Harz Mountain Run

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The Harz Mountain Run (German : Harz-Gebirgslauf) is a mountain run, that has taken place since 1978 in October in Wernigerode in central German and since 1990 has had a marathon route known as the Brocken Marathon, in its programme, reckoned to be one of the toughest in Germany. Other events include a 22 km run and an 11 km run. [1] In 2007 a 5 km run was offered for the first time that started at the same time as the 11 km run. The event attracts several thousand participants, e.g. in 2001 there were 3,500 [2] and, in 2004, 3,110 runners finished, including 695 men and 73 women in the marathon. The record was achieved in 1987 with over 5,000 participants. [3]

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Brocken Marathon

The Brocken Marathon is "one of the great scenic marathons in Germany" [4] and has also been recognised as one of the toughest endurance runs in Germany, not least because of the Alpine climate experienced at the summit of the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz. The run has been described as "one of the most beautiful nature runs" taking place as it does through the "picturesque scenery" of the Harz National Park. The run takes place on the Saturday in October each year. [5] [6] [7]

The start and finish is in the town of Hasserode on the outskirts of Wernigerode. [6] The marathon run follows a circular route during which the highest mountain in the Harz, the Brocken (1,141 m), has to be climbed. Start and finish are in the Wernigeröde district of Hasserode. The route entails climbing a total of 1,150 metres in height.

In 1961, the Brocken fell within the restricted area of the Inner German Border between the GDR and FRG and was therefore not allowed to be crossed. With reunification in 1990, the first "real" Brocken marathon took place with 386 runners. Two years later, crossing the Brocken was prohibited for nature conservation reasons. There has been a compromise with the National Park Administration since 1993, according to which a maximum of 1,000 runners may cross the Brocken plateau in the course of the 42,195 km long marathon which climbs through over 1,200 metres in height. [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

Wernigerode Town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Wernigerode is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012.

Harz Low mountain range in northern Germany

The Harz is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart, Latinized as Hercynia. The Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz with an elevation of 1,141.1 metres (3,744 ft) above sea level. The Wurmberg is the highest peak located entirely within the state of Lower Saxony.

Brocken Highest peak of the Harz

The Brocken, also sometimes referred to as the Blocksberg, is the highest peak of the Harz mountain range and also the highest peak of Northern Germany; it is located near Schierke in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt between the rivers Weser and Elbe. Although its elevation of 1,141 metres (3,743 ft) is below alpine dimensions, its microclimate resembles that of mountains of about 2,000 m (6,600 ft). The peak above the tree line tends to have a snow cover from September to May, and mists and fogs shroud it up to 300 days of the year. The mean annual temperature is only 2.9 °C (37.2 °F). It is the easternmost mountain in northern Germany; travelling east in a straight line, the next prominent elevation would be in the Ural Mountains in Russia.

Ilsenburg Town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Ilsenburg is a town in the district of Harz, in Saxony-Anhalt in Germany. It is situated under the north foot of the Harz Mountains, at the entrance to the Ilse valley with its little river, the Ilse, a tributary of the Oker, about six 6 miles (9.7 km) north-west of the town of Wernigerode. It received town privileges in 1959. Owing to its surrounding of forests and mountains as well as its position on the edge of the Harz National Park, Ilsenburg is a popular tourist resort. Since 2002, it is officially an air spa.

Schierke Stadtteil of Wernigerode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Schierke is a village and a former municipality in the Harz district, in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Wernigerode. Situated within the Harz mountain range in the valley of the river Bode, at the rim of the Harz National Park, it is mainly a tourist resort, especially for hiking and all kinds of winter sports.

Harz Railway

The Harz Railway or Trans-Harz Railway was formerly the main line of the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways and runs north to south right across the Harz Mountains from Wernigerode to Nordhausen. However, the tourist attraction of the Brocken, the highest mountain in the Harz, is so great that the Brocken Railway is effectively the main line today. The Trans-Harz Railway joins up with the Selke Valley Railway to Quedlinburg at Eisfelder Talmühle where all trains are organised to make good connections.

Brocken Railway Tourist metre gauge railway in the Harz mountain range of Germany

The Brocken Railway is one of three tourist metre gauge railways which together with the Harz Railway and Selke Valley Railway form the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways railway network in the Harz mountain range of Germany.

Brocken Garden

The Brocken Garden is an alpine botanical garden on the summit of the Brocken, the highest peak in the Harz mountains of Germany. It lies within the Harz National Park near Wernigerode in the state of Saxony-Anhalt and has a stock of around 1,600 types of plant. These include species that only grow in the Brocken region, like the Brocken anemone or alpine pasqueflower and the Brocken hawkweed, but its main focus is on alpine plants like the white dryad and the Swiss willow. It is open daily without charge.

