O-See Ultra Trail 2025

Event Page: XTerra O-See Ultra

Oybin, round three! 🏔️

Back in this tiny village tucked away between Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, my yearly pilgrimage to one of my favorite races. After 50 km in 2023 and 65 km in 2024 (well, 68 km if you count getting lost… 😅), I signed up for the brand-new 100 km distance. But a late cold brings me back to reason, and I switch last minute to the 75 km, also a new option this year.

I arrive around 19:30, pasta party already over. 🍝 Nothing left to eat, but I managed to swap my bib, drop off a bag, and scavenge an abandoned plate of pasta. Short night, brutal alarm. After a quick briefing, we’re off at 6 sharp into the darkness. It’s 4°C, breath fog streams through our buffs, our headlamps jumping around. The trail slowly reveals itself: rocks, roots, steps carved by time, towering stone monoliths. I’m back on those merciless paths I love so much, the kind that steal your breath and break your legs. 💪

We move through the night for about one hour before switching off our headlamps at sunrise 🌄. The forest wakes up, and with it, the first enemy of the day: mud. Thick, sticky, ankle-deep in places, slippery as ice elsewhere. Thank god for the poles keeping me upright and off my backside 😅. The cold surely is our second challenge. It settles in quietly but stubbornly. Bad gear choice: my base layer doesn’t work well, so I’m soaked early and I have to put on my jacket that hardly keeps me functional. The first cramps hit my legs way too early, a clear sign of low calories intake rather than poor training. It’s about time to feed the engine that’s currently failing to keep the body warm. 🔥

Luckily, the first aid stations appear. It’s not the Marathon du Medoc, but it’s full of warmth: campfires, sweets, salty broth, and volunteers ringing cowbells 🔔. I don’t linger; the road ahead of me is long. The next section is more runnable, with wider paths, and the satisfying feeling of moving forward again. 🏃 I alternate hiking uphill and jogging the flats, saving my poles until I finally need them for good. Legs are fine, spirits high. The sun breaks through, lighting up the full autumn palette: browns, yellows, greens, ochres 🍂. The forest hums softly beneath our steps on the carpet of fallen leaves.

The real race begins at kilometer 50, where we split off from the shorter distances heading home. I feel myself suddenly alone, but not for long. The 50 km aid station is a proper feast: sausages, pasta, local treats 🥖. I find my drop bag and finally change into dry clothes. That’s where I meet Jonnie, a cheerful Spaniard with a bright grin 😄. We swap race tales over a (non-alcoholic) beer. Volunteers bring out coffee and crêpes; if we don’t leave soon, we’ll end up staying here all day! ☕

I lighten my pack, ditch my gloves (bad idea), but keep my headlamp, which I’ll be grateful for later 💡. The new 75 km loop starts with some road before diving back into the woods. A pleasant surprise, the route is less technical in parts, but never dull. The scenery bursts with color, the silence peaceful, the kind of section that reminds me why I love trail running ❤️. I let the trail carry me, running by feel, tuning in to my body. But enough with the flat stretch, we signed up for some elevation too! The next hill is short but brutal, splitting our sentences in half 😤. We push on, breathing hard, step by step. At the top, the view opens, light is fading away, the night’s not far. Through a sports complex, we reach another aid station, yet another feast where joyful volunteers spoil us. But this time we resist the temptation. We’ve got to beat the dark and the cold. 🌙

It’s a vain attempt, the night is falling fast, like a hungry runner on aid-station cookies 🍪. I silently thank my past self for keeping the headlamp. Its warm beam cuts through the dark, guiding us along the twisting trail. The cold returns, biting. My fingers curse myself for the gloves I left behind 🥶, but my new dry clothes keep the rest of me warm. We reach the final hill, the steepest of all, a staircase of slick stone. I reach the top just in time to catch the last rays of the sun, as Jonnie emerges behind me by the glow of his lamp. ✨

The descent to the finish demands focus to stick to the narrow trail and avoid tripping on the hidden roots and loose stones ⚡. I’m starving and devour whatever’s left in my pack. We catch up with a few fading runners and form a small group, pushing each other forward with comforting words. Around a corner, the race’s iconic monolith appears in our headlamps, massive, ghostly 👻. It marks the end of the road, the long-awaited finish. Two hundred meters from the arch, a group of girls overtakes us. No way I’m letting that happen! I sprint like a kid 🏃‍♂️💨… before realizing they’re closing the 100 km. Fair enough, they’re miles ahead in every sense. I cross the finish line after 13 hours and 30 minutes of yomping around the road, my longest run ever. 🏅

No hot meal at the finish, as usual, that’s a pity. 🍲 Music and celebration fill the gap, but my body craves more than candy and cake crumbs. Nothing that dulls the memory, but just a note to the organizers: sometimes a bowl of soup is worth more than a medal! Though I do love my medal! 😄

Final thoughts: the O-See remains my all time favorite race, tough but not cruel, technical but not elitist, run by delightful volunteers who give their all to make it a great day for all 🙏. The new 75 km route adds freshness without losing the race’s spirit. No regrets swapping 100 for 75 this year. I still believe you should enjoy a race, not endure it 💫. I’ve learned a few lessons: pick better layers, respect the cold, eat early and often, and pack only what matters. I can’t wait to come back next year to rediscover this stunning region, this giant playground of rugged trails and blazing autumn colors 🍁. Each edition gets me a little closer to La Diagonale des Fous, my ultimate goal in a few years.

Ciao Oybin! 👋 See you next year. Hopefully a few degrees warmer… but with the same coffee and crêpes waiting at the aid station. ☕🥞

O-See Ultra Trail 2024

Event Page: XTerra O-See Ultra

Oybin, here I am... again! It’s been a year since I ran the XTerra O-See Ultra Trail 50k, and boy, that was a lot of fun. I think I can say without an ounce of hesitation that this was, by far, my all-time favorite event — and I encourage you to check out the in-depth article I wrote about it last year.

