"You're crazy": Tabea Otto's tough ultra week

Created: 06/14/2022, 19:45

By: Paul Hopp

Have fun with the effort: Tabea Otto took part in the "Race around Lower Austria" at short notice.

It was her debut in this ultra race.

© Nevsimal/Race around Lower Austria

Tabea Otto has a lot of stamina.

But what the 26-year-old elementary school teacher recently did on foot and on her bike within a week was pretty intense.

Penzberg/Murnau – Running a marathon from scratch is nothing out of the ordinary for Tabea Otto.

But just a few days after such an event, taking part in an ultra cycle race with 600 kilometers and 6000 meters in altitude – the 26-year-old hasn’t done that yet either.

The venture was a success: together with Peter Scherrer (63), Otto even took a podium place in the mixed ranking at the “Race around Niederösterreich” with third place.

When the endurance athlete set off from Munich to Mittenwald for her private marathon on the edge of the “Megamarsch” and ran from Benediktbeuern over the Kesselberg to Mittenwald for fun, she didn’t know that two days later she would receive a telephone inquiry to take part in the “Race around Lower Austria”.

The Sauerlacher Scherrer (also known as the cross-country ski instructor in the region) lost his partner at short notice.

Tabea Otto: First a marathon, then an ultra bike race

Contact with the woman from Murnau came about through another ultra cyclist, Bernhard Steinberger, with whom Tabea Otto had won a 24-hour trophy near Graz last year.

After a lengthy conversation, Otto finally agreed – three days before the start of the race, mind you.

Scherrer only found out much later that she had run 42 kilometers the previous weekend.

The reaction of the veteran: "You're crazy."

Otto is fit for a venture like the “Race around Lower Austria” (RAN).

The elementary school teacher, who teaches fourth graders at the Penzberg Mayor Prandl Elementary School, regularly covers long distances.

“I know my body relatively well.

I thought to myself: It will be alright.” Nevertheless, there was also a bit of a thrill: Because Otto had never contested a kind of bike race – with a pace car, independent navigation, time limit, etc. – before.

Compared to the 24-hour trophy in Hinzendorf with a 4-kilometer circuit, the RAN is “a completely different house number,” says Otto.

Third place in the "Race around Lower Austria"

At the RAN, the participants basically start into the night, just before 9 p.m. the adventure for the German duo began.

In the beginning, the drivers took turns every hour, but they soon reduced the operating times to a good 20 minutes.

This proved to be an advantage for the athletes: a higher speed is possible in less time, and those who take a break “do not completely slow down physically and cool down less,” says Otto.

A disadvantage: Some time is lost with each change, because the transponder has to be handed over.

The two were soon ahead of their personal schedule.

After about 200 kilometers they were about a quarter of an hour faster than planned.

The balance grew more and more - until the end it was over an hour compared to the targeted 22 hours.

“That was really cool,” says Otto.

On top of that, it was amazing, because the steep climbs in the RAN only come in the second half of the race.

"We got over the mountains really well," Otto says happily.

Once, after about 340 kilometers, she experienced a difficult moment when she had to climb a 23 percent climb.

"He robbed me of all my strength for a moment." Fortunately, a change came quickly afterwards.

In the following break she was able to regenerate well.

Journey to the podium: Peter Scherrer and Tabea Otto took third place in the mixed category for teams of two.

© Organizer/RAN

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Last but not least, a challenge at the RAN for everyone involved is the lack of sleep.

"At some point you just function," says Otto.

The participants were lucky with the weather, even though the night was cold.

Once Otto and Scherrer experienced a drizzle.

"But then Peter was on the bike," says the woman from Murnau with a smile.

Otto expressly praises the work of the companions in the Pacecar - her friend came along without further ado, Scherrer hired two experienced helpers.

"Above all, navigation is extremely important," emphasizes the athlete.

Race around Lower Austria

The Race around Lower Austria experienced its fourth edition in 2022.

From the starting point and destination of Weitra, the route goes clockwise over around 600 kilometers and a good 6,000 meters in altitude through the province of Lower Austria.

The route runs close to the national borders.

There are winners in individuals (time limit 30 hours) as well as in teams of two and three (time limit 24 hours).

The drivers take turns within the teams.

The model is the legendary Race across America.

In the individual competition, two Austrian athletes, the six-time Race-across-America winner Christoph Strasser (16:36 hours) and Elena Roch (21:15), set course records – like the year before.

Olympic luge champion Felix Loch rode in a team of three – he finished third with the “Athletes for Ukraine”.

In 2021, Tina and Gerhard Steinl took part.

After 20:54 hours, Otto/Scherrer reached the finish line in Weitra.

The duo, which rode under the flag of the non-profit association "Radeln und Helfen" (supports, among other things, the children's cancer charity), took third place out of six teams in the mixed classification.

Second place, Otto is convinced, would have been possible.

The German team "Cycling units" had a 17-minute lead.

In the meantime, however, the duo had dropped out of the live tracker display and were no longer recognizable as direct competitors for Otto/Scherrer.

Satisfaction clearly outweighs the Murnau native.

Sooner or later, says Otto, she would like to complete such a race as a solo driver.

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The marathon run a few days earlier was also a kind of form test for Tabea Otto.

After a corona infection, she decided not to complete the “mega march” from Munich to Mittenwald (100 kilometers in 24 hours) as a participant as originally planned.

Otto did this at the aid station in Benediktbeuern.

After her shift, which ended at 5 a.m., she wanted to go jogging with her dog "Spike" until she caught up with the last marchers and then go to Mittenwald.

But shortly before Kochel she had caught up with the field - and continued.

Tabea Otto runs a marathon to Mittenwald without further ado

"I was just in running mode," she says, almost apologetically.

After around 21 kilometers and the ascent over the Kesselberg, "Spike" was tired.

The remaining kilometers to the last refreshment station - Otto's friend was on duty there - she carried the mongrel.

"Time has passed, but the dog always comes first."

Otto then ran the final eleven kilometers to Mittenwald again.

In order to really get to the marathon distance of 42.2 kilometers, she circled around the finish area a few more times.

A time of 5:16 hours was on the clock.

More important to her was the confirmation that she had survived Corona and was able to perform.

Then it was also possible to add the "Race around Lower Austria".