Salzburg

Salzburg gives generously its beauty and picturesque touch to the visitor who does not need much time after a walk through the scenic alleys to understand the aura of culture and historicity it exudes. Nevertheless it is common knowledge that its historical center is on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. It is an open-air baroque museum with many attractions for everyone. Cathedrals, impressive palaces, picturesque streets with cafés and breweries, imposing buildings, museums are just a few of what people can see in the city. Besides, the "Sound Of Music", the Oscar musical was not accidentally shot there. The walks besides Salzach, the river that cuts Salzburg in two, will relax you. Walking on the two hills overlooking the city, the Festungsberg at the top of which lies the impressive castle of Hohensalzburg and the Kapuzinerberg with its hundreds of stairs, will compensate for your decision to travel to Austria's 2nd tourist destination after Vienna.

There aren’t perhaps many destinations in the world that give you the opportunity to visit a place with a great historical and cultural heritage that in the same time give you the opportunity to participate in a world class mountain running race. This is just because in a few kilometers away from the medieval streets, you are nestled in a pristine nature with impressive lakes, dense forests and picturesque villages. No more than a few minutes run from the town you can find trail paths leading to alpine meadows and peaks that give an incredible view where the eye reaches. Salzburg is the gateway to the Alps ...

Before the race

On Thursday before the race everything was already in its place. The ergonomic start-finish area was ready to welcome the more than 1,000 runners that would run the following day on one of the seven competitions of the race.

In the afternoon, Jozef Mayerhofer, Claudia Kolussi and Sepp Gruber welcomed invited athletes from all over the world, local authorities and sponsors to Stieglkeller, one of the most historic breweries of Salzburg, where the famous Stiegl beer is being brewed since the middle of 15th century. At a dinner where we could taste local specialties and impressive views of the city, the organizing team presented the invited athletes who would honor the race on the following day with their participation.

On Friday, the day everything went smoothly as the racebags were picked up from a department store housed in a large shopping center on the outskirts of Salzburg.

In the afternoon at six o’clock exactly, Jozef Mayerhofer and Sepp Grubber were the hosts of a highly professional and complete technical briefing, both in German and English languages, leaving no room for many questions since they had covered most topics in the best possible way. The time passed by and we had to go for a rest because the start of the great race was scheduled the next morning at 5:00 exactly.

The race

Arriving to the start area at Residenzplatz on the first light of dawn the atmosphere was already electrified. In front of me there was a long and beautiful day in unknown places and that was something that surely made me feel even more impatient. Every race, big or small, difficult or easy, creates this pleasant sting in the stomach. This is exactly the twinge I felt that wonderful dawn that found me surrounded by people so unfamiliar and at the same time fellow with me as we all felt that excitement and shared the same passion. Our love for the mountains…

While entering the start area our obligatory gear was checked and an unbelievable Mayerhofer was shaking our hand, one by one, wishing us a good race! As a well-timed watch at 5:00 in the morning, Jozef from the microphone gave the signal which was the start of more than 300 hundred’s beautiful adventure in the mountains of Salzburg. In fact, our mountains had to wait us for a while, since we had to cross the city and run alongside the wonderful Salzach River.

From the 6th kilometer onwards the warming was over and the time had come to leave the “civilization”. The easy but impressive run in the Glasenbachklamm gorge, with streams and small waterfalls everywhere created a wonderful melody that sounded like a Mozart’s act at the time, gave us just a little glimpse of the beauty we had to face in front of us in the next 95 kilometers that remained. Easy uphill on wide trails in a magical gorge, pure running pleasure!

After the necessary refuel on the first of the eight aid stations, we continued with even more urge to see what lies ahead. Watermelons, oranges, bananas, bread with various spreads, salty snacks, gels, bars, Red Bull Cola, isotonic drink, raisins, soup with noodles were all available to refuel us.

What followed was equally impressive. After a few small climbs on easy dirt roads, we entered an impressive trail that led to one of the most beautiful spots in the area's, a truly highlight. The Plotz waterfall, in an environment of unique natural beauty next to an impressive watermill, composed our own "Sound of Music", much better than the award-winning film.

On 22nd kilometer in Hof, one of the many beautiful and picturesque alpine hamlets we met on our route, the next aid station was waiting patiently for us. That aid station was the returning point of the runners of the 42-km marathon race. They would return for five kilometers on the same route until 15 kilometers before the finish where all the courses were being split on a different trail on our way to Salzburg. But hold! the mind should not look so forward, we had to run many hours before we returned here. Each ultra race should be divided into small pieces and a race of more than 100 kilometers on mountains is no exception.

The next few kilometers passed by on trails with no extreme altitude fluctuations, but with steep uphill and downhill parts that were nibbling our energy minute by minute. I knew the difficult part of the race was starting on the 35th kilometer, so I had to be self-restraint so as to avoid unpleasant surprises. Since the 25th km we could stare at one of the biggest highlights of the race, the beautiful lake Fuschlsee, one of the largest attractions in the region.

