By Doreen Beilke
Joyce Hübner (35, “Runninggirl Joyce”) has achieved the seemingly impossible. On Wednesday she crossed the finish line in Frankfurt/Oder – after 120 marathons in 140 days!
In May, the social media star started her run along the German border. In a total of 140 days she ran 5,200 kilometers in wind and weather and was on her feet for 42.195 kilometers every day. She had left her inner bastard at home.
The social media star from Berlin started in Frankfurt/Oder and now arrived here again, receiving a euphoric welcome from friends, family and hobby runners. Her partner Sven accompanied her by car every day, drove the equipment (including twelve pairs of sneakers), organized the hotels and provided food. Joyce: “Without him the entire project would have been impossible.”
It was the challenge of a lifetime. Doctors recommend a maximum of three marathons per year. So 120 is actually enough for 40 years. The runner: “On a few days I caught myself getting cocky, thinking that I only had to do 42 kilometers. But what surprises me is that I never wanted to give up during all these weeks.”
At the finish, Joyce was hugged by her boyfriend. He accompanied the extreme runner the entire time Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Patrick Pleul
“I don’t know yet how my body will react and I’m hoping that something like getting used to it will occur. “I need at least two to three liters of water a day, protein bars, sports gels, liquid food, etc.,” the Berliner told BZ in May.
But the reality looked different. Joyce at the end: “I have never eaten so much and not thought about it. After I noticed how my body was deteriorating in the Alps, I made maximum use in Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia. Burgers, fries, pizza – I really needed that.”
Amazingly, her body wouldn’t have changed much. “My legs have perhaps become a little more muscular. Otherwise I don’t see any difference.”
On November 1st, everyday life begins again
The low points of the tour: On day 31 of the run from Ramsau (Bavaria) to Gradhof, the Berliner realized that the path was not a path. Joyce Hübner: “I was scared to death. The stone crumbled beneath me and my companion. We clung to the rocks. It went down 80 meters.”
Days later she also got a gastrointestinal infection. “A stop would have destroyed our planning. That’s why I kept going, even though I had hardly any strength and my poor companions noticed everything.”
This is how Joyce planned the circumnavigation of Germany: the card with the dates at the runner’s home Photo: Olaf Selchow
Above all, nature in Germany always motivated her. “Saarland, for example, completely surprised me,” said the extreme athlete. “The people, the hills, the coziness – I have to go there for a while. The North Sea was nice, but I prefer the Baltic Sea. I particularly liked the nature on the Schleswig-Holstein side. Just lovely.”
Joyce must be back at work by November 1st at the latest. She works for a health insurance company. She had been on unpaid leave for the last few months.