Holly Zimmermann

Wusstest du schon... dass der Comrades Marathon einzigartig ist, da er je nach Zielzeit 8 verschiedene Medaillen verleiht? Wir alle wissen, dass bei den Olympischen Spielen Gold-, Silber- und Bronzemedaillen je nach Platzierung vergeben werden, aber man muss nicht an den Olympischen Spielen teilnehmen, um sich für eine bessere Medaillenplatzierung zu bemühen. Dafür gibt es der Comrades Marathon, der größte und älteste Ultramarathon der Welt. Die Strecke beträgt 90 Kilometer und bis zu 25.000 Läufer starten dafür. Alle kämpfen um eine Medaille, aber im Gegensatz zu den meisten Rennen bestimmt die Leistung welche Medaille sie nach dem Überqueren der Ziellinie um den Hals tragen dürfen. Der Comrades Marathon vergibt 8 einzigartige Medaillen: Die ersten 10 Finisher (10 Männer, 10 Frauen) erhalten eine Goldmedaille. Sie sind die Superhelden des Tages. Die nächste Kategorie ist für Männer, die den 11. Platz bis unter 6 Stunden erreichen, und das wird die Wally Hayward-Medaille genannt. H...

With up to 25,000 runners in the start blocks for the 90-kilometer course, it is by far the largest ultramarathon in the world.  5:30am Start of The Comrades 2023 And the oldest too. The Comrades was run for the first time in 1921, an idea of World War I veteran Vic Clapham to commemorate the South African soldiers killed during the war. And it’s not without it’s standards. All runners must qualify for it by running (at least) a standard marathon (42.2 km) in under 4 hours and 50 minutes while the race itself has a strict cut-off of 12 hours. In terms of size, in 2019 the race was capped at 25,000 runners, whereas in 2023 there were ‘only’ 16,072 on the start but with a phenomenal finisher rate of 92.68%.  With Ian at the Expo The day before the race I met up with a friend, Ian Sharman, who’d I’d met in Bhutan at the Snowman Race the year before. If the name Ian Sharman rings some bells, it’s probably because he is one of the best (trail) runners in the world, currently holdin...

The Dubai Marathon is known for its extremes: the extreme heat, the world-class elites, the exorbitant prize money, and now in 2023 there is one more superlative to add … a painfully boring race course. The Dubai Marathon has been held since 1998 and has been known for its elite field, fast times and some of the greatest cash prizes in long-distance running history. In 2008, one million dollars were offered for a world record and a quarter million to both the men’s and women’s winners. Haile Gebrselassie took the win in that race with an impressive time of 2:04:53, though not fast enough for a world record and a clean million. Now that my daughter is living in Dubai (hopefully not permanently), I figured it would be fun to visit her and combine the trip with the marathon, even though the course had the reputation of being relative monotonous with three city loops. But I was excited to run under the skyscrapers, including the iconic Burj Al Arab and the magical Burj Khalifa, the tallest...

Vegetarisch, aber nicht vegan. Genug für vier. Kid friendly ;) Zutaten •          1/2 Hokkaido-Kürbis in dünne Halbmonde geschnitten •          1 kleine rote Zwiebel dünn in Ringe geschnitten •          1 Knoblauchzehe in dünne Scheiben geschnitten •          2 TL Olivenöl •          Salz und Pfeffer •          5 Blätter Grünkohl getrimmt •          7 Eier •          60 g Fetta zerbröckelt •          100 g geriebene Käse (Käsesorte nach Geschmack oder was im Kühlschrank liegt) •          Quiche-Kruste (siehe separates Rezept unten) Ofen auf 220˚C Ober- oder Unterhitze 200˚...

The opening sentence of the email read, “ It is official, you are invited to run the 2022 Snowman Race Bhutan.” The Tiger's Nest The Snowman Race was conceived to be the toughest footrace in the world, covering over 200 kilometers in the Himalayan mountains, traversing passes of over 5400 meters (17,000 feet) above sea level, and nightly temperatures well below freezing. It was initiated by His Majesty the King of Bhutan to raise worldwide awareness to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage, including climate change impacts, particularly on the inhabitants in fragile mountain ecosystems. What many people may not know is that Bhutan is only one of three nations world-wide that is carbon negative . This means that they absorb more carbon dioxide than they emit. Even so, the glaciers that feed its rivers, irrigate agricultural lands, and power its hydropower plants, are melting rapidly. Landslides and flash floods are no longer uncommon, leaving the Bhutanese highlanders c...

Lake Como Nirvana. The name alone is irresistible. From there it only gets better. Raid Nirvana is a 150-km adventure race (AR) located in and around Lake Como with it’s tranquil waters, picture-postcard villages, friendly locals and all of it cradled gently in a ring of majestic mountains. A more idyllic and spectacularly scenic location is hard to find.  The invitation to join a Swiss team came from Lucas, a friend I’d raced and trained with before, who I got along with well, and who had tons of AR experience dating back to his upbringing in Columbia. And despite having another race already on the calendar two weeks later, this one I couldn’t resist. Nirvana was calling. Race Plan The other two team members were new to me. Lucas had already raced before with Laure, a French woman, and the fourth, David, was a ‘last minute’ replacement for his training partner. David was young and strong but a newbie to both AR and ultra-endurance sports. He’d done some long-distance triathlons, a...