31. Pyratallauf in Tannenbergsthal (GER): 11,9km – 43:14min

June 30, 2009

Last weekend I had another race on Saturday. For me it was the third race in four days. Unlike the two other competitions this time the course was more challenging: a cross-country like 11,9km with several ups and downs and partly small paths in the forest.

I didn’t want to run a tactical race this time, so I went out harder than usual and decided early on to run my own pace. So after around 1km I was clear of my competitors and was on my own. At the end I had a 1:09min lead over Benjamin Seifert, a cross-country skier who is member of the German team and is hoping to qualify for the Winter Olympic in Vancouver 2010. Even if I won the race against this good opponent I was not too satisfied – the legs were not so fresh and I couldn’t increase the pace as I wanted. Somehow the legs didn’t respond to the signals from the brain. This is just a matter of freshness and after 4 tough workout within 6 days this is nothing unusual.

just before the finish – the humidity was really high that day and old man Erik was sweating a lot.

prize ceremony with two promising cross-country skiers on the podium (Benjamin Seifert, Erik Hass, Stefan Seiffert – from left to right)