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Chris Eidhof loves running

woensdag, 15 augustus 2012

Rondje Harz

lexgroep.nl Rondje Harz
Rondje Harz
Chris Eidhof, lexgroep, souplesse methode
Chris Eidhof
1/2
Chris Eidhof heeft het rennen in de natuur helemaal ontdekt:
In 't Harz was 't enorm mooi, heb een klein stukje geschreven (in 't Engels). Ik ga zeker weer die kant op.

I just got back from my first trip to the Harz mountain range. Living in Berlin, it is a bit hard to run in the mountains, and after some hours of googling the Harz area seemed to be the closest mountainous area.In the middle of the Harz, there is Brocken, the highest mountain in Northern Germany. I decided to look for a place close to Brocken and went to Ilsenburg, where I stayed in a small bed and breakfast. I would have prefered to go camping, but couldn’t find a camping online.

I took the Harz-Berlin Express from Friedrichstrasse at 7 in the morning, and arrived in Harz at half past 10. The bed and breakfast was just across the street from the station, so I dropped my bag, changed, and packed my running backpack: a banana, home-made energy gel, 1.25 liters of water with added electrolytes, a light wind-proof jacket, elete, raisins and some money. I bought a map and set off with the goal to run to the Brocken summit.

My run first went along the Ilse, a small stream, and through the beautiful town of Ilsenburg. After a few kilometers, I went up a small track to the north, and took a long tour towards south-west and Brocken. I only met cyclists and hikers on the tracks, no other runners. The whole area is filled with marked trails, and signs are everywhere, but the map still was very useful.

When I arrived at the foot of Brocken there were two signs: up the steep way (about 5km) or up the normal way (about 8km). I chose the steep way, and from there it was a paved road, with lots of walkers. Most of them looked at me like I was crazy trying to run up to the summit. This is an extra boost to put in a little more energy of course.

At the summit it was quite crowded, also because there’s a steam train going up. There is a little restaurant that serves hot soup, so I had some soup and coke, and ran down again. Not surprisingly, this was a lot easier and went a lot faster than going up.

I’m definitely coming back here. Unfortunately, the second day I had to check out at 10 and there was no option to leave my bag or take a shower afterwards. Also, it was pouring down, so I didn’t go for another run, but instead went back to Berlin. However, I’m going to come back soon, and not just for one day.
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