RaeRun, Belgien 2017

Raeren - one of the nine municipalities of the German-speaking Community of Belgium and at the same time a border town near Aachen with about 11,000 inhabitants, of which about 50% are non-Belgians. So much for the location ….
I was promised a very nice landscape run in and around the village of Raeren. But was the promise kept?

Funfair in Raeren is also RaeRun time! A Track with potential to be an asshole!

The Raerun started unspectacular, if at the same time also funny. Where is the start and finish area in the middle of a funfair surrounded by a roller coaster and bumper cars. A sensible symbiosis: evening party and during the day sport. The empty marquee was summarily used for registration, food and award ceremony - Top thought!
We first ran on the streets of Raeren but already after less than 2 kilometers to swap the road for a cow pasture. I myself (you know it) come from the Trail and/or OCRun and I like trail running - that is, beyond the road and way - very much. Cow pasture initially went downhill. On the next 20 kilometers with constantly changing subsoil we continued on roads, gravel, meadow and forest paths, through beautiful valleys, over challenging hills, the Raerener castle, the Raeren water tower and meandering streams with and without bridge and ponds. Wet and muddy shoes were not uncommon - a paradise for every (trail) runner.

One thing should be anticipated: This track has asshole potential!

What does a runner do before the run? Sure, he looks at the route and at the altitude profile. We did that too and, well, the track is not flat, but hilly is also different. Altogether not even 250 meters on 22.11km - hardly worth mentioning. So we went to the start.
If you compress a larger part of this 250 altitude on a short part of the track, this part can become an asshole. Specifically, it looked like that about 100 altitude were to manage on 1km distance. Fortunately, from the point of view of the runner, the end was very early in sight: “Until then I’ll pack it!” What came into view very late was that the supposed end was only a bend, but the mountain was not over yet. So it would go uphill. In fact, I heard several times after the run that some runners became pedestrians. As one of those who ran there I can only say “Not bad!”.
Arrived at the top, a marshal motivated with the current placement (very good, I was 17th of 75) and the information “Now it’s only downhill” - Thanks! Thanks also to all other posts. I never felt lost or in danger of getting off the track. And even though it was “only” 75 runners and the field was correspondingly sparsely populated.

Beverage, yes there were of course. Also, here the detailed knowledge of the organization was consistently very good. About every 3-4km there was a water station. At least for me this was optimal. Actually, whenever I needed some water, a station came - perfect!
Only the food in the finish area was a bit poor and offered next to a glass of mustard and a “shoot” of alcohol only water and orange pieces.

With a Udo, an Oliver, a Gabriel and two Sebastians my club “Lustlauf” was again strongly represented and of course we all came to the finish! The track is not suitable for best times because of its profile and the constantly changing surfaces, but there were very respectable times at all.

In fact, I was not disappointed, and the promise was fully fulfilled: The RaeRun is a very beautiful landscape run, and with all the fun which it offers a very varied route, also holds some challenges ready. Overall, the 22.11km route was feasible, but not always easy.
The numbers of participants were unfortunately very manageable with only good 200 starters spread over 5 disciplines. Too bad that this run is not better accepted. For my part, I’m glad to be back next year and I hope (not only for the organizers) that it will start a bit more.