The “Ladinia Trail” at the “Brixen Dolomites Marathon” has it all.
Rüdiger Brand from Huglfing tackled it for the second time this year and was faster than in 2019, although he was plagued by cramps.
Brixen / Huglfing - placements say a lot, but not everything. Take Rüdiger Brand, for example: two years ago he finished second in his age group on the “Ladinia Trail” at the “Brixen Dolomites Marathon” - a top result. Now, when he took part for the second time, the SC Huglfing athlete came in tenth among the men between 49 and 59 years of age. His performance this year should be rated higher, because Brand was a whopping four minutes faster on the same route. He covered the 29 kilometers with 1852 meters uphill and 545 meters downhill in 4:37:21 hours. In the overall standings, Brand came in 37th out of 77 men.
The SC athlete was satisfied, although he also quarreled a little. "Unfortunately, cramps in the thighs prevented a better result in the exposed downhill sections," reported the long-distance runner. In the end, however, he was “happy that I was still able to finish the race so well”.
For Rüdiger Brand, the competition in South Tyrol was “like jumping into cold, unknown water”.
After all the runs that he would otherwise have used to prepare had failed, he didn't know how his form was doing.
Sure: Brand had been hardworking over the winter and spring.
But training and competition are just two pairs of boots.
And the route on the “Ladinia Trail” has it all.
From St. Martin in Thurn (1127 meters) it goes over forest paths to the Gömmajoch and on to the Fornellahütte, which is reached after a good 15 kilometers.
From there, the participants walk along hiking trails to the Tauberhütte, and finally there is a steep climb and a ski run up to the Plose (2450 meters).
The goal for all participants was on the Plose (2450 meters)
Due to the corona regulations, there were only three refreshment stations this year, with only water being served at the first station after eight kilometers. "That's very little for a run in this category," said Brand. "However, since it was announced in the competition, the runners were able to adjust to it, but had to take their own food with them." Brand had prepared himself accordingly and completed the 29 kilometers at a brisk pace. "Now I hope that another running event can take place in Germany," said Huglfinger. His next goal has already been set: “I will start preparing for the Tegernsee Half Marathon in September soon.” He would at least like to maintain the form he showed in South Tyrol.
An athlete from the region convinced the women on the “Ladinia Trail”: Sandra Saitner from LC Tölzer Land narrowly missed the podium as fourth overall. With a time of 3:34:20 hours, however, she won the "30-39" age group. The top times on the marathon route (42.195 kilometers / 2450 meters in altitude) were achieved by the 51-year-old local hero Helmuth Mair (3:50:41) from the SG Eisacktal and 28-year-old Julia Kessler (4:25:48) Meran. Mirko Schohn from the “Böbinger Kenyaner” running group also showed a fine performance on the ultimate distance: With a time of 5:46:45 hours, he took eleventh place out of 30 in the M45 class. Schohn came in 81st out of a total of 204 men.
The “Brixen Dolomites Marathon” with its five different runs was overshadowed by a misfortune: A participant in the four-man relay in the marathon suffered a heart attack and died despite resuscitation measures. The award ceremony planned for the evening has been canceled.