Brigid's running blog

2008-06-15T14:46:00.002+02:00

My 2008 itinerary

2008-04-24T10:24:00.001+02:00

The 24-hour Run for Children’s Rights (July)
The Taj Mahal Marathon in India (September)
The Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland (October)
The Boa Vista Ultra-Marathon on Cape Verde off the African coast (December)

are challenges awaiting me as well… and my decision of whether or not I will do the MdS next year will come in the course of the summer

Marathon des Sables 2008 - Post event

2008-04-24T10:22:00.001+02:00

Ouarzazate Morocco/Freiburg, April 2008. Well, some things just don’t turn out exactly as we planned them. You can plan things to the last detail, and bang! Something completely unexpected happens and throws spokes in your wheels.

At the end of 2007 I started to plan a challenging and interesting running event program for myself for the first quarter of 2008. I definitely wanted to have new terrain in my events – what a better challenge than the Jungle Marathon in Costa Rica from January 27 to February 2? To prepare myself for the heat of Central America and as an absolute India fan, I decided to start with the Mumbai Marathon on January 20, i.e. one week before the start of the jungle marathon.

Both events proved indeed to be excellent preparation for the Marathon des Sables, March 30 to April 5. I could get used to the heat in Mumbai and was very challenged in Costa Rica by the very difficult, diverse terrain and relatively extreme weather conditions, everything from tropical rain falls to a desert-like dry heat.

Following the jungle marathon, I took a 2-week break from running and in the 4 remaining weeks before the Marathon des Sables, I concentrated on 2 long runs a week (of about 40 km each) for (mental and physical) endurance purposes. I was also able to reduce the weight in my knapsack for the MdS (the experience of the last two years was very helpful…)

I was really very much looking forward the MdS. I had trained hard all winter, watched my nutrition and everything was going well on all levels of my life. I actually thought, with all factors on my side, that I’d have a good chance of finishing in the desert among the first 20 women, as I had also learned how not to let blisters get the upper hand. I had not one blister after Costa Rica!

Standing at the start of the MdS is an unbelievable feeling. Just the thought of what one has accomplished and organized to be able to stand at that start line. And finally, it’s 3 – 2 – 1 – go…! The MdS is in full course and starts off hard as hell – 14 km in the biggest dunes of Morocco, the Merzouga dunes. Breathtakingly beautiful dunes, but running in them means very hard work on the thighs. After that the much easier stone fields.

Then a steep climb on a sort of stone cliff. What a view from up there, time to take out the camera for some shots. Just at that moment a Brit shot out of nowhere, reached the top and slipped on the rocks behind me with his right leg, shoving my right foot hard between 2 rocks, over-bending it to the outside.

I was of course shocked but could finish the stage without great pain. Where I stopped running however after reaching the second camp, it really started to hurt. I had good hopes it would be better for the start the next day. I hurt quite a bit during the 2nd stage, could quiet the pain though with a good portion of Paracetemol. Between Checkpoint 2 and Checkpoint 3 the pain got so strong that I could only finish this stage limping.

It was only then that I started to actually consider pulling out of the race, although I still didn’t want to believe I was actually considering it. I didn’t want to have to think about pulling out of the Marathon des Sables. No, you are going to start the next stage tomorrow morning. Which is what I did – but with a lump in my throat. I had an inkling I would not be finishing this stage…

Fifteen minutes after the start, 3 km before the next long dune section of 9 km, I thought I must be pretty far in the back of the pack, but it didn’t matter to me. I just wanted to keep going and make tracks. Not one minute later, I heard something that sounded like a cow. I turned around and was shocked to discover that the camels, the sweepers with their berbers, were less than a meter from my back. I had my mp3 on and had not heard them catching up with me.

That was the point where it became crystal clear: I was going (limping) so slow that even the camels were being considerate of me. My ankle hurt so much and I was only able to limp slowly, so I made the very difficult decision to pull out of the race at the next checkpoint, meaning I’d have to give up my bib.

After the following 9 km of dunes, I did just that – but not without putting up a big inner fight with myself. The doctors made great efforts to convince me that I would be able to continue “without great pain” if I would just let them pump me with painkillers. Something inside me said though, you’ll make the injury much worse, you have a lot of other things plans for this year, pull out here. You have 2 MdS Finisher medals in the shelf at home. As hard as it might be for you, pull out of the race here.

With tears in my eyes, I gave the doctor my bib. I couldn’t believe it. It was as if I has been on a wonderful train ride and out of a clear blue sky, I had to get off this beautiful ride and simply stand there, watching the train drive on – without me.

It was then very hard - instead of going to the start to run the course of the day – to be driven in one of the jeeps to the next camp. It was very good for me though to be in the Sahara, to be able to soak up these extraordinarily desert landscapes, natural forces (sandstorms, wind, heat) and the remoteness, things I came to the desert for as well. It also gave me the opportunity to experience the Marathon des Sables from a completely different side. As an example, it was incredibly inspiring to be able to see Mohammad Ahansal appear on the horizon and sprint into the Finish after the long stage, completing this 75,5 kilometre stage in just under an incredible 7 hours.

