked a 5000km runner:
Why are you doing such a race?
"It is a challenge for body and spirit. Each race is different and the discipline, perseverance and power I can learn here, help me enormously in my daily life. There are also many similarities to the daily life.
There are times during the running you think nothing works anymore and when I keep going, I feel I recover and can run again and finish the race.
Like this there are situations in my life, where I have the feeling to be stuck in a tunnel, here I can fall back on my running experiences, for I know, I have just to keep going."
Through these words you get a impression how complex running can be.
The weather was nice except for a brief downpour and 90% of the track was protected from the sun by the trees.
As expected Dr. Markus Thalmann (LCC) won the man's race while Edith Berces (Resnik Xtreme Team) won the woman's race.
A great praise from the runners went to the masseurs, who did an excellent job.
Men:
1. Dr. Markus Thalmann 7:21:17
2. Winfried Strallhofer 7:48:13
3. Michael Peel 8:40:37
Women:
1. Edith Berces 8:50:22
2. Nidhruvi Zimmermann 10:14:24
3. Surasa Mairer 10:24:02
The task was to accomplish the 100km as single runner or in a relay.
The lap of 2,5 km had to be repeated 40 times.
Thirteen hours were available to the runners for this task.
We waited at the start a view minutes for the Hungarian female top runner Edith Berces to arrive and have a flying start.
The atmosphere was very good from the beginning and the two top runners, Dr. Markus Thalmann and Edith Berces took immediately the leadership.
The runners were inspired by many cheerings, balloons and different music groups along the track.
Through the 40 laps there was the possibility to refuel every 2,5 km the calories at the food station.
The tables were bending under the homemade toppings, cakes, soups, bananas, drinks…
Each lap the runner was counted and cheered by his personal counter.
As the name "Self-Transcendence-100km-Race" says, the task was to detect its own limits and take a step further.
It was a enormous challenge for the body, but also for the psyche. The longer the running distance is, the higher are the demands to the Mind.
During this countless hours every runner had his highs and lows, and every single one had to find a way to motivate himself during the lows to keep going and keep the goal in mind.
There is much more to ultra distance races then just to run loads of kilometres.
Once I asked a 5000km runner:
Why are you doing such a race?
"It is a challenge for body and spirit. Each race is different and the discipline, perseverance and power I can learn here, help me enormously in my daily life. There are also many similarities to the daily life.
There are times during the running you think nothing works anymore and when I keep going, I feel I recover and can run again and finish the race.
Like this there are situations in my life, where I have the feeling to be stuck in a tunnel, here I can fall back on my running experiences, for I know, I have just to keep going."
Through these words you get a impression how complex running can be.
The weather was nice except for a brief downpour and 90% of the track was protected from the sun by the trees.
As expected Dr. Markus Thalmann (LCC) won the man's race while Edith Berces (Resnik Xtreme Team) won the woman's race.
A great praise from the runners went to the masseurs, who did an excellent job.
Men:
1. Dr. Markus Thalmann 7:21:17
2. Winfried Strallhofer 7:48:13
3. Michael Peel 8:40:37
Women:
1. Edith Berces 8:50:22
2. Nidhruvi Zimmermann 10:14:24
3. Surasa Mairer 10:24:02