German ultra runner Felix Weber runs 260km in 24 hours, wins Adelaide 24-hour race
MEET Felix Weber, the German minimalist who sleeps in a tent in the Sri Lankan highlands and runs wherever he goes. Last weekend he ran 260km in 24 hours to win the Adelaide 24-hour race. Next, he’s running the Heysen Trail.
ONE of Felix Weber’s life goals is to never own a car.
The 31-year-old German reckons he does not need to — he simply runs wherever he goes.
Outdoor, long-distance running is Weber’s main mode of transport.
The vegan, who lives an alternative, minimalist lifestyle that includes sleeping in a tent in a house in the Sri Lankan highlands and owning few clothes, loves dashing through nature trails because he gets to see local flora and fauna, and meet people at a faster pace than hiking.
But every so often he tests how much he can push his body by entering ultra-running events.
Weber did this on the July 14-15 weekend, when he ran 260.016km from 10am Saturday to 10am Sunday to win the Adelaide 24-hour race and national 24-hour title at the Uni loop.
Fuelled by electrolytes, adrenaline, pretzels every two hours, sips of Coke and thoughts of home, Weber did not sleep or rest for more than four minutes, as he recorded the fourth-best distance in a day-long race in Australian history and the fifth-best result worldwide this year.
“The main reason why I run is because it exposes me to new cultures and new people,” Weber says.
“I just love it. One of my lifetime goals is never to own a car.
“Twenty-four hours is long and boring, running in loops — the opposite of what I normally like to do … but I wanted to see what my body is capable of doing in 24 hours.”
Ultra running, which includes any footrace longer than a marathon, is as torturous mentally as it is physically.
Weber experienced pain in both feet before the weekend and pushed through as it got worse during the race.
Exhaustion has forced plenty of competitors to buckle but Weber’s 12-minute loops of the 2.2km course and insistence he was running “fastest towards the end on pure adrenaline” suggested he had energy left.
“When you’re full of adrenaline, you don’t feel very tired,” he says.
Boredom, particularly in the dark, has been another issue — one Weber thwarted by chatting with some of the other 46 competitors about World Cup results and enjoying local wildlife.
“One of my highlights was at dusk, a koala crossed my path a metre in front of me and I probably thought about it for probably an hour or half an hour, how nice it was,” he says.
“You have to speak to other people, have a laugh and enjoy it because otherwise it’s tough.
“Talking and thinking about random stuff distracts you from the pain you are going through.
“When it got dark, around 6pm, I changed my thinking to German time, where I knew my parents and friends were following the race … which worked quite well.”
Weber finished 14km ahead of second place and dedicated his victory to the race organisers, whom he helped by volunteering to set up the course.
“All the volunteers cheered for me and supported me, and that helped keep me going,” he says.
“That’s an amazing feeling to put a smile on people’s faces, just because you run.”
To celebrate his triumph, Weber did not exactly overindulge.
He ate a vegan pie, a slice of cheesecake and a guacamole salad after the race, caught up with friends, had several hot baths and has been “basically doing nothing”.
“Normally I can’t do nothing — I have to do new things, explore new areas.”
That is what is most striking about Weber — he runs for pure enjoyment, to see the world and meet people.
The competition just sometimes gets in the way.
Raised in Braunschweig, Germany, Weber has lived in eight countries and travelled to more than 50, going on lengthy trail runs in most.
The happy-go-lucky, moustachioed former European handball player considers himself a nomad despite living in Bandarawela, Sri Lanka, where he works as a lecturer and promotes sport for social cohesion and development.
Marathons intrigued him growing up and he entered his first because he “needed an excuse not to go to Oktoberfest”.
Many of Weber’s friends and family are inspired by the amount he runs but not all.
“Some people think I’m crazy,” he says.
Adelaide was Weber’s second 24-hour race.
He pulled out of his first in Germany last year after 18 hours because of stomach problems.
The next day, Weber flew to the Azores, off Portugal, to recoup for two months — by running in the mountains.
“Pretty much every second night, I dreamt about the race.
“It was deeper inside me than I thought so that’s when I thought I’d give it (24-hour event) another shot.”
Weber was determined to push himself to his limit at the Adelaide event so ran up to 220km a week for 15 weeks on a dirt track in Sri Lanka to prepare.
Winning here will almost certainly qualify him to compete against the best 24-hour runners on the planet in Irdning, Austria in May, but he is unsure if he wants to.
Instead, he is more interested in going off exploring again.
On Friday, Weber began running the length of the 1200km Heysen Trail.
He plans to hitchhike from Parachilna to Alice Springs, where he will compete in the four-day Run Larapinta Stage Race.
Beyond that, there is a Sri Lankan marathon in October but few other plans, apart from “just living with the moment”.
“I’ll see what comes up — but I just do my own thing,” he says.
“I just feel every place is equally beautiful, you just have to look for it.”