The Longest Day ultratrail

The start of the trail was at 7am. To be in Spa so early, it is of course better to be on location on Friday evening. It’s about a 3 hour drive from home so that would have been a very early start to the day. So we immediately booked a weekend at Center Parcs with the family. If I have to go to the Ardennes, we better have a nice time together. We drove to Vielsalm on Friday afternoon and after we checked in we tested every piece of play equipment in the playground. Had a bite to eat and went to bed at 9:00 PM. On Saturday morning the alarm went off at 5:00 am and after breakfast, I drove to Spa. At 6:30 am I met my running buddy there and picked up my starting number. We started running at 7:00 am and a lovely 4 degrees Celsius. It was quite busy at the start and we stopped again after a few meters. There was a narrow staircase that we all had to go up, so that was quite a challenge. After the stairs the runners spread out a bit more and we were able to pick up the pace a bit. We decided in advance to walk up the steep hills and not run. That would take so much energy, and a podium place was not an option anyway. The route mainly ran through wooded hills and along many streams. We soon gained quite a few meters of altitude, there are not many flat paths in the Ardennes. Like me, Jeroen is primarily a mountain climber so we had plenty of conversation. When you are on the road for so long it is great that you can have good conversations with each other, otherwise it is so boring. Later we received some nice comments from other runners about this.

The route consisted of two loops of 25 kilometers, so you ended up halfway to the finish. That’s a slight mind-fuck, but they did have good food. That of course makes up for a lot. Moreover, the food and drinks at the rest of the aid stations were very well organised. After the first loop, continue to run the second half. It took some time to find where to go, but we were soon on our way again. This loop was no less beautiful than the first. It may be a bit tougher through areas like these, but the surroundings are worth it. We ran through a village on the asphalt towards the highway. Of course we found that a less enjoyable part, but we soon arrived at the next nature reserve. It is also understandable that there is some asphalt in between at such a distance. At the furthest point of this loop we came to the last care station where I filled my water bag until I could no longer fit a drop. Jeroen made a funny comment about that, but I would continue to lubricate my throat. After this break the last 12.5 kilometers towards the finish. The last kilometers are always the hardest, but we still felt strong enough. The pace remained good and we walked steadily towards the finish line. When we only had a few kilometers to go, Jeroen asked if he could have some of my drink. He had nothing left. And just make fun of me with my filled water bag… They sometimes say that the devil is in the tail and this was no different. As if they had saved the steepest and highest hills for the end. Oh well, we got through this well and at one point we saw the small lake near the finish. I suggested to sprint the last few hundred meters, but Jeroen did not completely agree with that. Crazy of course. After 50 kilometers we crossed the finish line and complimented each other on the performance. Jeroen’s wife and son were at the finish and they had bought us a delicious bottle of Belgian beer as a reward. Very nice! After chatting with each other for a while and agreeing that we should do something strange again soon, it was time to say goodbye. There were a few little people eager to go to the pool with daddy… 50 kilometers through the Ardennes, a tough but exceptionally beautiful trail.