Kicking Things Off
22 Nov 2025
Seconds after crossing the line at the end of my first trail marathon I told Noe that if I'm ever going to sign up for anything like this again she has to slap me. Fast-forward to the 9th of September, I'm having a few day drinks with Raoul and Babsi, and I get an email from the IATF saying 2026 registrations just opened. I tell Raoul that regs are open and he should sign up. Mistake. Immediately I come under a barrage from both telling my I have to sign up for the 60K. Either it's early onset dementia or the 3pm beers that cloud my memory of that command I gave to Noe after the 42K. That was so long ago it barely sounds like a whisper. I pull up the page for the 60K then something in the corner catches my eye. It's a number that starts with 8. 85. I click the link. Not having much memory of what happened next I'm in my banking app verifying a transaction, then the confirmation email lands in my inbox. Eph ewe sea kay.
So that's the story of how I signed up for my first 50 miler! I've never done anything this length before. The 42K was the toughest race I've done, and I probably got close to 70km during some 24hr orienteering events (TWALK) back at university. I clipped ~98km completing the AV1 high trail in the Dolomites a couple months ago with Luke, but that was a five day affair.
Fast-forward to October, I'm taking a month or so off running because life reasons. I'm having a bit of trouble with my right knee. But it's time I have to start training if I'm going complete it with my pride in tact.
It's now snowing in Munich this week and the sun is setting around half past four. I've been for a couple of night runs around my local track - the Englischer Garten (English Garden). "Night" - Strava still logs them as "Afternoon Run", but I take my bike light and wear socks for gloves.
The Race
The Goal
The goal is to finish. I did the 42 in 6:37 and that had 2400m of vert. The uphills were by far the most time consuming. However I ran all of the downs and flats and somehow I think there will be more walk on the 85 flats so it might cancel out. So I think I can do it in 14 hours. Looking at the 2025 results, of the 133 that finished, mid-pack was around 13:45. I really have no idea how I perform at this distance, so I would be stoked with anything under 14 hours.
The Plan
I don't want to run every day. Plus it's freezing here over winter but I actually prefer winter running because it's easier to keep cool. The current plan is to slowly build up weekly km's until I'm hitting around 50-60 by Christmas. Then Janurary starting to build out the longer runs but keeping milage consistent and not getting injured. Doing 70km/week consistently by the end of January. February and March meed keeping building up this and adding in more vert. I want to really fatigue the legs as much as possible so throwing in back to back Saturday/Sunday long runs are going to be key, followed by some good recovery Monday and Tuesday. Gym work is going to be key.
Regarding the elevation component it's pretty flat everywhere here in Munich. Olympia hill is nearby so during the week I'll end up doing laps of that. On the weekends I'll be doing ski touring in the mountains which will be a nice impact-free subsitiute for a long run. Then when everything starts melting in March/April I'll be heading to the mountains more often for some big days. Aiming to peak around mid April. Really have no idea of how much I should be doing but I think topping out at 120km weeks will be sufficient.