Imagine running in the beaming sunlight. Then, within minutes, black clouds appear and a violent rainstorm begins. However, not for a second you think about stopping your run and looking for a shelter.

Imagine an interval training session that lasts 24 hours. You're supposed to do 30 or more repeats of 1.2 km length at a fast pace, with breaks ranging from 5 minutes to 3 hours length.

I experienced that and much more from Saturday, June 15th, 12pm until Sunday, June 16th, 12pm in the heart of the small town Delmenhorst in the north of Germany. And I'm sure that other and similar miraculous things happened to the some 600 fellow runners who also participated in this awesome running event.

I left my home early on Saturday morning because I wanted to be at the event area by 8am. At a parking lot in Hamburg I picked up my teammate Jenson. Two years ago the „dailymile Team Germany“ first took part in this run. Four of this year's team were part of the team of 2011: Sascha, Olaf, Gerrit and myself. Last year Manu from Frankfurt joined us, and this year there were two new teammates: Markus and Jenson. Natalie, another team member of 2012, unfortunately got ill a few days before the race, so she could support us only from the distance via Facebook.

By 10am our team was complete, and after having our team photos made we walked the 1.2 km loop course. Then all of us had to register for the race, and soon it was 12am. Markus, our fastest runner, came in 2nd place after the first lap. In the first hour all team members ran at least one lap, then the one-hour shifts began. Since according to the rules we had to change after every lap, we ran in pairs, each pair taking turns for one our and then handing over to the next pair.

My first shift, together with Manu, was from 2 to 3pm. When we walked to the changing zone, the sun was beaming hot, but we already saw the black clouds promising nothing good. And on my second lap it already rained heavily. Worse, the wind that had blown all morning had become a pretty serious storm. We finished our shift (5 laps each of us) and went to the direction of our „headquarter“, two garden pavilions that we had set up in the morning. Except, there was no pavilion. Only a heap of crooked tent poles next to a garbage can.

The storm had destroyed our shelter, and while Manu and I were running the teammates had moved into the nearby gym. We had only planned to sleep there at night, but after the loss of the pavilions the gym became our new headquarter. A decent team tent would have survived the storm, but I had not been able to obtain one. I had volunteered to do the organization this year. Sometimes I fancy doing things I know I'm not good at, and I am certainly not the right person to organize an event like this. Seen from this perspective, it was not bad and there were no major catastrophes. Thanks to Olaf, who brought a lot of equipment, and to Sascha, who had the idea for the team shirts and who also did the design!

Running at night is an interesting experience. Every runner should try that at least once. Somehow the time goes by differently. Not faster or slower, just different. The night shifts were two hours long, so that the breaks during the night were longer and everyone had the chance to catch some sleep. Running in the dark was also more relaxed that during the day. There were almost no spectators, and also less runners on the course, because most of the single runners rested for a few hours during the night.

At the beginning of the night there was a great display of fireworks, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 24-hours run. I'm not a big fan of fireworks, but I must admit that this one was beautiful. Since my evening shift (together with Sascha) had just ended and I had 5 hours until my night shift, I had the chance and took the time to watch it.

Last year we had finished with a result of 301 kilometers. I doubted that we could repeat this great success, because this year we were only seven (compared to ten last year) and thus each of us had less recovery time between the shifts and more running time. After 8 hours we had covered more than 100 km, after 16 hours more than 200 km. If we could maintain our average pace, we would make the 300 km. And we did it, mainly owing to the great performance of our fastest runners Gerrit, Jenson and Markus. We finished with a result of 304 kilometers, which meant rank 5 of 46 in our category „mixed teams“. A new team record!

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Fortunately, it is possible to do this in a relay with a team. The course is a 1.2 km loop in a park in the center of Delmenhorst. When running as a team, it is required that the runner changes after every lap. So you don’t run a long distance, but a series of short, fast laps and then pause after every lap.

There are also runners who do this on their own. For them, of course, it is a totally different race. While we relay runners run as fast as possible, they have to ration their energy. Most of them take a sleep break during the night, but some run through the night.

Last year the „dailymile Team Germany“ consisted of 7 runners. This year, thanks to our „locals“ Sascha and Olaf, we were very well organized and months before the race our team had reached the maximum number of 10 runners: Manuela, Sascha, Olaf, Gerrit, Gerald, Jörg, Natalie, Sonia, Alun and myself. Four of them I knew from last year; the other five I knew only from dailymile.

dailymile.com Team Germany

After a busy working week, I arrived in Delmenhorst at about 10am on Saturday. I met the other team members at our dailymile team tent, a large 6x4m tent borrowed from the Red Cross, which would be our home for the next 26 hours. We changed into the red team shirts (also organized by Sascha) with our names printed on the back and the dailymile logo on the front, and went to the starting area. Together we walked the course, which consisted mostly of gravel walking paths; only a small portion is on asphalt.

Gerald, taking the baton from Alun

Soon it was 12pm, and the first runners were on the course, Gerald for our team. Our plan for the first hour was that each team member should run one lap to get to know the course. Then we ran in pairs: Alun and Gerald from 1pm to 2pm, Gerrit and Sascha from 2pm to 3pm, and so on. I had my first shift from 3pm to 4pm, together with Olaf.

This way of running is very different from the kind of distance running we are used to. Because the distance seems to be so short (1.2km per lap), one tends to begin too fast. Especially on the first lap of a shift, when the legs are still cold, I had difficulties after 300 meters. I had to slow down considerably when I wanted to complete the lap running and not walking. On the second lap, the legs and cardiovascular system slowly change into running mode, and after the third lap it’s almost like a normal tempo run. Unfortunately, in a typical 1-hour shift, there is time for only 5 laps, so when the body has reached full operating temperature, the next two teammates take over.

Taking over from Olaf

After my second shift (8pm to 9pm), I took a shower, found a corner in the team tent for my camping mat and sleeping bag and slept for 2 hours. Surprisingly I had no difficulties falling asleep. At 11:30pm, a half hour before my next shift with Olaf, I got up, had a little snack and went to the course. Meanwhile the live music had changed; now there was quite nice, quiet country music. Though it was dark, the course was illuminated with colored spotlights; There were also even corners that were really dark and you had to be careful with every step. I knew from the previous year that this was my favorite time. Running felt easy and, despite the darkness, I was really fast. I should run at night more often!

Natalie, Jörg

My second night shift was from 4am to 5am; this time together with Manuela and Jörg. Again I had slept and after Manu woke me up, it took me only a few minutes to get ready. At the horizon, there were the first signs of light. By 5am, when our shift was finished, it was almost daylight. After my last shift (8am to 9am) time flew by and soon the last of the 24 hours had come.

To defend our position, our fastest runners took turns during the last hour. With 4 minutes to go, Manu came to the finish and I had the honor of taking the baton for the last meters. As fast as I could, I ran until the siren rang at 12 o’clock. Complying with the rules, I stopped where I was and waited. After a few minutes,my teammates came and we high-fived each other. Then we waited for the official who would measure the distance I ran on the last lap.

Flying Manu

We were a really great team. It’s amazing how 10 individuals who (in part) didn’t know each other previously became friends and a real team within a few hours. Thank you guys for being so awesome! I’m already looking forward to next year’s event in Delmenhorst.

Official result:

Place overall: 15 of 78 teams

Place in category „mixed“: 8 of 49 teams

Distance run: 302.2 km