6. Schloss Tatenhausen Ultramarathon

Only two dozen runners can line up for the Schloss Tatenhausen Ultramarathon, a 45.6 km trail race in Halle, Westphalia, in North Rhine-Westphalia. It starts at 7:30 a.m. from the Wanderparkplatz Schloss Tatenhausen, with a brief word just before the start, and runners have 9 hours to finish. The route is five laps of about 9.12 km through Tatenhauser Forst, passing the moated Tatenhausen Castle and Vennteich pond. The course is mostly shaded and has about 120 meters of elevation change, so the challenge is more about repeating the trail loop steadily than climbing. It is a low-key event: hand timing, a small cash entry fee, Race Result registration, and runners are asked to send in their GPS track after finishing.