Man - I'm really lazy in terms of actually writing anything on this blog. Anyways, I hope I used the time to prepare the TorTour de Ruhr properly - we will see.I'm writing this, as now more and more people ask me about what kind of endeavour have been signed up, where does it take place and when? In this blog post I will capture all relevant information as they are available to me - so, watch out for updates of this blog post.
What is this TorTour de Ruhr thingy?!
The Tortour de Ruhr is a ultra running event, which takes place at the bicycle path - Ruhrtal Radweg - next to the Ruhr River. The complete race distance covers all the way from the origin of the Ruhr to the entry in Rhine River. Finish is at the Rheinorange. These are 230km. While I'm crazy, I'm not that crazy - yet ;). Luckily they also provide shorter distances. 100 miles and 100 km (Bambini Edition). I signed up for the latter. All race editions share a common finish locations, which is the above mentioned Rheinorange. The event takes place every 2 years, but it is a private event. So you can't just sign up for it, but you need to obtain an invitation. All the details are available on the event web-page: http://www.tortourderuhr.de/ (while mostly in German, it provides everything you might want to know about the event).When does it take place?
The Bambini Race starts at Sunday the 15th of Mai 2016 at 4am at the Hengsteysee in Hagen, DLRG-Wache Südufer, neben dem Hengstey-Freibad.
Where are you running?
You find a magnificent GPX track at event website or directly at Google Maps. I will start at KM 132,6 (62,9) = VP = Start TTdR100 and running down the Ruhr river until KM 231,5 (161,8) [100] = Finish TTdR. So, don't get confused by the naming of the aid stations. As they are shared between the different distances, they are named after the full distance race.
When will you be where?
Easy question, but super hard to answer - at least in general.
For sure I will be at the start at 4am. This is easy, but maybe not a good point in time to visit me. Might be too early for you and actually I should need less of support at the start.
Another - slightly less, but hey I'm optimistic - sure statement that I will be eventually at the Rheinorange ;).
Beside this, the organise provides a live tracking available at http://www.webscorer.com/tortourderuhr. The accuracy here would be on aid-station level. Apparently updates will only be done once a runner hits the finish.
I'm thinking about providing more detailed information on the run, not sure yet how. I might just update my FB status from time to time, Use Garmin Live (I'm a little bit shy because of the battery consumption) or find other means. Definitely I will have my phone with me.
I'm thinking about providing more detailed information on the run, not sure yet how. I might just update my FB status from time to time, Use Garmin Live (I'm a little bit shy because of the battery consumption) or find other means. Definitely I will have my phone with me.
In terms of planning I'm not so sure. The organiser provides this general time plan, which might give you an idea.
Personally I have too little experience to actually provide an accurate plan about my running. Initially I put a thumb in the air and estimated 10+2h for the distance. Rationale here: 6min/km pace is pretty slow for normal running (this would give me 10h) and for sure stuff will go wrong - so let's add 2h more. So highly unscientific and most likely obsolete right after the start ;)
In the meantime I played a little bit with numbers: Google Sheet - Maybe even less accurate. Anyways my goal is to finish - I couldn't care less about the time.
Should I pass along to sheer you on?
Absolutely. Sheering is always nice on those long runs. I would be supper happy to meet some known faces, which could distract me a little from the effort.
At the same time, don't over estimate the experience on your side. I will not pause for an extensive talk, I might me totally broken and hence a bad conversation buddy.
If you are still up to pass along - great! The actual course is a cycle path - so passing along on a bike tour should work perfectly. If you are a runner, you might want to jog along with me for a while - I'll be slow! - Also a family excursion, e.g. to the Baldeneysee could work.
Just show up to surprise me, or let me know in advance, so that I can manage to communicate where I am according to your plans. If you don't show up (weather forecast is not too good) - don't worry. I'm in a fight anyways ;)
