The Megarace 2022 ends this year at km 391 in Lackenhäuser

Finishing a race early is never an easy decision, but as a race director you have responsibility for the entire project.

There is one rule that stands above all ambition and all thirst for adventure: Safety first! And that is no longer the case.

We have been experiencing heavy rain days here since Wednesday with local rainfall of 25 liters and more per hour. The weather conditions stretch from Passau via our stage towns of St. Englmar and Thanstein up to Regensburg.

We don't know what the rain will do locally, only that it's coming and that it will rain until next Wednesday.

The temperatures will drop below 4 degrees at night and our athletes would then be exposed to the elements when running with akready 500km in their legs. That's not a good prospect.

We don't want to react only after an accident has happened. We are reacting now so that no one is harmed in the approaching storm. In addition, the forests are not safe even after heavy rains, lightning and wind. Because falling trees can endanger runners.

Unfortunately the conditions for a 1000 km trail nonstop race this year are not given anymore. How much energy the bad weather takes is also shown by the fact that most of the runners have not even reached our "new" finish point in Lackenhäuser at km 391 at 10:00 a.m. we expect the runners from 2 p.m., the cut-off would have been 6 p.m when the race would continued.

Our task today is to get all runners to Lackenhäuser.

I am very sorry not to be able to present any other message. But we go far beyond the limits of "normal" ultra running. And this requires the right conditions.

Take care, all the best Michael

VERY IMPORTANT - VERY IMPORTANT - VERY IMPORTANT

Hello Megaracers,

we know that you are now training hard and that you have already collected a lot of running kilometers. We wish you continued success!

Now we have to go one step further and take a look at your health. For this it is necessary that you have your health certified by a doctor of your confidence.

MEDICAL CERTIFICATE

You will receive the MEDICAL CERTIFICATE for 2022 if you send us an email to info@meldelaeufer.de by the end of July at the latest.

We also need the following information from you in the mail:
- current nationality and gender
- date of birth
- current place of residence with address
- mailaddress for the infomails we will send to you from August on
- corona vaccinated (yes/no) Date of last vaccination
- vegetarian (yes/no) vegan (yes/no)

Please also remember to prepare your travel documents for Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. Our international starters might need VISA. Please take care of this in time.

The MEDICAL CERTIFICATE is obligatory for the start.

Hello Megaracers,

Easter time is now upon us and for many this is also a first opportunity in the year to have a vacation. A good time to check how it stands around the fitness.

From my point of view it would be ideal in the period April/May to undertake a 3-day tour with at least one night non-stop running or hiking. The distance should be between 150 and 180 km.

You can also test different foods and drinks. You can also try out shoes - this can be very useful, as you will be running slower on the MEGARACE than on other ultra runs.
________________

Arrival to the event

In September it is highly recommended to travel to the race by public transport. If only because the start and finish are not at the same place (no shuttle service from finish to start area by race organization).

The start area is like last year on the area of the Waldhotel Seebachschleife. In the district Seebachschleife of the small town Bayerisch Eisenstein near the Czech border.

Bayerisch Eisenstein has a train station and is easy to reach from cities with airports (Nuremberg, Frankfurt am Main, Munich) also for our international starters.

Equipment check and briefing for the race will be at the Waldhotel Seebachschleife as announced on Saturday, September 10th. We will have also dinner together in the hotel.

The race will then start on Sunday, September 11th in the morning at 9:00 am. Registration for the race is only possible on Saturday. The briefing is obligatory.

It is recommended to arrive a few days earlier (maybe already on Thursday) to the starting place, many participants from last year did that. Especially if you travel far by plane, a break before the race (which after all lasts almost 2 weeks) is very helpful.

If you want to stay at the Waldhotel Seebachschleife before the race you should book a room here: https://www.seebachschleife.de/megarace/

Please do your pre-bookings to end of June (latest) because rooms and beds are limited and the owner will open his rooms for public in july.

Other accommodation options can also be found via booking.com, of course every participant is free to choose where to stay before the race.

The Hotel Seebachschleife will also be the first lifebase at km 165.
_______________________
Planned route for MEGARACE

This year's race will be divided into 4 sections:
Section 1: 165 km Loop Bayerisch Eisenstein (Bronce Medal).
Section 2: km 165 to km 665 Bayerisch Eisenstein via Passau to Gütenland
Section 3: km 665 to km 680 lake loop Gütenland (silver medal)
Section 4: km 680 to km 1001 Gütenland to Marktredwitz (via Nurtschweg, its a marked hiking trail) and from Marktredwitz back to Gütenland (Goldsteig hiking trail) (Gold Medal)

The first section can be viewed at the following link: https://www.outdooractive.com/de/route/trailrunning/bayerischer-wald/first-chapter-megarace-2022-start-to-km165-/237740247/

PLEASE NOTE: This is a planned route - it is very likely that there will be changes to the exact route. Aidstations will be at km 38 (HARTMANICE / CZ) and km 113 (FURTH / GER).

