Trail runner Marcel Höche changes his job for his sport and moves to the Walchensee.
He has the world championship in his sights.
Höche is a trail runner and ultra runner, for him the fun only begins when it is long over for others.
He has now even changed his beloved job and place of residence for his sport: Höche, originally from Bad Lauterberg in the Harz Mountains - highest elevation: the Brocken at 1,141 meters - is a product developer at Adidas in Herzogenaurach until the end of January.
In February he starts his new job in a marketing agency affiliated with the shoe company, where he can do a lot of home office.
His new home: an apartment directly under the Herzogstand in Walchensee.
Change of job and place of residence for sport
Sport in general, trail running in particular, this is more than a passion for Marcel Höche.
“There wasn't much you could do where I come from, there were trails, forests, not much else.
So I discovered the sport for myself. ”First mountain biking, he regularly raced and trained a lot.
Then run.
At the age of 15, he and his bike trainer started a team charity race over 100 kilometers.
“Slightly exaggerated for the beginning, but I got it right away,” recalls Höche.
"This competition brought me to where I am now."
It took a while until he actually got there.
“The time after school was pretty wild for me.” Höche began a dual course (international business) in Stuttgart with the practical part at Adidas.
This included a semester abroad in Taiwan and practical experience in Prague.
He took part in all kinds of running events, got stuck in extreme obstacle runs for a while.
“At some point I lost interest and rediscovered trail running, so I also liked the community better,” says Höche.
At the latest on the 100-kilometer distance on the Zugspitz Ultra Trail, he knew: "I see myself in the future."
Encounter with a water buffalo
Höche was on the road a lot during his studies, and later combined business trips with races on site.He ended up in Vietnam, for example, where he met a giant water buffalo during a race, or in the Elbrus Mountains, where he met his girlfriend Magdalena Kalus.
And Höche got faster.
Much faster.
While he needed 17:42 hours for his first 100 kilometers as a 15-year-old, he needed just over 9 hours for a comparable distance in autumn 2020.
"If it's up to me, I don't need any competitions"
When it comes to what constitutes his passion, why he torments himself over such long distances with so many meters in altitude, then Höche weighs up.
"On the one hand, there is the sporting incentive, the successes in competitions." He came third in the race in Vietnam with the water buffalo - a big competition in the scene -, won several big trail runs in the Alpine region, and often landed on the Stockerl, was one of the best Germans.
But then there is the other side.
“If I have my way, I don't need any competitions,” says Höche, who is primarily interested in the experience of running itself, the borderline experience.
“Sometimes I have to brake myself, otherwise I would run way too much.” And it's about the positive mood for him in the mountains: The races, regardless of the result, are indescribable experiences.
He will never forget the Tromsø Sky Race, for example.
"A brutally technical run, extremely difficult, I really liked it."
"You can earn yourself running in the national jersey"
But because he is in the process of bringing structure into his life - not least because of the job change - he is now also structuring his sport more and more, setting goals for the coming season.
Höche has already made a note of various selected competitions in the racing calendar and may plan to take part in the Trail World Championship in Chiangmai / Thailand in November.
“You can't buy yourself to run in the national jersey, but you can earn it.” He would like to, and he thinks the chances are reasonably realistic.
“I think I'll be among the top five to ten in Germany.” He would also like to start again at the Zugspitze, “this is something like my home race”.
Only this year it will be the shorter distance.
The program also includes a race in Bad Gastein, the Chiemgau Trail, the Eiger Ultra and the Mayrhofen Ultraks.
Later, however, he would like to focus more on the longer ultra trails.
His training is now also more focused.
“I used to just run some competitions,” says Höche.
“Short, long, with a lot of vertical meters or flat - or everything mixed up wildly.” Now he is concentrating his preparation for his competitions.
Because the world championship is coming up, which is comparatively flat and therefore all the faster, he and his trainer limit the competitions to 30 to 60 kilometers.
In addition to work, 15 to 20 hours per week are planned for training, seven to ten units.
Running, cycling, and ski touring in winter.
The Neu-Walchensee, who enjoys climbing or hiking in addition to trail running, is also proud of his unofficial achievements.
Höche is “local legend” on the Herzogstand downhill on the Strava platform.
That means he has had the most segment coping in the past 90 days.
“Since I've only been living here for 50 days, I think that's really funny.” He and a friend also set an outstanding record on the same route: from the Herzogstandhütte to the hiking car park at Walchensee in under 17 minutes.
He left greats like Konrad Lex and the World Cup participants Lukas Naegele or Moritz auf der Heide behind.
An easy decision and a difficult one
The decision to move very close to his beloved Karwendel and Wetterstein mountains - "I used to be with my parents in Garmisch and loved it" - was not difficult for him.
“I've always wanted to come here, it feels like arriving.” But it was very difficult for him to decide to quit his job at Adidas.
"I thought it was great, I was involved in shoe development, had a good connection with the athletes, as a runner I knew what was important when it came to shoes and got around a lot." But because he almost always had to be on site for development, Feeling the shoes, holding them in his hand and testing them, he decided with a heavy heart to focus even more on the sport.
"And I'm also looking forward to working at the marketing agency, it will be a new challenge." The company has a branch in Munich, Höche no longer has such long distances between work and mountains, and can often work from home.
Can organize his time so that he has time for his passion.
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Hell pace: The 27-year-old has improved his personal best in recent years.
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"For me and the moment": Marcel Höche enjoys the experiences in nature.
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