Allgäu Panorama Marathon, Sonthofen, Germany

This German trail marathon was just drop dead gorgeous from start to finish. I regretted from the first kilometre that I had decided not to bring my phone so I couldn’t take any photos. There again I would have spent so much time taking photos that I might have forgotten to keep running. This was also a rare occasion when the race turned out to be a little less difficult than I had anticipated when I signed up.

We had a loop from Sonthofen, climbing into the mountains to the west, following the range for a while, descending through some villages and then running alongside several (I think) rivers back into town. All along the route were cows with huge noisy cowbells; every time I heard the bells I thought I was coming to a bunch of spectators since in France the spectators always jangled them at the aid stations, but the cows were not paying any attention to us, to the extent that in some places they were standing on the trail. They tended to look a bit bemused and continue swishing their tail at flies.

Rain had been forecast for the afternoon but I threw caution to the wind and did not bring a jacket, and the rain never came. We had perfect blue skies and mid twenties.

We started to climb at the third kilometre and went intermittently into forest. It was a great sight when we could look down into the valley, see the green mountains all around and to see the line of runners ahead. There were a few steeper climbs, and some single track with tree roots but the going was not hard. I did not regret leaving my hiking poles behind. We were on skiing terrain and passed several runs with chairlifts.

At 13 km we reached the highest point at 1660 metres, the Weiherkopf, top of a cable car with a fabulous view, and shortly after an aid station. I messed around at the aid station and when I wanted to leave I could not see which way to go; there seemed no options other than going back the way I’d come. The problem, I eventually realised, was that a group of cows were sitting on the onward trail so I could not see the sign and nor could I see the runners leaving ahead of me. 

There followed the most spectacular kilometres of the trail: mountain vistas, snaking line of runners, tiny settlements and blue sky. We might have been peeking into Austria. We had some steep descents and I was pleased to find that the Germans did not take these especially fast, and another peak to crest. At 17 - 18 km we descended to the main aid station for the race, with a buffet and loads of spectators. I found some delicious cake with almonds and had to go back for a second helping. And then I had to walk rather than run so that I could eat it.

After a bit of undulating we embarked on a really long descent on a sealed country road with hairpin after hairpin and lots of cattle grids. We passed isolated houses/guesthouses and there was a river far below the high wall of limestone peaks, which we eventually reached. Lots of runners passed me, but I regarded this stretch as effort-free kilometres and did not rush. I ended up not being able to see anyone and I was worried I had missed a turn but then just before 30 km there was a small aid station. I was keen by then to replenish my sunblock but the aid station didn’t have any (a first in my experience of races in hot weather) and I was reprimanded for not bringing my own, but the marshal found me a cyclist who had some.

The remainder of the course was fairly flat. We were no longer in skiing terrain but rather in the populated parts of the valley. There were rivers, some quite dried up, a bit of forest, a couple of villages. Soon I started passing all the runners who has passed me on the long downhill; many were walking. I felt good. Well, hot and tired but overall good. The final long eight kilometres along the river coming into Sonthofen were a bit of a slog in the midday heat and not as beautiful as the rest of the route, but in any other race such a riverside trail would have been a highlight; I had been spoilt on the earlier sections. 

Sophie was there at the finish line. I finished in 5:19, faster than I had anticipated from my review of previous results. Funnily enough I had only seen one other female runner in the last twenty kilometres (whom I had passed near the finish), but the winner of my age group had been the woman to finish immediately before me, eleven minutes earlier.

The swag at this race was possibly better than usual: a backpack, a waist pouch, nice socks. Noticeably no ill-fitting shirt and no junk. At the finish line we had that German favourite: alcohol-free beer. There were also little slices of pizza and a lot of plums.