The pain in my ankle and my limping continued to strengthen my decision to pull out, as I knew that my foot would start to heal starting at that very point. The fantastic people I had around me, my tent mates, other runners and MdS crew members, who consoled me throughout the week let all disappointment and sullenness disappear, which allowed me be jovial and supportive of the others throughout the race.

The biggest payoff for having showed my goodwill came at the very Finish of the MdS in Tazzarine. A great number of runners I welcomed there told me how nice it was to see me at the Finish after finishing this week-long, unfathomably difficult race. That felt so good!

My decision of whether or not I will do the MdS next year will come in the course of the summer. There are many interesting and challenging races waiting out there. One thing is already making me very euphoric for whatever comes: I have already started to run again – without any pain! I hope to reach my normal level of training by week-after-next. After all, the 24-hour Run for Children’s Rights (July), the Taj Mahal Marathon in India (September), the Polar Circle Marathon in Greenland (October) and the Boa Vista Ultra-Marathon on Cape Verde off the African coast (December) are challenges awaiting me as well…

Akanaksha makes it to MDS

2008-03-30T19:12:00.006+02:00

Do visit the Akanksha page on Darbaroud website, organisers of Marathon Des Sables (MDS). Visit the link below

Am finally off to Sahara today for MDS

2008-03-27T09:36:00.003+01:00

My third time at Sahara (Marathon Des Sables)

2008-03-19T17:06:00.002+01:00

Sand in your shoes, wind in your face, the horizon
undefinably far away... Some like it hot
and are not sent to the desert, but
Go on their own free will, with fondness...

It's that wonderful time again. Time for the Sahara...

Yes, believe it or not, I'm about to venture out again into the unknowns of the great Sahara Desert, to participate for the third time in the "Marathon des Sables" in Morocco, considered the toughest footrace on earth. I'll be in the company of some very very good extreme athletes from all over the world, thus it was a very big honor for me to receive a start number for this event - by September 2007, over 12,000 runners from all over the world had applied for start numbers. 850 were given.

After participating in the Mumbai Marathon in India in January and completing the Jungle Marathon in Costa Rica, I look forward to a week of extreme heat, wind and sandstorms . It'll be 6 tough stages of altogether approx. 250 kilometers - as the crow flies - through the Sahara. It is, to say the least, always more than worth it, an experience of a lifetime. Every television station around the world has access to this event , so it will be viewed everywhere! Of course , I'll be taking hundreds of pictures as well.

After a winter of hard training, I'm fit and ready to take on this infathomable challenge. I will undoubtedly experience - as I did last year - moments, though, where I wasn't sure I could continue - but somehow I fought with myself and did indeed make it through the finish after 7 very, very exhausting days.

And I'd love it if you helped me through these moments. How? With the mental part... Last year I received quite a few emails and it really helps motivate tired souls to pull through!

It would be wonderful to receive e-mails from you per satellite into the heart of the desert, cheering me on. You can do this by going to a special window on the front of the homepage of the Marathon des Sables:

www.darbaroud.com

My Startnumber this year is 368 (Brigid Wefelnberg, Germany) , so if you get a chance, cheer me on during the race per e-mail. The e-mails are printed once a day in an IT tent they set up at every day's finish and are passed out to us in our tents in the evening - in the middle of the desert! You can of course follow the race on the website - they update the list of those who are still in the race every day.

Please cross your fingers for me that I cross the finish line safe!

Looking forward to hearing from as many of you as possible.

Pictures from Costa Rican ultramarathon

2008-02-10T19:10:00.000+01:00

Training in snow shoes - for tropical marathons...!

2007-12-24T17:39:00.000+01:00

When I woke up this morning at 5:00 it was 10 degrees below zero and very foggy. I filled my knapsack with everything one needs for a tour in the snow: a thermos of hot chocolate, sandwiches, water and headed for the hills, as it were. Here in the valley, it just looks like someone sprinkled powdered sugar everywhere - but as soon as you hit 1000 meters, the snow gets very deep - the best conditions for snow shoe training. Cristal clear air and the clearest of blue skies.

Most of you out there, especially those of you who live in the warmer parts of the globe, might not be able to imagine it, but the Black Forest has a one meter-deep blanket of snow in some parts. That means getting on the ol' snow shoes, a thick daun jacket and heading out for some deep-snow training, something I've been doing the last couple of years to prepare for the Sahara, as snow and sand are amazingly similar elements. Considering the fact that there's no sand in sight, the snow proves to be the next best element. Take one step forward, slip half a step back. It's pretty exhausting! As soon as I found the right remote area with the most virgin snow, I strapped up my knapsack, buckled on the snow shoes, and set out for the highest mountain of the Black Forest, the Feldberg.

The nicest things about today were a unique view of the Swiss Alps to the south, a view one has about twice a year. But nicer still and the biggest motivation to keep on going, kilometer for kilometer in the snow was the view to the southeast - towards Asia, India to be exact - and the view to the southwest, towards Costa Rica. What an awesome and far out feeling to have an icey wind and snow blowing in your face, but to have your mind full of very warm thoughts of marathons in far away tropical places, the hot sun pouring down on your bare skin.

