Torment first, then celebrate: After a total of 10 hours and eight minutes, Matthias Burgstaller crossed the finish line overjoyed. −Photo: mb
By Andreas Lakota
Suddenly he has this thought that he doesn’t want to think at all. “How am I supposed to run another marathon now,” says Mathias Burgstaller (44) to himself as he completes the first steps. The air shimmers over the asphalt, warm and humid like in a steam sauna, the light wind blows it directly in his face. Mathias Burgstaller has already crawled 3.8 kilometers in the Pacific today. He fought his way through the blazing hot lava desert on his racing bike for 180 kilometers. And now the marathon. 42.195 kilometers as the sun burns mercilessly from the sky on Kona, Big Island.
It is the extreme conditions that created the myth of Hawaii. Every year the best triathletes in the world meet on the small island in the South Pacific and determine their champions. Ironman, if you survive this race, you not only need incredible physical fitness. No, if you want to finish in Hawaii, you also have to push your limits mentally. And be prepared to torture yourself to utter exhaustion.
Every 2.5 kilometers he has to cool his body with ice
Mathias Burgstaller is ready. He looks at the clock. He’s great in the race. The big time cushion takes away any fear of not being able to finish. And giving up is not an option anyway. “Even if I had just walked, I would have made it under the grace period of 17 hours,” he says. But he doesn’t have to go. He finds his rhythm, trusts his body. And he obeys the words that are inculcated in him from all sides before the race. “Take every aid station with you.” Every 2.5 kilometers the athletes are supplied with water and ice. “I really always stopped, drank and above all cooled my head and legs. It was so unbelievably hot, there was no other way,” says Burgstaller. He consumes four liters of fluids while running. When cycling there were even six.
Due to the numerous breaks, he cannot quite keep to his planned marathon time of three and a half hours. In the end, the clock stops at 3.41.55 hours. After 71 minutes in the water and more than five hours on the bike (5:07), Mathias Burgstaller crossed the finish line after a total of 10 hours and eight minutes. He throws his arms up and beams into the cameras of the waiting photographers. 101st place among 566 athletes in the extremely strong age group of 45 to 49 year olds. What a performance by the athlete from Fürstenzell!
“I’m really satisfied. A time under 10 hours would have been a dream, but that was incredibly difficult in these conditions. It’s another house number than the Ironman in Frankfurt,” says Burgstaller. In the Main metropolis, the pharmacist had secured one of the coveted, because very limited starting places for the World Championships in Hawaii, with 9:35 hours he made it to rank 6 in his age group.
A week before the big race, Burgstaller flies to Hawaii together with his friends, the Birkeneder couple – together they launched “Project K” (for Kona) and completed the preparations. He is quickly infected by the myth. “When you walk along the pier to the swim start, it’s an unbelievable feeling.” The first few days, when there weren’t so many athletes and your own tension was still within limits, were the best.
But even after that he collected “unforgettable impressions”. What is particularly memorable? “On the one hand, this crazy climate,” says Burgstaller. “Even when I went for a normal walk, my T-shirt was soaking wet.” In addition to the atmosphere and the landscape, he was also impressed by the numerous top athletes. “Everyone was fully trained, everyone really fit.” Only the best of the best make it to Hawaii. And of course the pros, whom Burgstaller meets again and again, even in competitions that start on the same day. “It’s only in triathlon that you can compete with the absolute best in the world in the same race,” he says. “That’s another reason why the sport fascinates me so much.”
Mathias Burgstaller started endurance sports around ten years ago. Before that he played football all his life, as a goalkeeper at 1.FC Passau he made it into the Bayernliga. “Even back then, I liked to train long and hard,” he says. His condition is also exceptional for a keeper. During runs in preparation, he leaves the field players behind in rows. After the football career, Burgstaller wants to keep fit individually. But that doesn’t work as planned. A friend finally takes him to a folk triathlon. He can’t crawl, rides an old, borrowed racing bike – but the enthusiasm is aroused.
Today, Burgstaller trains an average of 15, sometimes 20 hours a week. He doesn’t have to overcome himself. On the contrary. “I really enjoy the training.” As a self-employed pharmacist, he can organize his time relatively well. Now, shortly after Hawaii, he will reduce his workload a bit and is happy “not having to work through a rigid plan for a few weeks”. The preparation for the new triathlon year begins at the end of November.
New goals: long distance in Roth and the World Championships in Lahti
Because even after he has finished in Hawaii, the toughest race in the world, his ambition remains high. In addition to smaller competitions, there are two absolute highlights in his sports calendar in 2023. He will compete in the legendary “Challenge Roth”. And in Lahti, Finland he will take part in the Ironman 70.3 World Championship. “I did a race in Zell am See to prepare for Hawaii and surprisingly managed to qualify for the World Championships there,” reports Burgstaller.
The father has already infected his two children Annalena and Korbinian with the endurance virus. They too have already completed their first competitions. Sport is an integral part of Mathias Burgstaller’s life. “I can’t do without it,” he says. He also wants to return to Kona, Big Island, “if I can qualify again”. The heat, the glowing ground, the shimmering air above the asphalt – Hawaii is hell, many say. Mathias Burgstaller thinks a bit differently…
Mathias Burgstaller walks down the scorching hot street in Kona. −Photos: private