My great love Africa! - Rafael Fuchsgruber at the Ultra Africa Race

These are the moments, the magical seconds that remain in one's memory for years and, with much luck, until the end. It is the first stage of the Ultra Africa Race in Mozambique. I could just hug all of Africa right now! That's how great my happiness is, that after just half a year, I have the opportunity to run here again. It must be great – the happiness – Africa is huge after all. A young woman approaches me on a slight incline. I greet her in Portuguese: "Bom dia!" and she kindly responds "Bom dia!". At first, she smiles, then she looks at me more closely with my running gear, then she laughs with her whole face. A week full of highlights and one of my most beautiful and important races. This often stands at the beginning of a report – for me – for others. Explanation coming later. The welcome in Mozambique is very warm. I already know half of the runners and crew from the Ultra Africa Race in Cameroon or from the legendary 520km race "The Track" in Australia. It is also a great joy to see Jérôme Lollier again. He is the organizer of these races with his agency Canal Aventure. An exquisite small French agency that organizes four to five stage races per year worldwide. The races usually have around 20 participants, which always leads to a very special spirit in the team and race. I mainly attribute this to Jérôme, as this is exactly his stated goal. He wants to remain small and organize these special adventure runs. Hence Mozambique! There has never been a comparable race there, and who has ever been to Mozambique? Still a very African country with hardly any tourism. Check-in and gear control take place at a beautiful lodge by a lake. We stay in bamboo huts with huge thatched roofs. The lake calls to me, and since the only crocodile living there was shot a few months ago after eating a leather football and suffering greatly, there is nothing stopping me. During check-in, mandatory equipment and the amount of food are checked. Two thousand calories are prescribed per day – it works. We have everything in our backpack. We run in self-sufficiency, and Canal Aventure provides 2-person tents and water supply at checkpoints and in the camp upon arrival. The stages start early in the morning at the camp, and after 37/37/51/47/47 kilometers per day, we reach the finish line. Fire, cooking, sleeping bags, etc. – all our responsibility. From my Little Desert Runners Club, Andrea Löw was also at the start. We had a wonderful time in May during the race in Namibia, when 15 runners (almost all beginners in stage running) accompanied me for my 10th anniversary desert run. Andrea had a clean debut with a 6th place among the women, and now, I wouldn't be me if I hadn't explained to her beforehand that there was still a lot more to achieve. So, in the evening before the start, we sat in our bamboo hut on the beds and discussed the topic in detail: What's possible – with what strategy. To cut a long story short: at that point, there was a favorite in the race – Ita Marzotto from Italy. She has won several races before. I have run with her before and know how strong she is. However, she had just completed a race in the Atacama Desert three weeks earlier, and before that, she had started at the Tor des Geants – both very long and tough races. In my opinion, she should have been tired. In the end, our considerations led to two options: either follow Ita and see if she falters, or attack from the first minute of the race. The decision was up to Andrea. When we started the next morning, Andrea caught up with me after about 10 minutes. She had decided to go with Oliver Kahn's strategy: "We need balls." In that case, I had already decided to follow her lead. Since my anniversary year was also the year of accompanying runs in Namibia, with Philipp Jordan from the Fat Boys Run Podcast at the beginning of his Home2Home Run from Holland to Germany, or with my wife during her 75km night run around Cologne... the Ultra Africa Race was supposed to be my own race, but I preferred to accompany Andrea on her brave attack. I know so many people who want something – actually doing it, I find that really smart. And off we go! After crossing the dunes, we run for over 20km along the Indian Ocean at low tide. Andrea and I rack up the kilometers and even overtake a few fast starters. The pace is high, and Oliver Kahn would surely approve from afar. From the beach, we head inland. We run on single trails and jeep tracks up and down through the bush. Many palm trees and coconuts show us the way. It's hot now, and the air is still. With temperatures over 30°C and high humidity, it's no fun. We slow down, but I know that the others here also have to slow down. Andrea builds a 10-minute lead and takes the lead, followed by the surprisingly strong Stephanie Bales from Canada and Ita. Andrea was operating at her good limit for a first day, and I suspected that the idea about Ita and her fatigue was correct. However, with Ita, one always has to be prepared – she has been the winner of several major races. The second day is also listed as 37km in the roadbook – but this time, we don't have the fast 20km wet beach, just hills inland. Here, Ita shows us the way from the start. In the heat and with many hills, we can't keep up with her, and eventually, Stephanie passes us as well. Andrea and I start to run at different paces, and at kilometer 28, a decision is made. We don't even discuss it. We had already clarified this beforehand. It's crystal clear. We are friends, we had a plan. Having a plan or strategy is incredibly important for such races. However, what I find even more important is personal flexibility, without holding a grudge, to discard a plan that no longer works. A new plan comes into play... not second-rate, but one that is just as good based on the current circumstances. I set off and catch up with Stephanie and Ita, closing in on my colleague Stewen Villenave, who is currently in 4th place ahead of me. Just as seriously as I was about accompanying Andrea, I am now serious about the race – in the classic sense. At the end of Stage 2, my all-time hero Marco Olmo is in 1st place. Followed by Julen Urdurbai and Takao Kitada. These three were also my picks for the podium in my internal bets. Takao is a young runner from Japan. I had seen him develop over the past two years in Australia. Julen, at 43 years old, is an extremely good runner who has achieved Top 3 placements in stage races. And then there's Marco Olmo. A hero. Marco will ultimately win this race – at the age of 69. I met Marco 10 years ago at the Marathon des Sables. I had no idea about anything – but I was incredibly impressed by the guy. I didn't know any runners, world championships, or race results at the time. It was only later that I realized that he had become the trail running world champion at the UTMB at that time. Not in the age category. World champion! I met up with Marco last winter in Italy. I really wanted him to be part of the book "Passion Running," as he embodies exactly that – great passion. We had a wonderful day discussing various topics in Italy. When I heard that he was coming to the Ultra Africa Race, I was over the moon. After 10 years, the chance to run with the "Master" again. Unfortunately, it didn't work out. A lung infection a few weeks before the race dashed that thought, and I had to travel to Mozambique almost without any training. Now, I'm old enough to handle it when others can run faster than me. It would be silly if I couldn't come to terms with that. I can do the math! Those who haven't trained will run slower in the race. All good – just annoying. On Day 3, I simply take Andrea as a role model. We have a challenging 51km ahead of us. The start is at seven, and I take the matter to heart. It turns out to be a very enjoyable day. There are days – not many – where you feel like you can move mountains and embrace the world. It's hot again. I can't run faster, but I don't slow down much either. I'm not as fast as the young runners. However, they have a tough time that day. My plan to maintain a high pace from the start to scare the others works. At Checkpoint 1, I'm right behind Marco, and the others follow with a gap of several minutes. Luckily, we get a very long, fast, smooth sand track where we can maintain a high speed with pressure. The gap widens, and the colleagues are eventually out of sight. Passing by a school, I stop as it's break time and 50 little children surround me, so I have to stop. We jump around like Guildo Horn in place and laugh our heads off. The Japanese TV crew following Takao is filming enthusiastically, and the kids are also excited – a wonderful