Mountains. Effort. Time. Passion. Reward
Mountains. Running. Climbing. Effort. Time. Passion. Reward
Mountains are calling and I /WE must go (John Muir) - The Mountains will always be there!
“It's not the mountains we conquer, but ourselves!” (Edmund Hillary)
When I first came to Wanaka I ran Mt. Iron, like almost every other tourist. It's not a real mountain, more a hill. 200 meters, 45 min of walking.Doesn't the word mountain implies a challenge?
It was hard and I was a bit out of shape. I had to walk quite a few parts instead of skyrun and it's actually just a hill of a little bit more than 200 m elevation, but it has a beautiful view all over the place of Wanaka. It's a beautiful 5 km round and I thought, nice, I should do that every morning now.
I didn't do it for a long time after that run but the few times I went up there, I have never been disappointed.
During my depression I didn't run you. I forgot you. I got ideas. Actually on one of my first runs, I thought you would make an amazing location and circuit for a "Last man standing - Ultra." A good, traily but not too difficult round, some altitude and a fantastic view. Probably, one of the most beautiful 5 km rounds in the world, you could do. In my dreams I imagined, a group of runners, a potluck/ first aid station, a music station and a running film and a presentation station created from runners for the runners on top of the mountain. I forgot about all these plans and sank deeper and deeper into my depression.
Mirco, Lara, Robert, Kath and Alex wanted to go to Elton John's Farewell Tour in Dunedin and had one spare ticket and were looking for another person to join. I'm not an Elton John fan but I decided to go with them, not because of Elton John but more to spend a fantastic time with friends.
The tickets cost around 126$ plus extra expenses but therefore I watched the first time the movie Rocketman with my friends, visited Dunedin and Tunnel beach, went to my first concert, slept with my friends in a tent all night in rain, got some midnight cookies, had a beautiful ride with friends, learned some more music, shared some stories, so it was worth every single $.
I learned to know my favourite songs of Elton John, "Crocodile Rock" - Laaaa, la, la, la la laa, easy to sing and great to annoy your friends for a whole night and drive, and "I'm still standing" because I was still standing in a dark mind, suffering but still alive.
At that time, I couldn't run 5 km without a break, I couldn't climb an easy beginner climbing route top rope, my mind was broken. I didn't believe in myself and couldn't focus on my goals and unfortunately the body follows the mind and not the other way around.
A year and a half ago, I was motivating a Canadian friend, Stephen to run 180 km in 5 days along the Sunshine Coast trail in Western Canada on the other side of the world. I did my own "The Most Beautiful Ironman" in the Rocky Mountains, I did 4 American Dream Marathons. One year ago, I climbed a volcano in Ecuador alone for over 14 hours. I tried to run the Condor Trek, a five day backcountry hike on over 4500 m elevation in one day.
Half a year ago, I worked as a raft guide and ran the UTMB round of 160 km and 10, 000 m elevation in 4 days by myself, with a short break at my friends house, Matze. I came to visit him , after a horrible rainy, cold night. I rested for a day, he cooked, we played some games and I started again.
I started that run with Johanna, another friend, who joined for the first part and I could stay, when I came back. Half a year ago, I went to the Transalp run to join and support my friends Patrick from Hamburg and Todd and Adrian from Edmonton, Canada for parts of it. It's an expensive run but a dream for most trail runners. I ran the most beautiful parts in the best weather conditions for free and could motivate some good friends at the same time. I slept for free outside and got even invited for dinner.
Time can change so fast. The mind controls the body.
After five long months of being numb and not able to run, I decided to run/hike one morning in Aspiring NP and to push my friend Kriz to his first half marathon and my first marathon, including a lot of walking. I got better and could do the Gillespie circuit in two days. I went for a morning run with Micro, a superfit Swiss machine, doing yoga and sport everyday and was way fitter than me a month ago. Now I had to wait for him on the climb of Mt.Iron, feeling not tired at all and motivated. I went to run with the Wanaka trail runners, where I met Ian, who did the Revenge, a crazy ultra race, talking and happy all time during the run and even motivated me to stay for a sponsorship. We ran together for the first time, chatting, laughing. He has old running shoes in my size, he wanted to give me them.
Corona, changed everything. A week later, he didn't even want to run a 5 km round, 2 m apart, together and I already started to miss a good run with a friend.
I started to run it two times in both directions, a beautiful run and I even talked to some crazy people on the way.
On the way back to the hostel, I picked some free apples from the trees next to the street, which no one else is doing anymore.
The next day, I thought, it's a good idea to motivate some friends for a two meter or even more social distance Mt. Iron marathon staffel. No one wanted to join. So, I thought, I have to run 10 rounds by myself.I started later than I wanted to do, around 12.30pm . On my first round I met Lauren and Ryan, some friends from the Lighthouse, walking the trek. They were happy to be outside and told me that they have a lot of extra food, I could have and they're happy to share. On another round, I met a spanish girl, a little bit exhausted. I could motivate her a bit and pushed her to the top and could speak/practice my spanish at the same time. I met a girl from America, sitting at the top, not on her phone but writing into her diary. She was happy to hear that you can walk to Roys Peak and hike it, without driving which is forbidden. Everything seems to be forbidden at the moment. People are like sheep, not allowed to make their own decision anymore and decide what's best for you and your friends. I met a Kiwi couple from Nelson, for training, they hiked with their backpacks. I would have liked to join them for the next hike. I ran 3 laps to one side and 3 laps to the other side, running is so much more fun with other people. On my 7th, my last round I finally met some friends again, Joe from New World and Tama the guy from Nelson, i met before came back for a run, inspired by me running, maybe. Anyways, only humans are able to inspire other humans but therefore we have to do, to meet and to talk. So, I finally ran my last halp lap with a new friend together, two meters apart, behind each other talking and sharing experiences, because that makes us human and alive. I got promised some food from some other friends and I did 32 km of running and 10 km of running yesterday. But the only think what was really counting in the end was that I created a wonderful day for myself just by going outside and being active and alive.
“Conquering mountains is an ironic phrase. We are not conquering them. We can never pretend to be fighting nature because we're part of it. (Kilian Jornet)
“The absolute simplicity. That's what I love. When you're climbing your mind is clear and free from all confusions. You have focus. And suddenly the light becomes sharper, the sounds are richer and you're filled with the deep, powerful presence of life. I've only felt that one other time.”
― Heinrich Harrer, Seven Years in Tibet
Climbing and mountaineering is another story than just running the trails beneath it. Climbers are in direct contact with death. Every movement is essential not to fall. Every climbing style is different and you can climb routes differently. You can't get closer to God and yourself than in the mountains. So small, so surrendered. You're basically alone with yourself and nature. If people call climbers who died in the mountains, dying what they loved to do and believed in, what made them pure happiness, if those people call climbers ignorant how can they respond? Negotiate life by not doing what you love. Everyone chose his love!
SUFFERING => GRATITUDE = HAPPINESS = BE ALIVE
Mountains Film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-OQjSJwpc8&t=158s)
The misty mountains cold (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEm0AjTbsac)
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