Snow shoes and hot thoughts...

I’m back!

2007-12-09T14:51:00.000+01:00

After a very wonderful and regenerative break from running, I’m back on the ball and it’s full steam ahead with training. Only 7 more weeks and the running season starts. First stop: India’s Mumbai Marathon on January 20. It’ll be more than fantastic to escape the harsh winter in Europe and head for warm India again. What could be a better start for the marathon season 2008 than Asia’s biggest and most social Marathon? Aside from being in one of my favourite countries, I’ll be able to see wonderful friends again I met at the Great Tibet Marathon in Ladakh.

And I can’t think of any better way to get acclimatised for the jungle in Costa Rica – you heard right, just one week after the Mumbai Marathon it’s off to The Coastal Challenge inviting to the deep green humid jungle of Costa Rica where I’ll be able to put my adventure skills to the test over 250 km in 6 very grueling stages, taking participants through the thick brush, over volcanoes through rivers to the northwest coast of this beautiful country. Promises to be a tough one!

Won’t have much time to relax, as then the Sahara will be calling me to its midst for a week of heat and sandstorms. Yes, just 6 weeks after returning from the Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica, it’ll be that wonderful time again, time to head for the deep south Moroccan desert for the most amazing desert challenge in 6 stages of between 28 and 90 km with average daily temperatures of between 45 and 50 degrees. You guess it right, now a third offender, I’m going for the Marathon des Sables, the third stop on my running list for 2008.

Great Tibetan marathon pictures..

2007-10-01T10:15:00.000+02:00

Training for the Marathon des Sables - Physical endurance and Mind over Matter

2007-09-25T16:06:00.000+02:00

Just recently I received a call with the news that I’d been “blessed“ with a start number for the Marathon des Sables 2008. Those of you are familiar with this event know what quote/unquote blessed means: the Marathon des Sables is worshiped - and dreaded by all 750 starters from all over the world – including Lahcen Ahansal, 10 time winner of this, the toughest footrace on earth. I am also going back to the Sahara – I’m certainly hooked.

Those of you who aren’t familiar with but are very interested in looking into something like the Marathon des Sables, this event is a 250 km long race through the Moroccan Sahara in 6 stages with complete self-sufficiency. The average daily temperatures in the desert reach 45-50 degrees, the atmosphere is arid. Accommodation: simple Berber tents. Dunes, plateaus, dried out salt lakes, cliffs, mountains. The terrain leaves nothing to be desire by a desert runner’s heart.

Hmmm, a lot of factors to consider while training. Where to start? How does one prepare for something like this?

Factors to consider for the desert:

- heat / low humidity
- sand and many various difficult terrains
- duration – one week and 6 stages back to back
- entire body exertion
- backpack with approx. 10 -12 kg (at the first start)
- survival skills/solidarity
- nutrition

and last but certainly not least:

- mental strength.

MDS pictures....

2007-09-13T17:49:00.000+02:00

Bunched together like sardines for the 2 hour ride

The adrenaline flows as the camp comes into sight!

Tent 57 - home for the next 10 nights...

Some stages just never wanted to end...

Made it - first stage done! They're already waiting... 1148

Found the tent - time to start cooking dinner

Wake up time - getting ready for the next stage

Nice view of the earth's furnace...

Helmut - won the tent snorer award

The adrenalin's cooking - time to go to the first start of the MdS

Hitting the first checkpoint

What happens if you don't manage your water well...

And.....

Water - Lifeline of MDS

2007-09-13T08:44:00.001+02:00

One of the biggest questions is: how much water do you get an event like the MdS?
Of all the things a runner has in the desert, nothing is as important as the water he’s given. But how do you manage your water supply in that heat? Well, the water is distributed as follows:

Normal stage: 9 liters per day
1.5 liters before the start each morning
2 or 3 x 1.5 liters during the race at checkpoints
4.5 liters on arrival in the camp

Marathon stage: 10,5 liters per day
1.5 liters before the start each morning
3 x 1.5 liters during the race at checkpoints
4.5 liters on arrival in the camp

Non-stop stage: 22.5 liters per day over 2 days
1.5 liters before the start in the morning
1.5 liters at checkpoints 1,3,5,6
1.5 or 3 liters at checkpoints 2 and 4
4.5 at arrival post
4.5 at the bivouac.

You’re allowed to take or not take the water at any of the checkpoints. However, not taking the water distributed in the morning can lead to penalties. Anyone caught throwing bottles in the desert are given penalties as well. Littering is absolutely forbidden!

The salt tablets should be taken about 2 every 2 hours to keep hydrated. The water should be mixed 2 times a day with electrolyte powder

Checklist for the MDS, Sahara

2007-09-13T08:43:00.000+02:00

Looking at the required equipment list is enough to make your hair stand on end, let alone the event description. What do you need when you go to the desert? What is one required, what else is recommended?

