I visited my hometown over the weekend, and my training plan suggested I should do a 2:30h-3h long run. I could not spend that much time out and about as my family had to wait for me, but I could squeeze a 1.5h run in. I decided to take the ‘long’ roundtrip along the ‘6 Seen Platte’, one of Duisburg’s largest recreational areas.

I left the house just after 7am and quickly moved into an easy-going pace. It is a beautiful run with incredible nature, and it is hard to believe that this much nature can be found in one of the most industrialized areas in Germany. Along the run, I brought my trusty Ricoh GR2.

After passing the ‘BG Grossenbaum’ (a hospital) - which also is the base for one of Germany’s Emergency Medical Systems (EMS) helicopters (‘Christoph 9’) - you pretty much spend the whole time around the lakes and the forest.

I am not an expert on the typical trees in this area, but I find the entire area quite diverse regarding plants and trees. You can find everything from oaks, pine trees, beech & birch, chestnut trees, and many more.

It took me in the 1:24h to close the loop, which is almost 16km long. Next time I will scout out a better loop that lets me finish a half marathon distance. I need to get more long runs into my calendar since I am signed up for The Hague Half Marathon, which will be my last training run for the 36km Devil’s Trail Run in Utrecht just a week later, followed by another 28km trail run in the second week of October.