Elīna Krēmere | 20th November, 2020

ENTERING A NEW DECADE WITH 120KM


I have always been proud of my birthday - November 17. I am definitely a patriot of my country, and I was especially happy to celebrate my coming of age two years ago alongside the centenary (100 years) of my nation!

This year, the celebrations undoubtedly continue. On the dark evening of November 16, I walked a little over 20 km to mark my anniversary. Then, the next afternoon, I began my journey of more than 100 km from my home to Jūrmala, taking a detour through Ķekava and Plakanciems.

*P.S. Exactly two years ago, I started writing a blog about my adventures in ultramarathons and rogaining. You can read about how I struggled through my first hundred HERE and also listen to it in the 4th episode of the podcast "Latvijas Dēkaiņi" episode 4.

NOVEMBER 16, 20:04


I leave home as I do almost every evening, around eight o'clock. For about a month now, I've become a 'trainer' for two active guys - Armands and Aleks. We live in Dārziņi and almost every evening we go on active walks, sometimes looking for geocaches or hidden treasures. This evening, the plan seemed a bit unclear, as I wanted to do the big loop around Dole Island, but the guys had their doubts. I convinced them that we had flashlights and that there would be strong winds at the Riga dam, making it difficult to visit the Salaspils side.

The path to Dole Island isn't far, and we quickly reached the other side. However, I started to feel a stomach ache from laugh seizures about the combination of cheburek and belash with dating. 
At some point, I remember that there’s a geocache near Mežezers (a very mysterious place, by the way! The lake isn't marked on any map). Since Armands and Aleks have already found it, they challenge me to solve the task, and the clue "this is too easy" really made the search easier!"

We head back to Dārziņi, walking past Doles manor and the museum. Upon returning to Zirņu Island, I realize that I really want to reach that 20km mark, so I ask the group to take a little detour. A fter some light grumbling, I finally get a confirmation, and we make a loop towards Dārziņu Street. Since the guys aren't used to walking such distances regularly, it was quite challenging, but in the end, we made it successfully.


At Kudoyar Park, it's midnight, and I receive my first holiday hugs. Finally, I feel like I've gotten a little bit older :)

At home, however, I quickly run to sleep, because I need to wake up early tomorrow to go  take photos with my classmates for our podcast "Info-dēmija". And also definitely need to prepare for the evening and the big 100!


NOVEMBER 17, 18:21

I packed my things right around 13:00, when I got home. I fill my bag with 2 liters of water, bring one fizzy drink, and one sports drink. For food, I chose several bars, chocolate, made some wraps, and grabbed a few snacks to keep in my pockets.

Two hours before heading out, I even managed to take a nap. However, I woke up feeling unusually dissatisfied – normally, I'm very excited about upcoming adventures, but this time it felt a bit tough. The night is forecasted to be wet and chilly.


This year, I was supposed to go with my mom’s brother Juris and his friend Gatis. However, Gatis backed out at the last moment, only promising to meet us in the morning at his house for breakfast. So Juris showed up alone, and we were ready to start the long hike!

We receive final well-wishes from my brothers and "good luck kisses" from Frankie the cat. With no fanfare, cheers, or starting whistles, we simply pressed the buttons on our watches and headed in the direction of Rumbula.

I discovered this 30 km loop (Dārziņi-Dienvidu Bridge-Rāmava-Ķekava-Dārziņi) earlier this year and have often used it for long training sessions in the spring. Navigating along the promenade was easy, and we completed the first quarter of the route in about 4 hours. In Ķekava, we were greeted by my best friend Kate, who brought us warm tea, and we took a short break before the challenging night stretch.

As we left the village, we visited two more significant spots – the Ķekava River and the bird factory. From there, our path took us across the A5 bypass towards Plakanciems.

NOVEMBER 18, 2:03

The road to Plakanciems is rather monotonous, full of mud and unexpected splashes from beavers. Walking here alone would definitely feel much scarier and more boring, so I’m glad Juris is alongside me to chat.

At midnight, we were relieved that the rain still hadn’t started, and the night felt relatively warm. I received messages saying that not only was it drizzling in Riga, but it had already started pouring heavily. It wasn’t long before we got hit by the rain too. Around 2:00 AM, I pulled out my raincoat, eagerly anticipating the Plakanciems bus stop, where we could finally eat the instant noodles Juris had brought.

In the darkness, we could barely make out the long-awaited village, except for a faint light and a dusty coffee machine by an abandoned building at the roadside. We sat down at the bus stop and began devouring everything we could. Surprisingly, my appetite was decent, but the cold was becoming more noticeable. In total, we sat by the roadside for just under half an hour. The last thing we wanted was to go back outside into the rain and wind.

