Ultrarunner's notes

 A long awaited, well-Deserved Rematch A year has come and gone since that fateful evening when I was dragging my defeated self through the sun-scorched meadows above Lipovec at 8 PM, swearing I'd never sign up for another race again. And here I am — back at the start line of the Malofatranská 100. For the third time. MF100 in 2022 was my very first official 100k race. In 2023, the organizers spiced up the course, making runners sweep across every peak of the ridge — even the ones we used to bypass. And of course, I wanted to try this fancy new version too. But last year didn’t go as planned… So here I am again, back for redemption. I arrived in Terchová as usual on Friday — picked up my bib, did a bit of sightseeing, had some dinner, and stayed the night at Hotel Gavurky. Highly recommend it to all of us spoiled ultrarunners (you know who you are — the ones who just can’t sleep in a sweaty gym with people snoring like dying walruses). The hotel even starts serving breakfast ...

 A run that was rewarding. Right at the beginning, let's be reminded of a memorable announcement of mine stating that after a DNF at the MF100, I would internally sign myself out of all the upcoming races and put my ultrarunning career on hold: The upcoming races were KAT100 in Austria (the entire vacation was already booked and paid for there, everything was arranged) and for BBU100. I'm studying the terms and conditions for signing out but Miloš is strict, he won't let anyone just run away from the battlefield before the battle. And I know that I would be pissed off afterwards and would sign up again next year. In short - I saved myself a few mouse clicks, doubts and money and didn't run away from this battlefield 😅. Fast Forward to September. I'm taking the train to Žilina and am surprised to see that I'm actually really looking forward to the race. The route, 70% of which I already know intimately, the people, the homely Slovak atmosphere of the homely Slo...