42K to the top of Europe

A small idea and a click later some weeks ago and I secured a place to a marathon I never thought would be in my books. Jungfrau marathon in Switzerland. 2000m elevation is perfect for me as an asphalt ballerina right? Especially since I been running in the mountains twice since last year. I felt somehow very ready for the challenge and hoped for a nice day in the Swiss alps. And that I got. With a lot of extras.

Logistics

It took me 3 hours to travel from Zurich to Interlaken where the run starts. An early morning with departure at 05:00, breakfast on the train and a lot of fellow runners that also joined around Bern area. The run started at 8:30 and we arrived 30 minutes before but it worked like a clock to get the race number and hand in luggage and just five minutes before the start I had squeezed myself into one startblock.

26K of road running

The first 26K was flat. I felt like home. Running through some villages where it was packed with people watching. My plan was to make a decent time on this part but with allowance to take photos. Then after 21K we reached a point I looked forward to Lautenbrunnen. The tourist hotspot. Saw everything I aimed for like the waterfall and the cute streets. A fellow runners needed to make a call to his family that was watching but his phone had died so he borrowed mine and we chitchatted until the hills started. I was looking forward to all the ups because in my race plan that meant walking.

Uphills

Here the climb started with some tough kilometers of circling roads. I took it easy but could feel my calves. Quite some people got cramp and there was a lot of first aid at this part.

But views like these you need to pay a price for. It was totally worth it. I could have been running here but I wasn’t feeling for it. I was walking and taking photos. Had a toilet stop. Even that was luxury. No portable one but some locals that opened up their garage and had toilet and energy station.

I moved forward and soon we passed Wengen. Most runners alongside me also walked and the ones who tried to run many of those you passed anyway in the more challenging upward slopes.

The last 17 kilometers were the ones with massive elevation gain. Normally on a marathon I carry gels with me but here I trusted the energy stations but did not had a lot of energy when I think about afterwards. A few banana bites here and there, coke when we got it and some date energy balls. My legs were fine all the way. I was counting on this like a painful story but no.

Time went fast and suddenly we reached 39K. I wasn’t ready to finalize yet. This was the most technical part. The runners got split into two trails and I got the right one that they just opened just a few runners before me so for 1,5K with leg exercising it was just hike on a line until the parts merged again. Also here it was walking pace.

Then a few hundred meters of running just because I got feeling before the turn to the final approach. That was the toughest part. Very steep and no chance I would run. Now I aimed for finishing at 5:30 which was an hour better than expected and I saw it was in reach. With 1,5 minute to go I made it to the finish line.

After run

It was packed with people at the cable car end station and the runners corner had an awesome view so laid down in the sun there to watch the view a bit. But up at 2300m it was only 11 degrees so got a bit cold after a while so went down (with cable car).

I picked up my bag and skipped shower. Sorry! Went straight to have a pasta and enjoy the after run gathering with fellow runners. and of course we got a second chocolate bar. It’s Switzerland. And a very nice finisher t-shirt!

The day ended with a long train journey back. The first train was late so I missed the connection and had to do the scenic route through Luzern and all lakes. Great but that moment I was just looking forward to a long hot shower! I can strongly recommend this run. Even if you are not a trail runner it is great!

Then the answer to the question everyone wonder about, how does my legs feel today? surprisingly great. I cannot feel I made this yesterday.

/ Pernilla the marathon runner