NOVEMBER 18, 4:48

The road ahead was as monotonous as expected. No cars around, just vast fields (as far as we could see with the dim light of our headlamps), the wind blowing from the left, but the rain was attacking us from every direction. In this kind of weather, it's incredibly easy to get chilled if you stop for even a moment.

I marked the 50 km milestone by wetting my lips with some blackcurrant balm. Halfway through, and now the real fun begins...

I started having my first internal complaints and motivation dips, and my pace was slowing down. Juris wasn't warm either, but our shared goal — to reach the village "Ezītis" — kept us moving forward. The main thing was that from Ezītis, there would only be a little way left to Jaunolaine, where we’d finally get warm at Juris' friend Gatis' house.

To make a perfect 100 km, my brother had planned for us to take a small loop through the Melnā ezera (Black Lake) swamp near Stūnīši before heading home. However, the night was so miserably wet that Juris and I agreed to skip the detour. Together, still before dawn, we trudged along the old Jelgava highway, desperate for the chance to warm up.

NOVEMBER 18, 10:31

At around 6:30 in the morning, we finally arrived at the warm house. I glanced at myself in the mirror and was shocked at how utterly exhausted and miserable I looked.
Within the first 10 minutes, I collapsed on the carpet in the middle of the room and fell asleep. We set some of our clothes out to dry while Juris started eating.

I ended up sleeping for almost two hours, then spent about an hour trying to force myself to eat something. In the end, it took me more than 30 minutes to gather the strength to keep going. In my mind, I had already convinced myself that 65 kilometers was no small feat, but that three-digit number and Juris' motivating words kept pushing me forward...

Thank heavens that this year, November 18th was a relatively bright and warm day. In the daylight, our pace felt much quicker, and it turned out that we covered the 70th to 80th kilometers at almost the same speed as we did at the start. By now, it was clear that there was no turning back—we just had to keep moving forward. The real question was how well my mind would cooperate with my body's capabilities.

To reach civilization, we trekked through swamps and forests. Along the way, we passed by roadworks near Vētras village, looked up as planes flew overhead, and I, almost in tears, desperately awaited our final stop at Skulte, where we would take a much-needed break before the grand finish.

The bench at the Skulte bus stop was much cleaner and more civilized compared to the one we visited during the night. After a 20-minute rest, we set off again. The forest near Liberi was a familiar territory, and we weaved between the Beber streets to reach the bridge over the highway. From there, only a small stretch remained, from Babīte Station to Jūrmala.

NOVEMBER 18, 13:55

I'm not quite sure however whether I’m more happy or frustrated about the bike path. On one hand, it's a familiar stretch, and each curve feels familiar. But on the other hand, it’s starting to drag on and on. I’m finding it harder to walk, Juris keeps moving ahead at his own pace, and I just can’t keep up anymore. I start wondering how much I need to push myself just to make it to Lielupe Station, where we planned to take one last mini-break.

When we reached Priedaine, we hit the 92 kilometer mark. It’s clear there’s not much left, so we just keep trudging forward. Every step feels increasingly difficult until suddenly, I recognize an orange jacket. With the last bit of energy I have, I call out "Lauri!" and simply point to my watch, showing him the distance we’ve covered. I can barely manage to say much else. A little further, by the RIMI, we take a quick group photo to capture the moment.

NOVEMBER 18, 16:49

That final loop around Lielupe Station was like the cherry on top of a freshly baked little cake. My stomach was growling, but I couldn’t eat, and my legs had already gone into autopilot, knowing exactly what to do. Now it was just about keeping myself entertained. I turned on some Latvian music and simultaneously checked where my brothers and mom were driving. Ah, it looked like they were planning to meet us at the finish, by Bulduri Church.

Juris was busy calculating the precise distance to ensure we completed exactly 100 km, but those numbers were getting pretty confusing. For me too.

On the bike path, which runs almost along the beach, we passed several people out celebrating. Oh right, it’s a holiday for Latvia today. We’ll celebrate when we get home!

As we neared Bulduri, my brothers joined us, and later, so did our dog Fredis with my cousin. Just before reaching the church, we took a quick two-block detour and crossed the finish line with 100.2 kilometers on the watch. Well, yes… it did feel pretty great.

It was a bit tough standing on my feet for the rest of the evening, but the next day, I was able to carry on with my usual tasks.

Podcast "Latvijas dēkaiņi", ep.4.  How I see my 100km on 18th birthday now, two years later.

I really hope something similar works out next year too!