“Yo, we runnin wit honors, oh shit, come out here kid…”

„I hope you packed your spikes!“ a friend called when I was on the way to Tuttlingen. It was meant to be a joke. Hefty snowfall and sub-zero temperatures since days shaped an exciting setting. My hopes were high that the local authorities were able to clean the 5k loop from snow and ice.There were no spikes in the bag!

I remembered my friend’s words when I got myself warmed up on the course. Most of the path was not de-iced and not de-snowed. I trampled along with my road flats and the bendy course certainly raised my eyebrows.

Once the gun sounded some guys were gone pretty fast. I was part of the tiny chasing group. Amusing to see how everybody behaved in the snow-covered corners and through the deep-powder portions. At the end I could trail some of the young dudes (…with spikes!) ’til the finale. I lost the sprint for 7th place but the juvenile fellas were fascinated when they told me: “Not bad with these kind of shoes and for your age…” c’mon guys! Are we already talking age-group business? We probably do. I called over to the price giving and got a nice keg of beer. My tiny journey continued and the life spam of the keg did not last too long during NYE festive with good friends down at the lake constance.