Venntrilogie by OstBelgien is a relatively new long distance hiking route. It is permanently marked. The route starts at the three border point (B-NL-D), crosses Hertogenwald and other forests, and different moorlands in the Hoges Venn, loops through Eupen and Malmedy and finishes in Bütgenbach.
The total length is 109km, which makes it just about right for a long day out.
Mieke en I drove to the Three border point on Saturday evening. We would spend the night in the van. Piet would arrive around 05:00 on Sunday morning, and we would start running. While we run, Mieke will have her own adventure, hiking a beautiful tour through and around Tros Marets, just north of Malmedy.
There is a possibility to see each other on the trail, as part of her route overlaps with the Venntrilogie route. But we didn’t aim for it.
Piet and I would carry everything needed on our back. I had planned for 4 water refil points:
I had made a schedule, considering the ~1750m of elevation gain and an average GAP of 6:15/km. Following that schedule, we would arrive at Bütgenbach around 18:15. Mieke would also be in Bütgenbach around that time, and would drive us back to the three border point to drop off Piet at his car.
With hindsight, there was a first flaw in this plan: I hadn’t accounted for idle time at the water refil points.
We start running around 05:20. It is dark, frosty, and a bit cold. First off I am warm enough. But as it gets gradualy colder, my hands start to get colder and colder, despite me wearing my thick, 3-layered running gloves. Until the point where I have almost no feeling in -and usage of- my fingers.
Alone on the trails, we make good progress trough forests and meadows. There is some mud or icy patches underfoot, but generally the terrain is good and very runnable.
The trail marks are not very clear: the color contrast between the green background and the white arrow is just not enough to clearly see from a distance. And the sign doesn’t reflect the head torch light well. So we often have to get close to a mark just to make sure what direction we have to take.
After about 2h30 of running, coming out of the forest just above Eynatten, there is enough light to turn off our head torches. A bit further I feel a rising pressure in my guts. A sanitary stop will be needed shortly.
At the Raeren cemetry all water taps seem to be closed off. Logical, as it is freezing. I could have thought about that. Luckily the cold weather also means we have not been drinking that much. We both should have enough to get to Eupen.
Also at Raeren we see the sun! As we continue in the direction of Eupen, we regularly run in sun light or see some sunshine on the forest around us.
Some parts of the trail are muddy. Wet feet and mud-loaden shoes all around!
Around 36km, after over 4h on the trail, I start to hear some grunting and sighing behind me. I decide to give it no notice and to try to keep the pace down a bit.
We arrive in Eupen in good spirit. Cafés all seem to be closed -it’s Sunday morning after all. But there is a 24hr shop on the central square. The woman behind the counter doesn’t speak French, German, English or Dutch. She only speaks some local dialect. But she understands my German and we buy some water. We take the time to refil our flasks (and spill some sports drink powder all over my hands and pants). Time to hit the road again.
This second section of the Venntrilogie has marks in a different color: an even lighter tone of green than those of the first section. I have to get my nose almost on top of it to make sure in what direction the arrow is pointing.
Out of Eupen we follow the valley of the La Helle stream, running on a nice single track next to the water. Over a bridge to the other bank we run through a beautiful winter scenery where the sun has yet to penetrate the valley.
Later on the track changes into a broader path, which turns out to be a miles-long stretch of false flat uphill. It is mentally taxing for both of us. I notice that Piet starts to struggle to keep up and even to keep moving smoothly at some point. Next comes the exclamation: “Wa een kakstuk di!” (What a shit-part [is] this [path]).
But as always on these kind of runs, it never always gets worse. There is an end to the endless stretch and we get out of Hertogenwald and move towards the Hoges Venn.
Here we encounter another fun aspects of winter running: semi-frozen mud. It looks like frozen mud, but when you shift your weight to your next foot, the mud cracks and you sink halfway upto your knee in ice cold mud. A unique experience.
We have covered 60km and have been on the trail for almost 7h30. It is clear that we will not make it to Bütgenbach at the appointed time: even if we push harder, it will certainly be 20:30 or later. Piet decides that he will stop when we reach our car where Mieke will be after her hike. So I have to decide now: do I leave Piet and continue alone at my pace, pushing on to reach the finish line around 20:30? Or do we stay together, continue to Ferme Libert where the car is, and cut the route short?
It seems the moment has come to cut the knot.
I take some time to consider all aspects in my head. I also call Mieke to convene with her about the evening timing. It being Sunday, we both will have to work tomorrow and the kids will have to go to school. And there will be some 4h30 of driving after the finish.
Mieke thinks it better for me to stay with Piet and finish together at Ferme Libert. There is the timing. And there is the risk both Piet and me would take by running alone on the muddy and icy paths.
Finally I decide that I will stay with Piet and that we will continue together to Ferme Libert.
In the meantime, we take our time to eat our sandwiches on a typical wooden boardwalk in the moors.
The decision made, I let Piet know that we still have some serious running to do, so let’s get moving!
I marvel at the beauty of nature around me: the brown-yellow of the moors, the white of the icy trees in the valley starting downhill to Malmedy, the mud on my legs and shoes.
I especialy enjoy the Tros Marets valley. The boardwalk and rocks are very slippery, so we are glad to still be together.
The last descent out of the forest and there is Mieke, encouraging us for the last couple of meters.
In total we ran 85km in 11h30. It was fun to get through this together.
This will be for the next time. We shall return!