A 100 mile (161 km) long course in Skåne Sweden passing through three magnificent nature reserves with a grand finish at Kullaberg and Ladonia. Also calls itself a race of "HEAVEN, OCEAN & HELL".
What did you guys get up to this year leading up to Kullamannen?
Torbjörn: I had a near perfect start to the year building up to April. Some minor kinks relating to various ailments brought home from kindergarten by my kids but nothing too bad. I Started off the race year with TEC 100 in April. I had attempted this race in 2016 and dropped after 103km due to motivational issues. This DNF has been a thorn in my side ever since. I needed to get it done and off of my mind. TEC 100 was still as boring as I remembered but I was way more motivated this time around and managed a sub-22h finish thanks to Kristian Ekfors’ excellent pacing. After TEC I got in a solid training block before High Coast Ultra in July. High Coast Ultra is a technical 129km point to point race from Örnsköldsvik to Hotel Höga Kusten on the Höga Kusten trail. This was a very beautiful race running through some of Sweden’s most spectacular scenery. I ran the first 100k with Martin Ström until my bad bonk temper forced us to separate but the last 15k felt good. Fuelled by adrenalin I battled out a sub 18-hour finish.
Robert: After extraordinary lottery luck I was signed up for both Western States and UTMB in 2018. I fought a tedious calf strain early in the year and the first real test of the muscle was Ursvik Ultra 45k in March. The calf didn’t mind the ice/slushy course which gave me confidence to start serious training resulting in the best volume block so far. That paid off at Western States where I had what felt like the race day of my life, finishing under 22 hours and earning a silver buckle. Still feeling physically good after the recovery from the race I put in a training block before UTMB. The race went reasonably well. Despite mental fatigue, my experience and using split times from the year before as well as my good training condition Ied to bettering last years’ time by almost three hours.
Neither of you have ran this race before. Why did you sign up for Kullamannen 100 miles?
T: After a short break post-High Coast Ultra, I felt surprisingly fresh and bounced back to a reasonable volume with no real purpose. This made me ponder what races are available that won’t cause too much hassle regarding travel and time away from my family. I talked with the other boys of DOA and Robert suggested I run Kullamannen with him, provided he wasn’t too wrecked after UTMB. If you would have asked me a year earlier I would have laughed at the prospect but the technical and more demanding type of races is an increasing temptation. So, I asked around I Kullamannen 100 miles facebook group (registration was already closed at this point) and immediately got an answer from an acquaintance who sold me his spot due to an injury. The fact that Kullamannen also was rewarded 6 UTMB-qualifying points this year was icing on the cake.
R: I honestly don’t remember. Looking through my mail I must have signed up at the end of April, either drunk or overambitious and persuaded by the race’s notoriety as “Sweden’s toughest 100-miler”. Then I made the mistake of suggesting the race to Torbjörn and I was suddenly committed.
What were your strategies specific to this race?
T: My plan was basically to finish the race before cut off. I had heard from last year’s participants that it was tough and some of the up-hills were really steep but the accounts all seemed pretty abstract unseen. Nutrition-wise I just had a lot of chews, gels and chocolate bars because that usually works. My back-up plan is always salt-tabs and water and the occasional gel.
R: I wasn’t too worried about running another 100 miles, especially since I didn’t have any ambitious time goals. But the lack of aid stations made me a bit anxious. The most recent races spoiled me with the quantity and the quality of the stations. It’s been a while since I had eaten a gel during a race and this time I realised I probably had to depend on portable nutrition. I got the newly released Maurten Gel but also stocked up my vest and the drop bag with lots of Snickers, Bounty and Red Bull.
Let’s talk about the race then.
Start to Ängelholm (0-50km):
T: I fell asleep the night before at 10pm but woke up at 3am and couldn’t fall back to sleep. Not the best start but I’ve had worse.
R: I slept like a baby. Torbjörn woke me up with his alarm clock.
T & R: After the initially hilly start, we followed the shoreline at a 6 min/km pace enjoying the company of fellow runners. We kept this up until Ängelholm, the first drop-bag station at 50km.
T: I noticed that I was surprisingly fatigued from 35-50km, probably from being unaccustomed to running at a static pace on a flat surface for an extended time.
T & R: We had some sandwiches and soup and packed our headlamps at Ängelholm. It was only around 2pm but the sunset is as early as 3:30pm this time of the year here. The upcoming stretch would include a woodland section with lots of twists and turns.
Ängelholm to Mölle (50-100km):
T: I ate way too much at the aid station and struggled to get back to running form for at least 6-8k. Robert was at the front setting pace and I was struggling to keep up. Eventually we decided to part ways. I teamed up with a couple of other people we had met earlier in the race and we kept company off and on up until aid station Svanshall @76k.
After Svanshall the terrain changed dramatically, single track and steep technical sections were increasing. I kept company with a couple of runners (Anders W. and Maria N.) the first half of the 0.5 lap of “Kullavarvet” (the loop out on the Kulla peninsula). After a dense woodland jaunt, we reached the infamous Dödsbacken for the first time. Three sections of incredibly steep rope assisted climbs, followed by a couple of gruelling hand-to-dirt climbs was fun and hard! The second half from Dödsbacken past the lighthouse and to Mölle were varied but challenging terrain, ranging from technical woodland to rocky beach. Arriving at Mölle I was happy and hungry, I ate too much (again) and tried to keep out of the negative spiral of DNF-talk before heading out on the loop.