The organizer checks each participant’s rucksack and its content to the very bottom. A lack of one or more of the following items on this list can lead to disqualification. No runner is allowed to start if one of these is not in his/her rucksack:

Rucksack that holds everything you’ll need for a week. Or two small ones, one in front, one in back.

Sleeping bag – ultra light, ultra small, maybe a thin pad (the ground is hard and full of small rocks)

Head torch with spare batteries – for the night stage and in camp when the sun goes down.

10 safety pins (for the start numbers – and they can come in very handy for holding things together)

Compass (you should know how to use it too!)

Lighter for cooking, making fires, possible distress, lamp failure

Jack-knife with several functions

Disinfection fluid for wounds, treatment of blisters when on your own on the course

Snake bite set – you never know when little creepy crawlies can show up and bite

Whistle – should be very loud, for possible distress situations

Emergency mirror – also for possible distress situations

Aluminium blanket - protects from hot and cold.

2000 calories per day/14,000 calories for the entire race.

These items are given to you before the race starts. They are also mandatory:

Salt tablets – to be taken in pairs every couple of hours during the day!
Emergency flare for the night stage – only to be used in a serious distress situation
Florescent stick, also for the night stage

The minimum accepted weight is 6,5 kg, the highest is 15 kg. no one gets by with 6.5, but 15 is absolutely too much. Rucksacks can be and are controlled at any point in time during any stage. Anyone caught without the mandatory equipment/required calories for the remainder of the race can be disqualified.

Marathon des Sables - Introduction into another dimension

2007-09-13T08:42:00.000+02:00

„Come, Brigid, let’s run 250 km through the Sahara, only water is provided…“

With this sms, my life set sail on an entirely new course.

Just imagine – from one minute to the next your everyday life changes in every imaginable way. You own neither house nor computer, you have no mobile phone or TV, no toilet or shower. Nothing but a few personal belongings and one of 8 spots in an open-sided Berber tent made of sewn-together coffee sacks, a mere shelter that’s taken down over your head every morning at 5 by Berbers screaming „Jallah, jallah!“, just to be set up again 40 km from this spot, a distance you have to cover by foot.

„Sahara marathon, 250 km through the south Moroccan Sahara in six stages of between 28 and 90 km, complete self-sufficiency. Only water is provided. Emergency set including emergency rocket and snake bite set compulsory. Average daily temperature 50o. Accommodation is Berber tents.“

„Ya, Daniel, of course, and what else is new…?“

Damn glad the Marathon des Sables haunted my thoughts for so long. That’s the only way to tell if you really want something. It drove me to apply for a start number in September 2005 - and was I actually given one. From this point on, everything revolved around one thing – the physical, mental and material preparation for the toughest footrace on earth.

In April 2006, 743 athletes from around the globe flew to Casablanca and across the Atlas Mountains to Ouarzazate, from where we were driven deep into the Sahara in buses – and where the sand was too deep for these, cattle trucks took us on to the start - and I and 7 others to tent No. 57, our “mobile” home for the next 9 days.

Excellent tentmates, among others Anke, an engineer, who kept our laughing muscles occupied; Simon the student who had a rash between his legs even before the first start due to an intimate shave („I shaved everything down there – heard it supposedly makes shagging a lot cooler…“); Helmut, the cabaret artist from Innsbruck. He was a bit grumpy at times: „I love it when Brigid comes home – so much for a quiet time…“; Terry from LA, whose adenoids helped saw down a few imaginary forests at night; Tim, a Russian Lawyer. He kept out of mischief the whole week of the race, practiced some heavy duty „bottom’s up“ after the final finish. 8 extreme athletes, 3 of them extreme snorers.

“In the middle of nowhere.“ How often I’ve used this term frivolously. I never would imagine in my wildest dreams actually doing high-performance sports for an entire week under the most extreme conditions at such a remote place on this planet.

We were to run 6 stages within the given times. Patrick Bauer gave the infos of the day before every start, and we all sang “Happy Birthday” to anyone whose birthday it was. One time, an e-mail that was sent to the organiser was read to No. 359. A marriage proposal. We all screamed „Yes!“, but probably because we had ants in our pants and just wanted to hear one thing: “4, 3, 2, 1 – go!“

The Sahara showed what is has to offer on all stages – and, above all, what surprises it has in store. Breath-taking dunes, rock cliffs, mountains, elevated plains, dried out salt lakes, oases, impressive, vast wide-open spaces. The most fascinating thing: all problems you may face at home disappear. Everything becomes relative. The heat and powerful sandstorms, blowing kilos of sand in your rucksack and the tents thrashing in the wind shows you who’s the boss.

A logistical masterpiece, getting 736 athletes from 36 countries into the middle of the desert, leading them through 6 Marathon stages and, among other things, doctoring them par excellence throughout this tough week. The biggest problem? Blisters and getting one’s shoes on again in the morning. Our best friend? The little blue paracetemols. The coolest thing was the evening blister treatment – the wonderful selection of doctors left nothing to be desired.