A few more minutes separated us from a very enjoyable run right next to the shore of the peaceful lake which called us like a siren to cool our feet. All that Fuschlsee has managed to do is to make us stop to take some pictures that cannot describe its absolute beauty. For 2-3 km the run by the lake called us to continue to close the circle around it. It was something we would do anyway after 40 km so ... “Takis be patient”!

At the central station in the picturesque village Fuschl am See on the 32nd kilometer our drop bag was waiting. We would find the same station after our return here on the 75th km so it was very smart choice of the organization to get all the drop bags here. At this point, Dimitris and the 62-km Scenic Ultra runners would continue the round of the lake and return to Salzburg. Those runners of the 105K ultra race that were quite close to the time limit of 5,5 hrs had the right to change competition and "switch" to Scenic Ultra. Undoubtedly an originality that shows the magnitude of the flexibility and professionalism of the event! It is also striking that on the same route there were essentially seven separate competitions with 1,000 participants without the slightest problem!

A few meters away the route was split with this of the Scenic Ultra and we entered the trail that was being added for the first time this year in the history of the race. So it was something that no runner knew and it was our honor to be one of the many that would first run on it. I had noticed in the course elevation profile that the three difficult uphills of the race lied in these 43 km loop that ended back in Fuschl am See. No elevation profile and nothing on paper can prepare you for a pure trail marathon with a grueling 2,500 elevation on a much more difficult terrain than what we had ran in the first 32 km! The wild beauty of the race was hidden in these 43 kilometers.

A wide but very steep uphill trail led us to a well-hidden beauty among the mountains. A painting that everyone had to stop and admire. Suddenly the race stops to be of so much importance and all you want to do is to thank your good fortune that you are strong and bald to witness such paintings that only nature can paint. The small lake Eibensee knows how to hide its secrets and we just learned very few of them.

That's where the most beautiful part of the race started. Difficult technical descent into muddy terrain that required a lot of attention was leading us deep inside the forest, deep inside the mountains. The ups and downs were constant and intense. The race had been transformed. The easy run beside the calmness of the lake was already a distant past. The senses were alert as the trees had spread their tentacles to the ground and the roots were waiting to make us harm. After a short break on easy trail another pleasant surprise was awaiting.

The inclination grew so much that human intervention on the trail was now necessary for a safe ascent. The stairs rose even further and led us to a vertical rock wall. Magic! The narrow passages between the rocks and the small pieces of rock that were falling from high above, made us walk carefully besides the stone wall. The most beautiful and secluded spot on the course of the race without any doubt!

After leaving the 4th aid station in the 46th kilometer, the base of the toughest uphill that we lied above us, the smile was ear to ear. The ascent of 4 km and 700 meters of elevation followed the same pattern. Roots, branches, natural stairs and hand crafted ladders took us slowly to the highest point of the course at 1,300 meters of altitude in the alpine zone. In the background we admired the top of the Schafberg mountain drowned in the fog and the threatening weather. The mountain siren was calling me for even higher. Maybe a good addition for the next year! We had another 55 kilometers in front of us, and we would not say no for a pleasant running break. But no! We would have had to wait a bit longer for this break, so we enjoyed the view of the even more beautiful Wolfgangsee lake and the surrounding mountains.

For now we had to confront the steep downhill on a similar terrain style and then the steep and continuous uphill and downhill alterations, which eventually were the biggest difficulty of the race. Small protrusions in the elevation profile on a paper take another dimension when you live it from inside. Shortly before we reached the picturesque village of St Gilgen on the 62nd km, the route, though tedious, was beautiful.

We could not do otherwise but stop every other minute to admire the continuous openings of the trail that gave us wonderful views of the Wolfgangsee. On our descend to St. Gilgen we enjoyed another 2-3 km of easy running next to the lake before entering the picturesque tourist village.

There I met Sepp Grubber, the race director of Mozart100 who was everywhere in the race! Worried whether everything was going alright wished us a smooth finish. Another difficult climb in front of us. The legs were beginning to get tired, but my spirit wanted more. Fortunately, another 40 kilometers were still ahead of us!

A trail on easy terrain but steep enough that required strong legs brought us up to 1.100 elevation. On the downhill the legs had already started to complain. My quads and nails did not want any steep downhills anymore. On my way back to Fuschl am See to the main aid station we met again at 75 km, I faced the only low moment in my race.

Ten minutes of rest, good rehydration and refueling were enough so as to rejuvenate for the much easier –so I thought- return to Salzburg. Leaving from here, we followed the trails that surrounds the lake from the north side, the trail that Dimitris and the runners of Scenic Ultra had already ran a few hours earlier. The trail was even more wonderful than that on the south side but the almost 11 hours in the race had begun to take their toll. From the 80th to the 90th km the course was exactly the same as the route we ran from the 16th to the 26th kilometer so we knew what to expect. Part of it is one of the most beautiful trails of the race in a dense and welcoming forest in easy terrain.

