This hut-to-hut route high in the Austrian Alps takes seasoned trekkers about six days to complete. German trail runner Ida-Sophie Hegemann aims to run it in 11 hours to claim the FKT (Fastest Known Time).
The Karwendel range in the northern Alps has always been a magical place for Ida-Sophie Hegemann. As a German trail runner living in Innsbruck, Austria, Karwendel marks the boundary between her birthplace and her present home.
For years she dreamed of running a route traversing this borderland range—and of setting a record time in the process. Karwendel follows her passion project to set a new FKT on the famed Karwendel Höhenweg.
This vertiginous 65-kilometre stretch of trail linking mountain huts should take hikers roughly six days to complete. In this FKT attempt, Hegemann aims for less than 11 hours.
Born in Duderstadt, Germany in 1997, the young runner spent her weekends track-racing the state championships and training at Hanover’s Olympic base. She soon moved from pavement to trails.
In addition to winning all the major (and majorly grueling) Alpine trail races, including the Transalpine Run (two first-place finishes) and the Mont Blanc Marathon (first in 2019), she’s the first woman to finish the Stubai High Trail. With a punishing 6000 metres of ascent/descent, Hegemann finished the 80-km route in just over 19 hours.
Ida lives and studies architecture in Innsbruck where she’s training to meet her next set of high-altitude goals: defending her numerous titles and running the epic Golden Trail World Series.
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