A BigMac for the ravenous appetite

Lars Heurich tells how he is preparing for the Berlin Wall Trail – by Jens Allendorff

Lufthansa co-pilot Lars Heurich will run the 100-Mile Wall Walk in Berlin on 15 and 16 August to raise funds for the prospects of young people in a help alliance project in Ghana. But how do you prepare for a 160-kilometer run? In an interview with Jens Allendorff from Lufthanseat, Heurich talks about heat units, setbacks and lost toenails.

Lars, with the Ultraman in Hawaii, you have already proven that you are capable of overcoming boundaries. But at the Berlin Wall Trail you put another shovel on it. How do you prepare for a 160 kilometer run?

I started the basic endurance training half a year ago – smaller units of ten kilometers each in endurance running, three times a week to prepare the muscles. Then the frequency and distance gradually increases. The last weeks are very intensive. That means 30 kilometer units four or five times a week. From time to time I also ran at night or in the blazing heat of the midday sun. After all, you’re on the road for quite a long time.

Do you feel well prepared?

Of course there were always little aches and pains that threw me back. So shortly before the race you always think you haven’t trained enough anyway. But that is quite normal. That’s already part of the race by now.

160 kilometres are not only a strain on the body. Also the equipment must fit.

Yeah, especially the shoes. If you run that long, your feet swell up. Anyone who has ever walked in shoes that are too small knows how painful it is. That’s why I lost four toenails running at the Ultraman in Hawaii. This time I am better prepared and have a second pair with me that is half a size bigger. At kilometer eighty we change.

And the rations?

I have a few energy and granola bars in my backpack. There are also food stations. And when all the ropes are tied and the ravenous hunger comes, I’ve got ten euros for two Big Macs.

The winner in 2014 needed almost 13 hours for the 160 kilometres. Have you set yourself a goal too?

My personal goal is 24 hours. But arriving is even more important to me than the time. And when I have made it, I hope that I have helped the people in Ghana.