Some of us weren’t exactly feeling at the top of the world. The desert has its own laws. 20% of the runners fell out of the race on the first days. Heat, exhaustion, dehydration. Two went into coma, 170 infusions were given. I once saw a Finnish woman lying on the outskirts of an immense dried out salt lake. The doctors were taking care of her so I continued my course. Later, in camp, I heard she’d suffered a stroke, causing her to her lose her mother tongue.

As there were so many emergency medical cases, the water rations were increased for the first time and for the first time in the history of the Marathon des Sables, the longest “royal stage” was shortened by 17 km. I and my 500 blisters didn’t know whether we should be happy or disappointed with that news. The ultimate running challenge had been tamed.

This, the longest stage offered everything the desert heart could desire. The Sahara at night with the full moon, hours and hours of dunes and cliffs, here and there a florescent stick lighting the way. The starry desert sky leaves you speechless. Alone on course at night in the vastness of this enormous desert. The most wonderful moment of the entire race.

Fantastic, unique atmosphere at the night checkpoint. I got my blisters treated, slept a couple of hours, knowing I was good for time. Carlos Santana and Loreena McKennitt helped me jog the rest of the 13 km into camp.

To celebrate having finishing the long stage I made a wash salon out of one of my water bottles, shook my undies in soapy water, and lay them out on some branches behind me to dry. Simon stole them all when I wasn’t looking and threw them into the neighbouring tents, to the surprise of their tent dwellers.

In the night before the last stage, I went out for a last walk under the clear starry desert sky. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I couldn’t sleep. My feet were in a bad way. It wasn’t that though. It was the thought that in just a few hours - after the unfathomable stress and strain, but also the invaluable experiences of the last week – I’d be running through the finish of this amazing event and having to say goodbye to the Sahara that let got my tears flowing.

An Arabic proverb says “Those entering and returning from the desert don’t come out the same...”

The Sahara has definitely changed me and become a part of me. I’m sure to be a second offender.

2007-09-04T15:46:00.000+02:00

These pictures are from a felicitation function organised me by the Freiburger Turnerschaft, the running club. They awarded me with the "Silver Medal 2006" shortly before the GTM in July 2007.

Marathon Des Sables continues...

2007-08-31T02:01:00.000+02:00

Wolfgang mixes drinks to kill the blister pain

"I love it when Brigid and Kai come home!"

Setting off for the Marathon stage - what's left of us...

What heaven to find an oasis is the next checkpoint!

Bailiy's - don't leave tent, eh home without it!

The camp mourns for our deceased fellow runner, Bernard

Two tentmates contemplating stealing a camel today

Me at the finish of the MdS with Patrick Bauer

Having just overcome my most critical point in the race

Out like a light after completing stage 5, the marathon stage

Ouch! Daily blister treatment - just don't look...

Pictures from South Germany

2007-08-31T01:57:00.000+02:00

A couple of fans at the Basel Airport

Getting ready for an evening run in Munzingen

Ilona and I at the MdS awards ceremony in Ouarzazate

At a childrens' benefit run for the Cancer Association, Freiburg

SWR TV filming my Guiness run at the Black Forest's highest point

Just having finished a state walking competition - came in 5th!

Guinness run - reaching the top of the first mountain. Minus 2 degrees.

Guinness run - first mountain in my pocket - heading off for mountain no. 2

Guinness run - at the foot of mountain 3 - reaching the climax!

Adventuresomeness

2007-08-29T10:40:00.001+02:00

"I'd like to understand you." said a man who stopped me recently on my morning run to work. "What do you get out of adventures anyway? I think you're missing a few marbles!" After I'd stopped laughing, I asked him to tell me of his biggist yearning. He thought that was fresh of me, but while we were at it, he'd be able to stick out a night with Verona Feldbush. Na, I scolded, a yearning of non-erotic sorts. "A day in the amusement park!" he said, discovering a thrill.

"Just imagine," I started, "you've just climbed up to one of the highest points of the Great Wall of China. It's very crumbly and steep. You gotta "go" really bad, find a bush and crouch down. Just in that very moment you look up to find yourself surrounded by Mongolians, who are damned if they're not going to sell you a few T-shirts. A situation you'll certainly not encounter in everyday life." The man grinned. "Or you're lying in a sleeping bag in a Berber tent in the Sahara, enjoying the infathomable stillness of the desert night (well, except for the 3 snorers and 2 camels making whoopie...). You hear it coming and yell "Sandstorm! Valuables in the sleeping bags!" The tent is thrashing in the wind and all 8 tentmates have to hold the wooden poles supporting the tent so it doesn't blow away...

Adventure means saying adieu to the civilized world, immersing in foreign territory, developing a counter-strategy in a very planned and administered world. Habit is like a rope: if you add a thread to it everyday, at some point you won't be able to cut it. Adventures are full of the most brilliant surprises, their course is suspenseful, their end unknown. Tingling experiences that stimulate and spoil the senses on a particularly grand scale. Vital energies are awakend. Adventure demands fantasy and creativity - boredom and aimlessness are non-existent. Borderline and extreme situations are overcome and mastered. Priorities are re-aligned as one is forced to face real dangers and bear out distress.

