3200 kilometers on foot

Once along the Danube: Styrian on a running mission

Andreas Ropin is completely on his own for his project - he only has a rucksack with him.

(Bild: Ropin)

Andreas Ropin from Trofaiach is embarking on a monster project: he is cycling to the source of the Danube and walking along the river to where it flows into the sea. The Styrian has now been on the road for three days and will cover 3200 meters on foot. He will return home on his bike.

The career of Andreas Ropin from Trofaiach is impressive: once suffering from alcohol addiction, he is now Austria's best-known ultra mountain runner. Sport has "liberated" him. The 45-year-old has run up the Hochschwab seven times in 24 hours, ran up Mont Blanc in six hours, climbed the Grossglockner six times in 36 hours and ran around the whole of Austria in 72 days.

He is also known as "Rambo"
"I've always set myself such projects as a goal, I've come up with the most insane things," says Ropin, who runs a bike workshop and is known to everyone as "Rambo", to the "Krone". And he has now started another such crazy campaign: his "Rambo runs the Danube" project began three days ago in Trofaiach. The ultra-runner wants to run from the source of the Danube in Donaueschingen, Germany, to its mouth on the Black Sea.

Andreas Ropin "Rambo" is a mountain runner.

(Bild: Markus Nitsche)

"A friend gave me this idea. He said it suited me. I agree," laughs Ropin. The incredible running distance is 3200 kilometers. And as if that wasn't curious enough, Ropin goes one better: "I've also discovered road cycling for myself. That's why I cycled from home to Donaueschingen to the start. That's 600 kilometers, 200 kilometers a day."

The Black Sea as the goal
Only now does the ultra run begin, which takes the resilient Styrian via Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania to his destination: the mouth of the Danube into the Black Sea. But Ropin still hasn't had enough. He returns to Trofaiach by bike, which a friend has prepared for him on the Black Sea.

Every four days, "Rambo" takes a break to "recharge" in accommodation, as he says. "I reckon the whole tour will take around 65 days. I don't have a support vehicle with me, just a rucksack." He is not afraid that something might happen to him on his venture: "If you're scared, don't set off in the first place," says Ropin, once again living up to his "Rambo" reputation.