Mum, Julian, and I caught the ICE to Interlaken, Switzerland yesterday evening and camped the night beside the river there.
Julian enjoyed a breakfast of stale bread and a bretzel, his harden up food for the marathon ahead. The race started at 9 am and the 3800 strong field began a slow jog. Well when I say slow I am referring to the people around us. I imagine the runners at the front of the field left in a mad-dash.
The first 25 km were a very gradual climb up to Lauterbrunnen. The field slowly spread out but there was always a steady stream in front and behind me. It was another hot Swiss day similar to the Inferno Half-Marathon but not quite as intense. From Lauterbrunnen we climbed steeply up to Wengen. The crowds crawled up the hill and I employed my best striding technique and strode past many of them. My legs were a bit rubbish on the flatter sections but in relation to the other runners around me better on the steeper stuff.
The last section is really steep and everyone was walking. There were so many people that there were little traffic jams on the narrow path. I decided to be very un-Swiss and instead of waiting patiently in the queue I walked on the grass next to the little path. Yes, I can hear you gasping loudly at my boldness. The last part of the race is rather nasty as it’s downhill. My calf muscles were feeling like they were close to cramping so I hobbled down the descent while fresh-legged folks skipped by. I finished in 5 hours 16 mins and Julian cracked the 5 hour mark finishing in 4 hours 49 mins.
We hung around at the finish for some time with the awesome view of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau behind us. The weather really was perfect. We had had such an awesome view during the last section of the mountains and glacier.
Above and below: Photos of Julian, and I at the finish with mother as our support crew. It was awesome to have the finish on the Kleine Scheidegg below the Eiger. Julian and I briefly considered attempting to break the new 2.5 hour record for the Eiger North Face as a bit of a race warm down, however we decided that it might strain relations between New Zealand and Switzerland so we left it. Perhaps next time…
Above: Cris hobbling into the finish of the Jungfrau marathon.