"Your on the course alone at night in the middle of the Sahara, the day was hot as hell and exhausting. You're hungry. The clear desert sky takes your breath away, but only offers short distraction as a sandstorm suddenly stirs up, making the florescent sticks lighting the way disappear. The batteries in your head torch are empty. You can't change them, the sand is blowing too hard. You lose your orientation. A truly desperate situation - and yet brilliant."
"Interesting..." said the man and rubbed his eyes as if removing the desert sand. "I don't think I'd ever stick that out."

It's not that we don't dare do things because it's difficult, but it's difficult because we don't dare do things. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. What luck it is to be able to live out one's passions. And those who cherish the things they've done in the past get to live them twice...

MDS videos 1

2007-08-28T19:32:00.000+02:00

Running in the snow...

2007-08-28T19:27:00.001+02:00

New set of MDS pictures...

2007-08-28T19:17:00.000+02:00

Den Kindern Sonnenschein schenken für eine schöne Zukunft

2007-08-27T06:23:00.000+02:00

Give a child sunshine for a better future

For the particularly colourful, interesting running events she has completed thus far in 2007, Brigid Wefelnberg wishes to turn the kilometres she ran in the desert at the Marathon des Sables in Morocco, the stairs she ran, walked, climbed and crawled on the Great Wall of China (approx. 52,000 of them altogether) and the many meters in altitude at the Great Tibetan Marathon and the Wallis Ultra-marathon in Switzerland into help and thus support an Co-op/orphanage in Tibet (www.reachladakh.com/Non_Governmental_Organisations.htm) and the “Akanksha” (www.akanksha.org), an organisation helping very underprivileged children in India, with a particular focus on education.

Donations (e.g. € 10 per 1000 she ran on the Great Wall of China) can be made to account number 91 551 12 at the Volksbank Freiburg, BLZ (bank code number) 680 900 00. Brigid will be presenting the money personally to Akanksha on a trip to Mumbai in January of 2008, where she will be running the Mumbai Marathon.

In addition, as with every marathon trip, Brigid uses her luggage space in planes for bags full of material donations of all kinds. She’ll be taking donations for the Cuban Running Association (running clothes and shoes) to the Havana Marathon in November 2008, as well as to the Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica, the Marathon des Sables in Morocco and to the Gobi March in China in January, March and June of 2008 respectively.

Für die besonders bunten, interessanten Läufe, die sie 2007 bisher absolvierte hat möchte Brigid Wefelnberg ihre erlaufene Wüstenkilometer beim Marathon des Sables in Morokko, Treppen beim Marathon und mehr auf der Chinesische Mauer (insgesamt 52,000 Treppen), und die vielen Höhenmeter beim Tibet Marathon und Wallis Ultramarathon in der Schweiz in Hilfe umsetzen, und damit ein Waisenheim in Tibet (www.reachladakh.com/Non_Governmental_Organisations.htm) und die Organisation "Akanksha" (www.akanksha.org) für schwer benachteiligte Kinder in Indien unterstützen, vor allem bei der Bildung.

Spendenbeträge (z.B. € 10 pro 1000 Treppen auf der Chinesische Mauer) können auf das Spendenkonto 91 551 12 bei der Volksbank Freiburg, BLZ 680 900 00 eingezahlt werden. Brigid wird die gesammelten Spenden persönlich bei u.a. „Akanksha“ bei ihrer Teilnahme am Mumbai Marathon Januar 2008 überreichen.

Zudem nutzt Brigid Wefelnberg bei allen ihren Läufen ihren Gepäckraum im Flieger für Sachspenden und nimmt sowohl zum Havanna Marathon (Nov 07) für den Kubanischen Laufverband Sachspenden entgegen, z.B. brauchbare Laufschuhe und alle Formen von Funktionskleidung, als auch zur Coastal Challenge in Costa Rica, Marathon des Sables in Morokko zum Gobi March in China in jeweils Januar, März und Juni 2008.

Malta marathon picture

2007-08-25T20:26:00.001+02:00

Black forest region pictures

2007-08-25T20:19:00.001+02:00

The Great Wall of China marathon pictures

2007-08-25T20:09:00.000+02:00

Me in Freiburg....

2007-08-22T17:18:00.000+02:00

No short cuts...

2007-08-22T17:02:00.000+02:00

This story gives me goose bumps. It's interesting how things evolve in life. I remember way back when, during my first longer stay again in Germany, I received a letter from the authorities stating I was to leave the country if I wasn't studying or working as I was in possession of an American passport at the time. I was crushed but had a seat at the University within 48 hours. I still didn't feel too much like a welcome Freiburger - that took time.

Change of scenes, leap into the future: Merzouga, south Moroccan Sahara, 50 meters to the finish of the Marathon des Sables. Probably the most thrilling moment of my life - until now. My feet were on fire after these 249 most exhausting kilometers (as the crow flies!) through the desert, but the race, this week-long sports madness would be over in approx 30 seconds.

