Mozart100 Rerun

The view to Salzburg Castle from Kaputzinerberg, the last hill of the scenic race course.

There are not many mountain ultra trail races I've finished twice. Ecotrail Oslo was one of them last month.

Last weekend Mozart100 became another one. It's a well-organised event with a beautiful 103km +4600m course. There were thousands of runners in various distances. About 460 had signed in for the 100k.

I like Salzburg and loved to show the old castle and other sights to my son, who participated in 13km City Trail.

Moments before the 5am Mozart100 start in Kapitelplatz, Salzburg, Austria.

The 5am start on Saturday was pleasantly cool and cloudy. We ran up a river gorge to the first of eleven well-stocked aid stations. I filled my cup with Red Bull Cola and got a good boost.

In the first steep uphill I climbed fast and passed the other 'slow' runners. On top of the hill I followed the forking trail to the right. I didn't see course markings for a while and thought maybe I took the wrong turn? No, there were other runners down in the valley below. I rushed down, only to realise I was climbing up the very same hill I had climbed a while ago. But hey, it was free extra distance and vert!

After a lot of huffing and puffing, I finally reached the highest point of the race on the top of Schafberg around 12 noon. 50km in 7 hours - not bad and right on my planned schedule.

However then the sun started to really shine. The clouds disappeared. Suddenly it was hot. I struggled along the nice lakesides full of sunbathers. The steep climb up 12er Horn nearly killed my legs.

Luckily it got a bit cooler again in the late evening. I was able to maintain some sort of speed. Once again, the sun beat me on Kaputzinerberg, the last hill. After sundown around 10pm I sprinted like crazy in the darkness the final mile down the stairs to the city square finish.

My finish time was again 17 hours and change. Thanks to great people and good weather, I really enjoyed my Mozart100 once again.