R: I felt pretty good after Ängelholm, jogging along but noticing Torbjörn lagging behind a bit. We had a chat and separated on mutual terms. At 100 miles you have to run your own race and the highs and the lows will never be synchronised. A couple of hours later around Svanshall aid station I struggled mentally and physically, my quads hurting and my motivation being drained from running endlessly on flat ground. At that point I considered a DNF, already formulating Strava posts in my head. I wouldn’t DNF right away but entertaining the idea of quitting at at Mölle aid station kept me going.
Ironically, giving myself the permission to quit the race actually made the race more enjoyable. Running through small bushy trails, hiking up and stumbling down steep woodland hills riddled with briars, I somehow regained energy. Passing quite a few people on the ridiculously steep uphills certainly helped.
Arriving in Mölle, the place where I had planned to end my race, I felt strong and rejuvenated and decided to do continue with the three loops. Or at least one.
The loops (22km x 3):
R: I met Micke H at the aid station. He was about to head out on his first loop so I hurried out to have some company. A few kilometers later, it became obvious that he was struggling with stomach issues. He convinced to me go on without him, so I ended up on my own again.
I really loved the wild mix of runnable paths through beech forests and the steep rope sections. At that point my tendency for “ultra-math” kicked in and I measured the loop to be 22km and have 800 meters of elevation gain. The first loop took me 3 hours and 22 minutes. I felt great.
Finishing the second loop just a bit under 4 hours, I met Andreas Petterson at the aid station, whom I knew mostly from Strava/Instagram. He was sitting on a bench and I gave him a pep-talk on how close we were to finishing sub-24 hours. He was slightly skeptical but followed along out on the loop. We took turns pulling and dragging each other the first half of the loop. After the steep ascends Andreas struggled a bit and we separated. I wasn’t at my strongest either but kept myself alive by religiously calculating a sub-24 finish. 12-minute pace, wasn’t it? I wasn’t sure. At the lighthouse, 4km to go, I had 55 minutes left. Easy. The sun was rising and wow, how beautiful this part of the loop was. I took a few photos and the next time I checked I had still 4km but only 45 minutes left. Time to move.
I walk-jogged towards Mölle and finished in just 9 minutes short of 24 hours. Yay!
T: The intake of chocolate milk, chia-pudding, rice and broth and sandwiches made the first part of loop #1 painfully heavy. I struggled with walking the runnable parts and trying to make up time by power hiking the steep woodland climbs. The super steep rope section was oddly quite refreshing and though I had some mental lows I still felt no reason whatsoever to quit. I was already struggling with sleep deprivation and this was about to worsen. The second part of loop #1 is hard to recollect but I kept my head down and struggled on. I reconciled with the fact that this was not going to be fast but I would get the job done before cut-off if nothing out of the ordinary happened. My best headlamp lasted only a bit into the first loop and I was forced to use my secondary headlamp 70% of the dark hours. In the pitch black you don’t need a ton of lumens but it was still a bit too weak.
Having made the repeated mistake of eating too much food at aid stations, I decided to go easy on it at the next Mölle passing. I skipped the Gainomax (whey protein chocolate milk) and tried to chill a little bit with intake all around. Micke H and Anders H were heading out again and waited for me (much appreciated). But, I was really low mentally and energy-wise everything felt heavy. The first runnable part after the passing went slowly (again) and my morale was dropping. I was really tired, yawning myself to breathlessness. I had to tell Micke and Anders to drop me, I needed time by myself (sorry guys) and fucked around with changing batteries in my lousy headlamp, adjusting clothing and generally wasting time. This lap was really lousy, I felt like I was sick of the night running and longed for the daylight.
Approaching the lighthouse at sun-up raised my spirits. I tried to refuel moderately at Mölle and went out happy and determined to finish strong. I ran all the runnable parts leading up to the technical woodland. I ran past a couple of friends and they laughed at my enthusiasm (maybe a bit too enthusiastic). I tried to keep up the tempo, and the daylight gave me lots of energy. It was really hard, but the final lap gave me confidence. The pain I felt was not relating to anything specific, and damnit, I was too close to the finish line to even bother about earthly worries. The realization that if I kept going I would finish under 28 hours made me even more determined. I took time to relish and have fun the last couple of scenic coastal kilometers and ended up finishing with a 4-hour lap.
Any last thoughts looking back on the race?
R: Really happy with my performance, trying to analyze what kept me going beyond my mental low point half way in. Despite its label as Sweden’s toughest 100-miler, it’s a wonderfully fun and beautiful course and just the right mix to never get boring. After Western States and UTMB I didn’t have much mental fortitude or what we in Sweden call “pannben” left, but luckily I ended every loop on a mental high point, stoked to start another one.
T: Wow, what a ride. I’m so happy that I ran this race. Kullamannen is challenging, sure, but it is varied and the second half is so much fun! Slow but fun. I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed feeling miserable on the steep hills in the dark. As soon as the sun rose I was rejuvenated and energized. Night running is still difficult but I’m appreciating it more and more. Two major lessons learned: Buy a new stronger headlamp with easily exchangeable battery/batteries, don’t over-eat at aid stations, carrying food and eating it a little at a time should do the trick.
Robert's Strava
I år var tanken att springa Kullamannen Ultra. +60 km med +3000 höjdmeter i rejält utmanande terräng. Som löpare och småbarnsfar är de ständiga förkylningsbacillerna ett konstant orosmoment, särskilt under hösten. Och ibland får man den där läskiga barnbacillen som utvecklas till något som inte tillåter en att vara ute och springa.
Så blev det denna gång tyvärr. Tur då att man kan få kolla…
Tv-serien Kullamannen nämndes i förbifarten i dagens DN kultur. Ordet väckte en ilande känsla av skräck i mig. Minns inte när jag såg tv-serien och knappt vad det handlade om bara att det var så jäkla läskigt när barnen sprang omkring.