We are currently working on the second section, which will also be the longest section in the race. Sections 3 and 4 have already been completed and were run last year.
___________________
Travel documents

We will cross the border to the Czech Republic two times during the race and also come back to Germany two times. Please take care of the necessary visas and identification papers for the border crossing. 

The border is open, but you have to expect controls (also within the Schengen area). This is especially important for participants from outside the EU.

In addition to the valid identification documents, a complete vaccination certificate against CORONA is also required. It is possible that this proof is not required but it is not certain and the pandemic situation can change again until September. So please assume that you need this proof and that it is necessary for the race participation.

Dear Megaracer,
we hope you had a good start into the new year and that you have already started training for our great running adventure in Bavaria.

Every training day is worth it and the time until September will pass faster than you think. 1001 km is an enormous distance that requires excellent fitness, endurance and willpower. But last year showed that with good preparation many participants could reach the longed-for goal.

We start now in March with our preparations for the running course, the lifebases and check points to be able to offer you a really great experience. We will keep you informed so that you can include this in your plans.

We currently assume that CORONA will remain an issue and that all participants will have to be fully vaccinated in order to participate.

We are planning with the routing through the Czech Republic and will announce as soon as possible our exact running course in the region of the Goldsteig.

Our start and finish location will remain unchanged as announced in the announcement.

We plan our next news release by the end of March, with the intention of providing booking options (hotel) at the start location and directions (for our international starters).

[August, 23th, 2021] GET READY ! We have had our approval for the race since this morning. So it is clear to us that we will start on Sunday, September 12th in Bayerisch Eisenstein.

All starters registered for 2021 will also receive an email with further information on the race schedule.

We are very much looking forward to this special event!
It seems impossible. So let's do it!

[June, 16th, 2021] How does it look for a MEGARACE this year?

That is still difficult to answer. There is a lot that speaks for it and some against it.

The government of the Federal Republic of Germany declared the situation a pandemic by the end of September. This continues to prohibit major events and sporting events.

However, the incidence is now below 20 and that would allow the districts to make their own assessment. But they have difficulties with permits and don't want to decide. If so, then at very short notice, even with a small group of participants, precisely because we have international starters and because we run through many districts (11). If we only walked through one district, it would be a lot easier. We are going on with our preparations as said beforehad.

In addition, we only have 13 runners who would even want to start. We need at least 7 more runners by the end of the month.

So if you want to run this year, you should decide as soon as possible and let us know via email

enrolled runners  [last update: June, 13th]
#002. Stephan Vogel, Germany
#009. Martin Leimbach, Germany
#015. Simon Gfeller, Switzerland
#022. Daniel Rodriguez Ramells, Spain
#034. Llorenc Reixach Cruz, Spain
#047. Oriol Borras Cajigos, Spain
#061. Roberto Rovelli, Italy
#071. István Juhász, Hungary
#090. Radek Plesník, Czech Republik
#098. Magdalena Paschke, Germany
#101. Rafa Argote Enríquez, Spain
#106. Wolfgang Gunsenheimer, Germany
#107. Per Hansen, Denmark

[May, 27th 2021]  OUR DECISION REGARDING MEGARACE

The pandemic doesn't make it easy for you. This affects participants and organization alike.

We understand that some would prefer to start this year and some not until next year 2022. That affects many of our international starters. In our survey it came out that around 25 participants would like to start this year and everyone else would rather start next year.

We have not yet received any official approval that we can run a race. The approval is difficult because the route is so long, leads through many districts (everyone approves for himself) and we not only have European participants but international ones. And we are more than 100 runners.

Therefore we decided to give our participants the choice. This year we are organizing the MEGARACE with the running course in Germany as described on the website. And next year we will organize the MEGARACE on its originally intended course through 3 countries.

As a participant you have to decide in which year you want to participate by the end of June. For this purpose, a mail from all those who want to run this year 2021 is enough. Please mail to: info@meldelaeufer.de

No one else has to report, the starter ticket is automatically carried over to the next year.

MEGARACE 2022 will take place again in September. We are also opening the registration so that other runners can take part. 