Don’t get me wrong — by favorite I don’t mean the most beautiful one; it’s hard to compete with the Alps! But definitely the one I enjoyed the most. The route is quite technical (for a rookie ultra-runner like me), with a lot of narrow trails tangled with roots, big stones, fallen trees, stairs, and multiple peaks to climb. I had so much fun that I couldn’t miss it this year. Also, it usually takes place in mid-October, the same weekend as the Diag (Grand Raid de la Réunion), which makes it perfect to close the season.

This year, I’m back for the big one — the 65k — which, at that time, was the longest event (we’ll get to that later!). Same route as the 50k, but with an extra peak at the end and some snaking around town. Fifteen kilometers more doesn’t sound like a huge step, but it pushes me a little further into the ruthless world of ultra-runners, with its share of new challenges. Above all, a 6 a.m. start in complete darkness forces me to buy and train with a headlamp. Luckily, it’s only for about an hour, as the sun rises around 7 a.m. and we finally get enough light to turn our lamps off. But that first hour is tough — the early kilometers are quite technical; I have to be extremely careful where I step and find my way around the massive stones blocking the path.

The rest of the event is similar to last year, maybe with slightly better weather. I feel stronger; my body swallows kilometers like salty potatoes and pickles at the aid stations. My only fear is the time limit, since we need to finish before 18:00. But I quickly realize I’m well ahead of schedule, even though I’m walking half the way and taking time to eat at each station. Of course, something “fun” is waiting for me — as always!

I pass the 50 km mark, resisting the temptation to take the left turn and end the race. But I’m in for the big loop. Fifteen more kilometers to go — we can do it! Lost in my thoughts, already celebrating and writing this article in my head, I miss a right turn. My super-expensive, state-of-the-art GPS watch keeps counting kilometers happily without warning me as it should. After a while, I realize something’s wrong. I know this section; I ran it 6 or 7 hours ago. One look at my watch confirms it — I’m on the wrong path. 

I turn back, pushing on my poles and ignoring my legs screaming in agony. I take another way, but the same thing happens again. I hit huge stairs that I’m sure I already climbed in the morning. On my watch, the GPS track looks like spaghetti — impossible to tell which path is new and which I’ve already covered. I finally take out my phone, check the route, and realize I made a mistake a kilometer back. Now I’m standing at a crossroads I’ve already passed earlier in the day. I eventually find my way back, but I’ve lost 45 minutes — and now I’m at risk of not finishing in time. I have to speed up, which is exactly what every runner dreams of after 60 km of hill running!

I cross the finish line 15 minutes before the deadline. Not the last one, but close! I check my watch: 68 km instead of 65! The event organizers are in stitches. Thanks to the GPS tracker I was wearing, they noticed I’d taken a wrong turn and were already planning to send a rescue team to find me in the middle of the night. I’m the star — they even invite me to have dinner with them. I end my race sitting on a bench with a bratwurst, potatoes, and a huge piece of cake in front of me. Sometimes all it takes is a wrong turn to turn your world upside down. But keep your head up — it always ends well :)

“Hey, do you know we’re adding a 100 km event next year?” asks the lady in front of me.
Oh no... 😱😍

XTerra O-See Ultra Trail 2023

Event Page: XTerra O-See Ultra

It's not over until it's over! After an engaging running season and finishing the stunning 6D-Marathon, I couldn't call it a year yet. This Saturday, I put on my shoes for one last ride in the Zittau mountains. Located in a little enclave between the German, Czech and Polish border, the village of Oybin has been hosting for a few years now the XTerra O-See Trail Running event, with races ranging from 500m to 65km. The 25K and 50K ones are part of the XTerra Trail Run World Series and can help you qualify for more events. I'm in for the 50K / 2120 m+, which should be a realistic step after my recent training and the 6D-Marathon in July. I didnt have time to do a proper training/tapering this time, but my few hills repetitions should do the trick. I still feel quite in shape after the summer. 

The centerpiece of the O-See race surely is its locations, right at the heart of the Zittau mountains. Nothing compared to the Alps, but the hills can be quite steep and challenging. On top of that, the region's geography is very surprising, with huge polished rocks growing like mushrooms everywhere and transforming the forrest into a natural obstacle course. It's a unique experience to immerse and lose yourself, while following these endless trails snaking from one hill to another.

I had an amazing first part of the race, up to km 25, as the morning weather was just perfect. I grew up in Corsica and I spent long afternoons playing in the rocks behind my house, never tired of exploring and discovering hidden places. That's exacly how I felt today, while each new turn was bringing more awe and suprising challenges. 

The second part of the race, around 25-35km has been a little less interesting though. It started raining and we left the funny rocks for larger paths through the forrest. But the rain did not last long and the end of the race brought a new layer of challenges, with steep hills, painful stone stairs, slippery slopes and astonishing scenery. While I had been able to run all the way down during the 6D-marathon, it was really tricky this time and I had to alternate between fast walk and careful run all the time, using poles to stay in balance. But I didn't mind, with a 10h cut-off I had all the time in the world to enjoy the race one step at a time.

It took me a little more than 8 hours to cover the 51km and 2100m+. Quite a long time compared to my previous race, but I didn't have time to get bored. The route was pretty technical all the way and I had to stay focus to keep a decent pace and not get hurt. I am very happy with my finish time and I had a lot of fun, which is the most important thing after all! It was a unique experience "taming" those hills and finding my way through all these funny rocks. I am already considering attempting the big 65k next year, as it is quite close to Berlin. All in all, this was another wonderful stone in my little trail-running zen garden.