Zeterklippen

The Zeterklippen are a striking rock formation or tor on the 930-metre-high Renneckenberg mountain, overlooking the Ilse valley in the Harz mountains in Germany. The Renneckenberg is an eastern sub-peak of the Brocken. The rocks themselves lie at a height of about 830 metres (2,720 ft) above sea level. They can be reached from the Molkenhausstern after about 2.5 km. The track initially runs uphill through dense spruce forest until the view opens out towards the Hohnekamm and down to Wernigerode. Then the route branches off to the right onto a steep, 0.5 km, path and, after about 200 m, a gentler 0.4 km path leads to the Große Zeterklippe. Immediately below this highest of the rocks is a mountain hut that dates to the time when a botanical garden had been laid out here as a replacement for the inaccessible Brockengarten.

The Harz Run is a fun run and walking event in the Harz mountains of Germany that has been organised since the 1970s by the Wernigerode Skiing Club and takes place on the last Saturday of April. The main run is an ultra marathon which is 51 kilometres (32 mi) long and crosses the Harz between Wernigerode and Nordhausen in a north-south direction. There is also a 25 km route from Wernigerode to Benneckenstein and a 28 km course from Benneckenstein to Nordhausen.

Harzer Hexenstieg

The Harz Witches' Trail is a footpath, just under 100 km long, in Germany that runs from Osterode through the Harz mountains and over its highest peak, the Brocken, to Thale. It is a project by the Harz Transport Association and Harz Club and is part of the system of trails known as the Harzer Wandernadel.

Ottofelsen

The Ottofels, named after Prince Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode, is a tor and natural monument near Wernigerode in the Harz mountains of central Germany.

Drei Annen Hohne

Drei Annen Hohne is the name of a small settlement within the municipal area of Wernigerode in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

Steinerne Renne

The Steinerne Renne is a waterfall and natural monument near the town of Wernigerode in the Harz mountains of central Germany.

Hasserode Castle

Hasserode Castle in the quarter of the same name in the town of Wernigerode am Harz was a medieval fortification whose site is near Hasserode station on the Harz Narrow Gauge Railways. Today there are no visible traces left of the castle.

Hasserode

Hasserode has been a quarter in the town of Wernigerode since 1907, a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Ilse valley

The Ilse valley is the ravine of the Ilse stream in the northern boundary of the Harz mountain range in Germany. Part of the Harz National Park, it runs from the town of Ilsenburg at the foot of the mountain range up to the source region near the summit of the Brocken massif, the highest mountain of the range. The scenic valley is a popular hiking area.

Kleine Renne

The Kleine Renne is a cascading mountain stream and officially designated natural monument near the town of Wernigerode in the Harz Mountains of Germany.

Elversstein

The Elversstein in the Harz Mountains of Germany is a granite rock formation with a maximum elevation of 499 m above sea level (NN) on the Steinberg near Hasserode in the county of Harz in Saxony-Anhalt.

Aufgeklärtes Glück Mine

The Aufgeklärtes Glück Mine is an old mine, now closed, in the valley of Thumkuhlental in the Harz Mountains of Germany. It lies southwest of Hasserode, a village on the edge of the town of Wernigerode in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Nowadays, its exterior facilities form part of a nature and geological educational path that, thanks to the reconstruction of an old mine water management system (Wasserkunst), make a very graphic witness of the former mining activity at the foot of the Harz' highest mountain, the Brocken.

References

  1. ↑ Marathon Events in Herzberg am Harz. at allevents.in. Retrieved 16 Feb 2022.
  2. ↑ 24. Harz-Gebirgslauf: Landkreisteam in den Top-Ten In: mz-web.de, 17 October 2001, retrieved 27 August 2019.
  3. ↑ Holger Manigk (2018-04-03). "Wernigerode: Harz-Gebirgslauf will zurück zur Natur". volksstimme.de. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
  4. ↑ Schillings (2007), p. 4.
  5. ↑ Brocken Marathon at worldsmarathons.com. Retrieved 16 Feb 2022.
  6. 1 2 Harz-Gebirgslauf — Wernigerode, Germany at runinternational.eu. Retrieved 16 Feb 2022.
  7. ↑ Brocken-Marathon Wernigerode - Harz-Gebirgslauf at runnersworld.de. Retrieved 16 Feb 2022.
  8. ↑ de/de/naturparkwettbewerb-2009.html Harzgebirgslauf der Stadt Wernigerode In: harzregion.de, retrieved 27 August 2019.

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