All of a sudden, someone standing at the Finish screamed "Freiburg! Freiburg! Run, Freiburg, run!!" Whoever that was, I thought in a split second, must have recognized me by the "1844 FT Freiburg" Logo on my shorts. It turned out later that the Freiburg vacationer had driven all the long way from Marakkesch over the Atlas Mountains to Merzouga after hearing that "the Freiburger" had completed the long night stage of the Marathon des Sables. He wanted to experience his compatriot crossing the Finish line in Merzouga live!

I was simmering with excitement here anyway due to the approaching completion of the race of course, but also because of my fellow runners I'd have to be parting from very soon. Nothing brings people closer together than to be thrown into extreme situations. But now euphoria shot through my entire body running over the Finish line - as we all did - directly into the arms of Patrick Bauer, founder of the Marathon des Sables, and having the Finisher medal put around my neck in accompaniment of "Freiburg! Freiburg! Freiburg!" exclamations. I was overwhelmed, found it awesome to be a Freiburger, to represent the city here at this special event.

My experience tells me, thus, that both at the finishes of ultramarathons as well as with everything else that really means something in life:
There are no short cuts to places worth going...

Pictures from Great Tibetan Marathon 2007

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The Great Wall of China Videos

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Some interesting pics from MDS..

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Some naughty moments from Marathon Des Sables (MDS)

It was a lot of fun too, lotsa new friends.....

Spontaneity

2007-08-21T02:14:00.000+02:00

Number 64 and I were standing at the start of the London Thames Meander, a 90 km run, shoulder to shoulder. We were so preoccupied with the wealth of well-known Ultra-runners that we missed the instructions and the sounding of the start horn. We then resolved to be more attentive during the race. Well, in the afternoon we could forget our resolutions. We took a wrong turn and there we were, standing in the middle of a mobile home park. Where the heck do we go from here? Number 64 said "We'll just knock on someone's door." A nearby trailer looked good, so I knocked.

"Ya, just come in Ralph!" answered a rough voice. Number 64 and I just looked at each other an shrugged our shoulders. I opened the door. We were flabbergasted to see a completely naked, beer-bellied Brit with a cigar, expecting Ralph, his mouth and eyes wide open. He apologized and scrambled for his towel. Wonder what he was planning to do with Ralph... I knew then - it is definitely more thrilling to set off without concrete ideas than to get caught in a fixed orderly plan...

Adrenaline in Chinese

2007-08-19T18:00:00.001+02:00

As a real adventurer, I am normally not afraid of much. Like Doping controls. No, no! Not because they'll find any forbidden performance-increasing blood cocktails in me, but because I'm afraid they'll confiscate my MP3-Player. Can you imagine how Maroccan and Cuban Hip-Hop make a runner's blood flow?! Pure music doping, completely legal.

But now back to the story at hand. After a very exhausting day on the Great Wall of China, I realized somewhere between Simatai and Gubeikou that I hadn't seen anyone after encountering the 2 Mongolians 3 hours back. Not a soul since. I knew then that I'd have to sleep in one of the watchtowers. Alone. My legs really felt the approx. 10,000 steps I'd overcome on the wall that day and it was getting dark, thus, I had no choice. Not a town in sight. All of a sudden a New Zealander, in a similara situation, appeared out of nowhere. Just having climbed to the roof of the next tower and started to set up our stoves to cook, we heard noises coming from within the tower. Oh, man! Was the watch policeman sleeping in the tower as well? We had be quiet as church mice - sleeping on the Great Wall is forbidden. The Chinese don't take any jokes about that. Now we had no choice. We didn't move an inch, not even to take pictures of the sunset that takes your breath away. We communicated per sms with my handy and didn't make a peep.

"Boredeom is the only sin for which there is no foregiveness." Well, Mark Twain would have been proud of us here! Two hours passed and we were pretty ravenous. But everything rustled. At some point I had to go to the Ladies room so bad that I considered giving the watchman some cash for shutting his mug on our staying there. I went down from the wall and decided to face my fate. Suddenly, I had 2 Spaniards standing in front of me. We laughed our heads off! All 4 of us thought the other 2 were the watchman. They joined us up on the roof.

You experience the most wonderful things in life when you least expect them...

3 highest mountain runs in the Black Forest region

2007-08-19T17:48:00.000+02:00

This is about a run I did from Freiburg over the 3 highest mountains of the Black Forest, in an attempt to set a record for Guinness. They've accepted the record, though the decision whether or not to put it in the book is pending. This attempt was made to raise funds for the Children's Cancer Fund, Freiburg, Germany.

Inner swine get out!

2007-08-14T19:45:00.000+02:00

"There is a fatality about good resolutions - that they are always made too late." Well, I must contradict my favorite author, Oscar Wilde, on this one. Absolute strangers turn to me every day. Today we're going to grab the apparently most urgent topic by the scruff of his neck - the inner swine, our weaker self. He's like a uninvited roommate who pays no rent. But before you continue to read you need a pair of scissors, the pocket of your favorite trainings shorts and a decent amount of elation. I'll wait for you...