Race Dates 2022:
Meet and Equipment Check: Sep. 10th, 2022, Location: Bayerisch Eisenstein
Start of MEGARACE: Sep. 11th, 2022, 9 am, Location: Bayerisch Eisenstein
Last Finish: Sep. 24th, 2022, midnight, Location: Neunburg v. d. Wald
MEGARACE 2021 is "sold out". 

________________________________

PLEASE NOTE // IMPORTANT:

Due to the pandemic, there may still be short-term cancellations this year. Please plan that! Take out travel insurance!

We have to adhere to legal requirements. But we're not canceling anything anymore - until a week before the start.

When we are all on site, we will run! We hope it will be our running route through all of East Bavaria. But it can also be a circuit. That decides the pandemic.  

[May, 19th 2021] In addition to the official decision regarding our race, the opinion of our participants is also important to us. Therefore we want to get an opinion picture.

The important thing is: Regardless of the result, the opinion is "only" part of the decision to be made. 

If you have a facebook account, please join the survey and make your vote 
link to facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/297557044283293

If you don`t have a facebook account please write us an email about your opinion:
1. If possible let the race have place this year
2. Postpone the race to 2022

What do you think? What do you prefer? Please answer via mail: info@meldelaeufer.de

The Survey will end at may, 25th - Thanks a lot and stay healthy, 
Michael

[April, 12th 2021] The corona situation in Germany is still tense and unfortunately our incidence values ​​are growing.

The hospitals are also currently full of CORONA patients, some even warn of the German health system being overloaded.

Hotels and restaurants, as well as many shops, are still closed - within these conditions we cannot explore routes or make arrangements with partners. Hence we have our exploration tour canceled to Eastern Bavaria in April and postponed it to May.

After phone calls with the responsible health department, nobody is currently able to give an assessment of whether we will be in September can start a race that leads 1000 km through all of Eastern Bavaria, various districts and cities.

What we already know, however, is that we have to change something in section 1 of our run. If we this year have a competition, then we will start with a 120km circuit with start and finish in Bayerisch Eisenstein.

With this initial circuit, we save 2 districts, which considerably simplifies the approval and we have a plan B should the pandemic worsen negatively within the 2 weeks we are together.

What we already know is that in future years (regardless of whether this year or next) you will be required to do so have a negative test for COVID or have to be vaccinated in order to be able to start a race. It is also in the realm of the possible
that various districts require additional tests from the athletes, since the race lasts 2 weeks.

We are postponing our decision on MEGARACE until May 25th. We strongly recommend starting with the training and from one Race start to go out. Regarding the booking of flights and the arrival, we advise you to wait for our decision in May before decisions or bookings are made here.

Stay healthy and have a good workout!
Michael Frenz 

[March, 23th 2020] We are currently experiencing dynamic times. COVID-19 is present in all countries of the world and limits our options.
I know that many of you are now concerned about your health, your job, or your loved one, and a lot of your own strength and energy is to be spent in "the here and now". This crisis challenges us and it also ensures that projects and planned actions get a new priority.

And that also affects THE MEGARACE. This situation affects us all and each of us must now reposition and reposition ourselves.

But we know that things will continue after this period of crisis. And we want to continue to exist as a company and do everything for our sport: ultra-running,
the associated ideas and that events can once again take their place in our lives. 

Therefore, it is very important for us to plan sizes, definitely
to have the number of participants that we, our sponsors and partners can count on.

MEGARACE takes place in September this year. I still assume that we can let the event take place this year. However, there is news every day and we know
not what development the pandemic COVID-19 will take. It is quite likely that we will have to change our route or that we will even have to postpone our race by one year to September 2021. We will monthly upgrade informations about MEGARACE & COVID-19 and we will decide in MAY latest about the date and eventually postponing the race by one year to 2021.

No matter what happens, we are looking forward to this race - and now all the more - because we have realized what a special race the Megarace is. We will come together from all over the world to make the seemingly impossible - run 1,001 km - non-stop.

We will do everything possible for this race and ask you to stay with us. Follow your passion! The Megarace will be a great experience for all of us.

Despite everything, it is very important for us to know who will actually be a participant in our event. Therefore, March 31st remains the date for the second payment.

I ask for your understanding that this is necessary for me and our company. Please make these payments by March 31st of this year, otherwise the entitlement to the starter ticket will expire on April 1st. 

Please note our terms and conditions (https://www.meldelaeufer.de/j/shop/terms)

Especially now we wish you and your loved ones all the best and good health! 
We all get through this time well

Michael