Dolomites Ultra Trail, Brixen, Italy (72k, 4100m D+)

I learned about the Brixen Dolomites Ultra Trail from a Facebook post in which a fellow runner was looking for a team partner as his original choice had deserted him. The race, which can only be run as a team, goes through areas I’m somewhat familiar with from previous vacations, so I thought that it was the right opportunity for me and my brother for a very extended and long 18h hike, getting back to Brixen in time for the award ceremony. However, my brother took the easy way out by rupturing a ligament for the third time in two years three weeks ahead of the race, so now I was the one looking for a running blind date in ultra-runner Facebook groups. Fortunately, I quickly found a former Iron Man triathlete who had started venturing into ultrarunning a couple of years ago, completing iconic races such as the UTMB and Tor Des Geants. Thus, I thought that if anybody needed carrying or convincing to finish, it was going to be me.

Chiemgau Trail Run, Übersee, Germany (56k, 2600m D+)

At long last, my first race in Germany (not counting a 10k in 2010), and on partly familiar trails as well. Located just a 1h train ride from Munich, I had visited the mountainous area South of the Chiemsee many times over the years, and ran parts of the route of the Chiemgau Trail only this summer, so I was starting with something what I considered to be a home turf advantage. Making it to the starting line at 5am in Übersee turned out to be trickier than expected, though, and fortunately bibs were sent by mail, rather than collected in a different town 10k from the start on the previous evening which would have required hours of additional transit. While the race was initially supposed to hit the Kampenwand peak and the Hochgern, snow and bad weather led the organizers to switch to a shorter, lower and less exposed route.

Innsbruck Alpine Trail Festival, Austria (61k, 1900m D+)

Although the Corona pandemic has put a stop to most trail running events, some smaller races in less affected (or cautious) places are still taking place in 2020. We had initially planned the Mozart 100 in Salzburg as our main event for the year, but its cancellation freed up time to hike the UTMB trail in 4 days in June (still images video). We also signed up on short notice for the Innsbruck Alpine Trail Run festival, offering several routes from 7km to 110km around Innbruck. IATF touts itself as the big trail running season opening, but postponement due to the pandemic has turned it into more of a season closer. While a fair amount of the courses are on asphalt and gravel forest roads, there is still a surprising amount of easy trails to be ran. Not feeling up for the maximum challenge, I opted for the 61k/1900m D+ medium distance, while my brother did the 42k/1700m D+ course.

Columbus Grand Trail, Santa Maria, Azores (77k, 3700m D+)

As we missed out on the S1 Trail Corsa della Bora in Trieste this year my brother and I decided to test the Winter climate on the Azores and signed up for the Columbus Grand Trail which takes you fully around the island of Santa Maria and to its highest peak (Pico Alto, 587m). Despite the onset of the Corona virus panic and plenty of stranded Chinese tourists in Portugal, we got to the starting point in Vila do Porto on Santa Maria without issues on the evening before the race (daily flights go from Lissabon to Ponta Delgada and from there to Santa Maria and other Azores islands).

Großglockner Trail, Kaprun, Austria (48k, 2100m D+)

After spending 2 weeks in Slovenia hiking the Triglav National Park as summer vacation, making a quick stop at the Großglockner Ultra Trail on the drive back to Germany seemed like the obvious thing to do. I had already collected the 6 ITRA points necessary for my (unsuccessful) 2020 CCC lottery entry, so I considered this as an opportunity to try my hand at a very scenic longer (75km) ultra with plenty of climb (4000m D+) on very difficult terrain, running through the Großglockner massif from Kals to Kaprun.

Mozart 100 Ultra, Salzburg, Austria (63k, 2000m D+)

After the Ultra Blue Island, I had tendon issues for several weeks and consulted a orthopedist who couldn't find anything wrong with me other than the known fallen arches, flat/kink foot and the idea of running more than 20km non-stop. By now, I had set my eyes on qualifying for the CCC in 2020 as I felt like I hadn't hit peak suffering yet, and needed 3 more ITRA points to enter the lottery. Thus, the Mozart 100 Ultra in Salzburg looked like an ideal opportunity given the proximity to Munich, the flat race profile (2000m of climb) and short distance (64km) for 3 ITRA points. The Mozart 100 race starts in Salzburg's downtown Kapitelplatz, then leads to Fuschl am See (the eponymous Fuschlsee), and around the lake and over the Nockstein back to Salzburg.

Ultra Blue Island, Faial, Azores (64k, 3200m D+)

While the original plan after the S1 Trail Corsa della Bora was to sign up for the 2019 Transvulcania, I had always wanted to visit an even more remote place than La Palma and convinced my brother to head to Faial in the Azores archipelago for the Ultra Blue Island instead. Getting to the Azores and from island to island is fairly easy as there are daily flights from Lisbon to various islands, and connecting flights between each. I had never been to the Azores before and was pleasantly surprised by the mostly dry and warm weather in May. We arrived a few days before the race and thus had time to explore Faial by bike and visit nearby Pico island featuring Portugal's highest peak (the Pico). My brother had managed to injure his ankle some weeks earlier and was sporting an aircast, but, despite missing the race, still managed to do an impressive amount of hiking and biking.

Pico as seen from the Faial-Pico ferry

S1 Trail Corsa della Bora, Trieste, Italy (57k, 2300m D+)

During a 2018 autumn vacation in Southern Tyrolia my brother (proud 2013 UTMB finisher) and I (no runs longer than 20km to date) decided that it would be fun to sign up for the La Palma Transvulcania in 2019 as we had been to the island before and hiked and liked most of the route in segments. We then figured out that the Transvulcania had an entry requirement of one completed mountain ultra in the last 2 years, and the only race within reasonable distance and before the end of the registration period was the S1 Trail Corsa Della Bora in early January 2019. The S1 trail runs from Pesek in Slovenia to Sistiana in Italy, mostly on the S1 hiking trail and on the cliffs overlooking the coast line.