Dr. Helke Seitz

I like nature and being outdoors.

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Since 2016, I got increasingly interested in endurance sports with a focus on trailrunning and ultrarunning. Typically these are longer distances than the traditional marathon length of 42,195 km, mostly in a natural environment with the minimum possible of paved roads.

Running long distances is challenging as it pushes my physical limits and enhances my mental flexibility - a skill hopefully transferable and useful in other areas of life.

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I finished 30 official races including:

• 6 ultra runs (max. distance 80km, max. elevation gain 3,000 meters),

• 4 road marathons,

• 13 trail runs (with distances up to 40km and up to 2,500 meters elevation gain),

• 1 marathon on speed skates,

• and many, many training runs of around 2,000km in 2023.
   

Failure is sometimes part of Type 2 fun. I DNFed 1 race.​

I perceive long-distance endurance sports as an interesting discipline because the successful completion of a race depends on many interrelated factors. These are among others: physical training and fitness (not just running but also strength training), nutrition, mental flexibility, equipment, and of course physical and mental well-being at race day. The preparation of an endurance race requires a complex preparation taking into account all these aspects. And yes, the preparation alone is a marathon and can be draining, time-consuming (hours of reading books and listening to podcasts) and sometimes exhausting.