Now, cut out this column (after you've finished reading...) and put it in the pocket of your sport pants. I'm going to accompany you the next few times you train and keep your inner swine at bay and thus all excuses for you not to train - as there are none. "I never quarrel with actions. My one quarrel is with words." i.e. stop cribbing about it and move your behind!" Part of the inner swine's deception tactics is to produce all sorts of creative excuses. If you are to believe all he says, you put ourselves at the mercy of your own sabotage. He doesn't want changes, he's unfathomably lazy and he wants everything to remain the same. Let's send that inertia into exile! Should he for some reason re-appear, just take out these words and get your act together! You're going to train now, got it? Big Sister is watching you...

Finished your training? Did you notice something? The elation comes all by itself. "Everything becomes a pleasure if one does it often enough! The harmony of soul and body - how much that is!" Oh, how right Oscar was.

Your own conviction or simply rumour?

2007-08-14T19:43:00.000+02:00

Last week on the day before the Tibet Marathon I grabbed my big bag with clothes, shoes, chocolate and a donation and set off for a woman and children's alliance near Leh in Ladakh deep in the heart of the Himalayas. i was really excited and curious of what I was to expect there and enjoyed the unfathomably beautiful landscape on the "roof of the world". I was curious as well, as a Danish Marathon assistant had heard that the director of the alliance was "a real witch, really uncongenial."

Well, I'm always very cautious about such hearsay, caught myself however thinking during the walk about how I'd encounter her. "Why was someone like that heading a cultural organisation and sanctuary for women and children?" I thought.

After a while I arrived and was immediately surrounded by Ladakhi children, who to took me for Steffi Graf. Funny, happens to me often abroad! A very cordial woman received me and offered me a scrumptious cup of Masala Tea. During a very lively exchange it turned out she was the director of the alliance. I was bewildered. That was no uncongenial witch.

I've seen quite a bit of this world, and I can say that nowhere on this earth have I experienced people to really believe and live according to the words of the Dalai Lama as they do in India: Do not believe, just because wise men say so. Do not believe, just because it has always been that way. Do not believe, just because others my think so.

Examine and experience yourself...

Seize the day!

2007-08-14T19:40:00.000+02:00

I am a Ultra-Marathon runner who lives in Munzingen. Among many other things, I have conquered "Marathon des Sables" twice. Not only have I successfully completed many extreme sport challenges, but also a full time job and being a single mother.

I often return from my marathon trips with "excess luggage". It's neither tons sand from the Sahara making my bag so heavy nor stones from the Great Wall of China. This "excess baggage" is however everything but a burden - on the contrary. It's made up of brilliant experiences and pearls of wisdom I'd like to share with you.
People are always asking me: "How does that work, kids, work, training for Ultra-events?" My answer: Seize the day! You can't give your life more days, but you can certainly give the day much more life! I'm noticing more and more that a lot of people are looking for something else in life. They're stuck in the swamp and can't get out.

We all want more time - but it seems that's the thing we waste the most of. If something's important to you, do it today, not tomorrow, as the more "tomorrow's" you collect, the bigger your pile of useless "yesterday's" will get.

I've got some homework for you - let your fantasy flow. What's your biggest dream and what's preventing you from starting to make it reality today?

Discovering new territory

2007-08-14T19:05:00.000+02:00

These words reach you from the hustling bustling Indian city of Delhi. By the time you've got them in your hands though, I've moved on to Ladakh, where I'll be running the Great Tibet Marathon. After my encounter with the man on the Great Wall of China who'd lost his legs in a car accident, I've met an Indian Rickshaw driver who was peddling away - with no right leg or left arm. He told me his story and how he had left his home town of Chennai to better deal with his fate.

That reminded me of Simon, one of my 7 tentmates from the Marathon des Sables. He was the only one I knew who had a rash between the legs before! even the first of 6 starts due to an earlier intime shave. He was a rascal, full of mischief. After the long stage, he stole all of my underpants and spread them in the neighboring tents. His girlfreind had left him and, at the same time, he'd lost his job. He came to the desert to dive into a new world, the intense world of sports.

The hot desert wind and fine sand stroked his face for nine days and like a sponge, his soul soaked up the great experiences of the Marathon des Sables. After 250 Km in the Sahara, he was like new. Wouldn't you agree that getting unexpected stranded can lead one to discover most precious new territories?

Pico De Teide

2007-08-12T13:58:00.000+02:00

Me in Spain

2007-08-12T13:57:00.000+02:00

At the finish of Malta marathon 2007

2007-08-12T13:56:00.000+02:00

Pictures with my friends

2007-08-12T13:55:00.000+02:00

2007-08-12T13:52:00.000+02:00

This was shot in the black forest region

Sahara Marathon pictures

2007-08-12T13:46:00.000+02:00

These pictures were taken during my Sahara trip to participate in my second Marathon Des Sables (MDS).

The Great Tibetan Marathon (GTM) race

2007-08-06T15:36:00.001+02:00

The organising team of GTM

2007-08-06T15:33:00.001+02:00

Great Tibetan marathon July 2007

2007-08-06T15:28:00.000+02:00