The Swiss Alpine Marathon

What awful weather today, it has rained and rained with mist and low clouds. I really did not think that Gavin would still want to run the Swiss Alpine Marathon, but he thought it would be fun! Fun? In the mud, and slipping and sliding up and down the mountains, but he enjoys a challenge. There were various options to this race, a 78km ultra marathon, a usual 42km marathon, a 21km half marathon,, a 10km race, and various walking races too. Gavin entered the half marathon which was sensible considering the altitude and the conditions.

There were not many spectators in this rainy weather, but some of us were out there balancing umbrellas and a camera! The race started in the village where it was flat, but soon set off up the valley., starting at 1085m and finishing at 1634m in the town of Davos. He climbed a total of 667m and descended 316m - sounds like nothing but I know from walking that that is a very steep ascent. He looked like a drowned rat when I fetched him after the race and was freezing, it having rained heavily the whole way with an average temperature of 9C - but he enjoyed it, although did admit that it was more gruelling than the full London Marathon. He does half of the London Marathon in 90 minutes but this mountain race took him 2 hours 12 minutes.