CCC Race Report! Also: Tokyo, Berlin, South London, and Flensburg 💯

Moinsen, everyone! 👋

It’s done! I’m back from France having successfully completed the CCC ultra trail race from Courmayeur to Chamonix. And since this has been not only a super intense and tough race, but also one that is probably one of the most popular 100k races in the world, I have spent the past two weeks writing my longest race report ever about it.

Warning: It’s more than 16,000 words long and the corresponding podcast episode (that’s me reading the post) takes 1:48 hours. 

I spared no detail! I hope you’ll enjoy it. Tip: If you’re the podcast listening kind of person, click on the blog post link afterwards to scroll through the dozens of pictures and videos I took to round off the listening experience. 

There’s a bunch of stuff coming in this newsletter after the big button, but I know you’re here for the main blog post. 

🍀 Big Lottery Luck!

Coming home from France I received a very exciting email. It was from the folks in Japan who run the Tokyo Marathon lottery! I think this has been my fifth consecutive year I threw my name into the ballot, and finally it was drawn! 🥳

Tokyo is the final race of the original Six World Marathon Majors for me. I have done Berlin, London, Boston, New York City, and Chicago. Of course I immediately bought the ticket of the race – you don’t get that chance often – secured my flights and a hotel before all the others book rooms and drive up the prices, and now I’m set for March 1st, 2026. Really looking forward to receiving that big Six Star Medal. 🤩

Of course, with the WMM now having expanded the circle to include Sydney as well, and eying Cape Town and Shanghai too, I still technically won’t have completed the whole thing. We’ll see if I’ll go on those trips too.

🏃 Recovery Week?

Coming back from France, recovery is a top priority. But this time it went so well I felt like doing not just one but two races at the end of the week. 

On Friday, six days post race, I participated in the wonderful Mottenburger Meile, a tiny race near my home, of just 7.5 kilometers length. The legs felt fresh and the cardiovascular system was on top as well so I just went for it. The result: 4th place of over 100 runners! My average pace was at 4:04 minutes per kilometer – a lot slower than what I would have done without that 100 km mountain race a week before, but still fast in my eyes. I was surprised and very happy about it.

The secret: EATING! 😊

Two days later, Flensburg Marathon gave me a free ticket because I was pacemaker last year and I really like that race. It’s been wonderful again – sunny weather, lovely people, and the tried and tested flat four-lap course. I started carefully but increased the pace towards the second half, landing on a result of 3:21 hours (4:47 min/km average). Eight days past CCC I am also super excited about that. 

🐾 New Fluffy Family Member

Also during the week post CCC, we welcomed a new dog into our home and lives! Her name is Miss Marple (not our choice) and she’s already one and half years old. That way, we don’t have to go through the first tough months of training a puppy. She’s amazing and it’s great having her around. But she would have to do some more running training to keep up with us. After Sophie’s first test run with here, she was done for the day 😂.

🐻 Next Up: Berlin Marathon 2:59h?

Earlier this year, I was very lucky to also get drawn at the lottery for a starting ticket to Berlin Marathon. After 12 years, it’ll be great running that race once again. Back then, I was still running slow, so now I felt like I owe Berlin a big effort. So I thought about if it’s possible to go from the 100 kilometer CCC race to a Berlin finish in 2:59 hours in just three weeks. It’s a very close call but my chances are currently growing and I’m really getting excited! The race is on September 21st, ten days from now.

🌄 New 2026 Plan for a Western States Qualifier

Although I’ll go into the 2026 Western States lottery with 8 tickets in December, I’m pretty sure I won’t get drawn. It’s too early to say, but the chances will for sure still be under 5% with that amount of tickets. Needless to say, I have already been checking out qualifier races to do in 2026 so I’ll have 16 tickets for the 2027 drawing. Moving away from the alpine ones, this time I chose a really long one and have signed up for it a few days ago.

It’s the North Downs Way 100 in southern England!

This 100 mile race (161 km) is located not far from London and is long but not nearly as hilly as CCC, Lavaredo, or the Zugspitz ultras I’ve done. It’ll be my first 100 miler and longest run ever! My previous record was 122 kilometers. I’m really looking forward to experiencing the ultra running community in the UK. Two friends of mine have done that race before and spoke highly of it. 

Good stuff coming up. 

But first, I hope you enjoy that big CCC blog post I wrote for you all. Thank you for your attention and all the best to you!
– Teesche