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Engagement @ Swiss Alpine- Race Report by Dave Ross Mel & Dave travelled to the beautiful Alpine village of Davos (Switzerland) on Thursday 23th and after the 3hr train journey from Zurich to Davos and wee bus ride (the last bus of the evening) managed to finally get to the lovely Alpine Guest house in Laret, just outside Davos town. I had phoned ahead to let them know we’d be late and they kindly left us 2 bottles of Swiss beer, some freshly baked bread, cheese and ham which we devoured with gusto at our midnight feast. This was our second meal of the evening as we’d had some chicken wraps washed down with a bottle of Champagne whilst on the long train journey, much to the amusement of the local Swiss folk ! The following am, it was bright and sunny (perfect weather) for a trip to Jacobshorn the highest mountain in the area which I said to Mel would be a great spot for the views and nice walks along the myriad mountain paths. She quizzically wondered why I had spent ages packing my day pack so I said that I didn’t want to forget all the bits we needed for the day – weak excuse though !! The Ski lift taking us to the top was packed with tourists from
seemingly the 4 corners of the Globe. On arrival after getting 2 cable car rides
to get there, we walked around briefly admiring the picturesque views of the
surrounding snow capped mountains, it was
breathtaking. I had to make an excuse so I said I had a dodgy tummy and that I
might be a while in the W.C. Mel looked a bit
worried as I scurried off. The kit bag was unpacked in the loo and I had a full
Kilt, sporran etc in there, which I donned and rushed out to the bench where Mel
was left seated, still admiring the view. Onlookers looked on at me in complete
amazement, and I even had to stop and pose for a picture. Mel was busy admiring
the view when I suddenly appeared in my outfit, she put her hand over her eyes
and just said "oh my goodness"……… I was in fits of laughter.
We made several phone calls to family to let them know our exciting news, and then dashed off shortly afterwards to register for the Race at the Expo, as it was all set for the following day, Saturday. We bumped into Ian Sharman at the Expo, who was due to do his 100th marathon the K78 (which took me 10 hrs last year to do) though as Ian proved with a final time of 6.50 this was a walk in the park for him. The race started in Bergun on Sat, which was a short train journey from Davos and fortunately Mel & I were able to enjoy a hearty breakfast as the race only started at 11.30am. As we were on the train, we went across a railway bridge, over which the 8am (Ultra) runners that were competing in the K78, were running. It was nice to be sitting on a comfortable train and watching the battle of the masses as they made their epic journey over a very tough and undulating course. We eventually arrived in Bergun and had plenty of time, so I suggested that we have a nice coffee and do the pre-race ritual preparations in a quiet coffee bar whilst the masses milled around outside, chattering excitedly and cheering on the K78 racers. We stepped outside to make our way to the race start to drop off our kit bags, just in time to see Ian Sharman and the leading lady (at the time) Lizzy Walker cruising though the town up a very steep hill, almost effortlessly. Having dumped our bags we made our way to the start, and watched in amusement as we saw an aerobic workout with music, being staged. Some of the runners had joined in though we thought better of this and conserved our energy ready for the race, whilst merely doing some gentle stretching……………… The Claxton sounded at 11.30am on the dot and the mass of humanity wound its way like an uncoiled snake, up the hill and on towards the outskirts of the town, we then looped back and through the streets of Bergun, whilst the crowds clapped and cheered us on. The K42, lived up to all expectations in terms of the physical demands that we expected. The scenery was breathtakingly beautiful but as the description of the race indicated there were climbs up to 1890meters, making it the highest altitude marathon in Europe. We seemed to climb and climb at about 15kms, to the 20km mark, it was almost impossible to run this part of the course as the altitude and steepness of the terrain made conditions extremely hard. Having reached the snow line at one of the major checkpoints which was a large Hut, we were offered small bits of bread, clear/salty soup, sports drinks and water, which really helped to replenish our depleted energy reserves. I found the 2L hydro-pack which I’d topped up with electrolyte replacement (Nuun) to be invaluable. Mel took hers too and this really helped, as the hill climbs took an exacting toll, and being well nourished helped delay the onslaught of glycogen depletion considerably, in fact I didn’t get any cramps at all. On arrival at the Stadium in Davos at the end of the race, I had a sprint finish with another runner who was 200 yards ahead of me with about 1 km to go, I managed to pip him to the post by a few yards and was very happy to have completed the course in under 4 ½ hrs. The music playing at the end made me laugh as it was appropriately "Highway to hell" by ACDC. I retrieved my bags and had a quick shower then made my way back to the finish to find Mel, though having hunted high and low, she could not be found. Finally whilst watching the presentation ceremony, in which Lizzy Hawker was given her 2nd place prize, I glanced over towards the track and saw Mel looking around trying to find me. She’d come in, in just over 6hrs and confessed that it was the hardest marathon she’d yet done! We have decided we’ll definitely go back one day, though we have plans to conquer the "Jungfrau" next year, which Roger Biggs of the 100 Club says is a better and even more scenic race, hopefully some of you will join us. Switzerland is a magical place and it will always have a special place in our hearts!! Carpe’ Diem and keep on running………………………….
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