Leonie and I headed over to Lauterbrunnen on Friday evening.
Saturday was the Inferno Half Marathon. In previous years it’s been extremely hot and a huge sweat-fest. This year it was different. The weather board at registration said 7 degrees in Mürren and 3 degrees on Schilthorn. We deliberated over what to wear. During the briefing they warned of possibly zero degrees with a wind-chill down to -5 degrees. In contrast it was 32 degrees in Mürren in 2011 and 2012.
My knee was still being dodgy after the Highlander and I used this as an excuse as to why Leonie might be faster than me while we stood at the start line. We set off at a leisurely trot with approximately 400 other starters. After a little while I realised my legs were feeling surprisingly good apart from the knee-niggles, and I continued trotting my way up the mountain until a little bit past Mürren where the course gets so steep that everyone walks.
We entered fog later and the visibility was reduced greatly. No awesome views out to the Eiger, Jungfrau, and Mönch this year. The race felt unaccustomly easy. Instead of the nasty cramps and a dizzy head like in 2012 the cold seemed to be doing me good. Still I made sure I walked the steep sections and ran the flat bits. We arrived at the last climb and I downed some coke and “iso” and panted my way up the windy climb, passing many a competitor, to the finish line on Schilthorn (annoying the patient European competitors walking up single file).
I crossed the line in 3 hours 35 seconds which I was mostly happy with but also a little annoyed with at the same time. Surely if I has just spent 10 seconds less at each of the drink stations I would have cracked the three hour mark. But anyway 20 minutes faster than 2012, and 8 minutes faster than 2011, and probably all thanks to the cold weather.
Leonie came in half an hour later at 3:29:06. Also a good time.
All in all a good race and by far the easiest Inferno I have done.
Above left: We headed to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland on Friday evening and camped the night at the start line ready for the Inferno Half Marathon. It was mighty cool compared with previous years on Saturday morning. Deciding what to wear was difficult. Above middle: Instead of 32 degrees like previous years in Mürren it was 7 degrees, and there was thick fog as we ascended. It was just 3 degrees at the finish line. All of this sounds bad but my legs seemed to cope much better with the temperature. Above right: Leonie crossed the line in about 3 hours 29 minutes and got a rose for her efforts.
Above: I crossed the line in 3 hours 35 seconds. If only I hadn’t messed around so long at the drink stations. Still, I was pretty happy with my time. We posed in the cold at the finish line on Schilthorn.
Results: Inferno Half Marathon 2014 – Certificate Inferno Half Marathon 2014 – Men Main Class Inferno Half Marathon 2014 – Men Inferno Half Marathon 2014 – Women Main Class Inferno Half Marathon 2014 – Women Results courtesy of Datasport.
Strava says:
Inferno Half Marathon 2014 – 3:00:35.9 21.1 km / 2175 m ascent, 113/341 Men Overall
Leonie 3:29:06,0 49/110 Women Overall