Beginning from the 90th kilometer until the finish I would be on new and unknown trails, something that increased my anticipation. The pace had dropped and the always valuable small chats with fellow local runners were more frequent. Their surprise was great when they learned that I and Dimitris had travelled from Greece exclusively for the race. Their surprise was even greater when they learned that Greece, yes, has mountains besides islands, sea and sun!

Though fatigue had already started to take over, the flawless markings combined with human pointers at critical points and crossings did not worry us that we could lose the correct course at any time. Hundreds of signs with a characteristic arrow placed cleverly on the trail always pointing to the right direction or confirming the correct course.

The last difficult climb someone could notice in the elevation profile was up to the 96th kilometer, the last refueling station. The steep uphill was taking its toll, but the expectation of the continuous downhill until 101st was already prominent. There, I expected something easy, something like the first kilometers of the race. But No! Technically difficult descent on a 5 kilometers continuous stretch, sown here and there with rocks, roots and water fogs, were there to nail you down. Perhaps the 15 hour fatigue in my legs increased its difficulty. My mind and body wanted five easy rolling kilometers at that time.

The entrance to Salzburg after more than 100 kilometers was redeeming, but I had kept some energy for the last climb of one kilometer, 200 meters altitude and 632 steps on the famous Kapuzinerberg hill. “Stairway to Heaven” Led Zeppelin had sung a long time ago. This must have had been in the mind of the one who chose to add this last uphill like a cherry on top of an already delicious cake. "The right way is the uphill" Nikos Kazantzakis, a famous Greek writer has said and that's why we like to run in the mountains ...

Fortune helped and I took a short glimpse on a unique sunset over Salzburg while the city on my feet was still full of liveliness in a bustling Saturday night. The finish was not just a race end but the culmination of a journey full of discoveries of new places and people, and that is the biggest gain of all…

The Party!

At 7:00 exactly on Saturday afternoon and while the mozart100 runners continued to pass the finish line in a festive atmosphere, we experienced one of the most beautiful and delightful award ceremonies in a race. The winner presenter gave the slogan, DJ on the deck was playing its part and the rocking audience along with the winners of the competitions danced under the sounds of rock music! Excitement for an event that came to an end leaving us with the best feelings!

The competition

The competition from top athletes of the international and local scene gave some very good results on courses that in some parts were quite new and were included in the race for the first time. Mozart 100’s main event is a race that is included in this year’s Ultra Trail World Tour calendar, gives 5 ITRA points for participation in Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc and is a qualification race for Western States 100. Mozart's 100 stars, were the Italian Alexander RABENSTEINER who finished in the race at 10:26:55 and Italian Cecilia FLORI who passed the finish line at 12:03:35. See all the winners of the competitions.

mozart 100 - 105 km - 4.700 hm

1. RABENSTEINER Alexander (Team Skinfit) - 10:26:55,0
2. JONES Harry (HOKA ONE ONE / Runivore) - 10:44:39,0
3. NÉMETH Csaba (Mammut) - 10:45:37,0

1. FLORI Cecilia (Altra) - 12:03:35,0
2. MORBELLI Simona (Salomon) - 12:05:17,0
3. CARTY Kath (FAIRLIGHT) - 12:08:48,0

Scenic Ultra - 62.6 km - 2.211 hm

1. SCHÖBER Matthäus (Trirun Linz) - 05:29:28,0
2. DE SOUSA DIOGO Leonardo (MADEIRA ULTRA RUNNERS/CAMadeira) - 05:30:56,0
3. BAUER Gerald (La Sportiva) - 05:33:24,0

1. LIMBERGER Veronika (Salewa/Dynafit/USI Wien) - 06:03:57,0 
2. MÖSE Julia (München)- 07:41:47,0
3. SINI Patrizia (TGV) - 07:42:20,0

Scenic Marathon - 42 km - 1.647 hm

1. SIRINGO Vincent, Salomon Belgium, 03:46:02,0
1. NEUMANN Anja, De Bettin Sparkasse Salzkammergut, 04:44:40,0

Scenic Light - 30 km - 1.168 hm

1. REICH Bernhard, Salzburg, 02:45:53,0
1. BAUER Christina, La Sportiva Mountain Running Team, 03:00:43,0

City Trail - 12.5 km - 296 hm

1. LEITNER Marlin, Team BMK Jettenberg, 00:51:46,0
1. NÉMETH Luca, Miskolc, 01:05:56,0

mozart 100 Relay - 31 km - 32 km - 12.5 km - 29.5 km

1. Lauftreff Nussdorf - 09:08:11,0

Scenic Ultra Relay - 10.2 km - 20.8 km - 11.5 km - 19.5 km

1. Teakwando Verein Oberndorf - 06:21:08,0

See the full results here