My First 50 Miler

Meg & I just got back from the Swiss Alpine Marathon and there are so many ways I could title this, and yet this seems to be the most appropriate. One would think "last" or "only" 50 miler would be better terms to use, and even then plenty of people would think I was crazy. And yet.. I chose "first." We'll see if that is an appropriate choice later.

The Quick Summary

We spent a 4 day weekend traveling to/from the Alps to run a 78K for me and a 42K (Marathon) for Meg. The course was great, the temperatures were perfect, we got some cold rain on the top of a 8500 ft mountain pass, but overall it was beautiful. It was a fantastic trip and we both had a GREAT time! Both of our legs are very sore now and my left foot is injured. X-rays appear to be negative but walking is very painful.

The Swiss Alpine Marathon

In April, we went skiing and one of our instructors put the idea of this race into my head. A 78K in Alps would be pretty epic. And there are shorter options so Meg can run too or in case training doesn't work out as much as I'd like in Egypt. Meg has repeatedly expressed interest in seeing/hiking the Alps in the summertime rather than only ski them in the winter. I don't understand this desire, but I'll cater to her whims from time to time. :) The race is a quick flight from Cairo and in the same timezone, so we won't have to deal with jet lag and break the bank too much. So an idea was born.

Getting There

It was not quite as easy to get to this race as it initially seemed. Switzerland is a pretty small country with a great train system. How hard could it be to get to the start of this race? Well.... 

Our plan was to fly into Geneva and take the train to Davos Platz. This would be a 5.5 hour train ride, but it was significantly less expensive than flying to Zucich directly, and a similar priced ticket with a layover meant the same amount of travel time. We discovered later that the race included free train passes from the airports, that was a big win! So after leaving the house at 7:15am on Thursday, we arrived at our hotel in Davos at 9:00pm. It was raining, it was cold (mid-50s), and we were smiling.

Friday was spent wandering around Davos, going to packet pickup, getting some coffee, lunch, and generally enjoying the town and a quiet vacation day. A street festival was taking place a few blocks from our hotel and we watched as kids climbed crates, had a bratwurst, and soaked in the show. We went to bed early to get ready for a big day.

Saturday. Race Day

The K78 started at 7am which seemed very reasonable for a race like this. At the same start times were the C42 (marathon in the valley) and the K30. There were several thousand people at the race start, more than I'd ever seen at the start of any ultra-race before. Clearly, most of them were not in the K78, but who's who? Race numbers were color coded, but it's hard to tell from inside the crowd. With so many people, the organizers were smart to start us out on several miles of roads. After a while the run through town turned into running through the Alps. Especially for the first half of the day, this meant a lot of single lane roads through farm areas, some dirt roads, some fire roads, and the occasional patch of single track. For the most part, unless it went up, it was wide enough to fit a car through which was probably for the best with the crowds. When it ticked uphill, the single track was beautiful, and I was moving slow enough to enjoy it.

However, 20K into this race, my left foot started acting up. I've been fighting off a bit of a pain at the end of my 5th metatarsal for a little while, probably since the Highlands 40 miler about a month ago. Nothing major, but it was there at the start of the race. By 20K in, there was no question this guy was going to be an issue today. Running was starting to be painful. There was an option to bail at the 30K mark. I was still mostly running (except for the uphills), so within 3 hrs I had finished 19 miles and decided to keep going.

A little after the 40K marker we found a bag drop where I changed the sweat soaked arm armers, shirt and shoes for dry options prior to hitting the mountains. Shortly after that, the K78 course joined the K42 course. Meg's race took off at 11:30 so she got a 15 minute head start as I passed through at 11:45. The run goes about 10K of rollers and gradual uphills. It's hard to say exactly when, but the "gradual" up started going steep up and everyone (at least around me) was walking as the trail goes up 1700m over 5km. By the time we got to the Ketch hut at about 8500 ft, it was in the 40s and raining. Thankfully, the organizers were handing out ponchos or I probably would have been hypothermic.

After walking most of the 15km uphill, I was anxious to run some to get the legs moving down the slopes into this alpine valley and get those splits down to make the cut off times. However, the left foot wasn't cooperating and while I did run quite a bit, it was with a healthy dose of Ibuprofen and guts to make it happen. After a few kilometers of that, the trail turns up again and gains nearly 600 feet in about a mile. (Average about 15-20% grade.) Wow that was hard. 

Going down the backside of it, was slippery and cautious but not too bad. I found a guy from Davos running his second marathon (K42 participant) and we ran together down hill for a few miles. Once we got into the valley, the rain stopped and the temperatures were pleasant again and I stopped to take the poncho off while he ran on. I power-walked most of the remaining 15K home with a 12-15 minute pace and managed to come in at 11:54. I'm certain if my foot wasn't so injured I could have trimmed an hour or more off it, but sub-12 ain't too shabby all considered. Meg finished about an hour infront of me, finishing her marathon in 6:36 and was waiting at the finish line for me with a big smile on her face.

Post-Race

After the race, Meg & I walked up the hill to our hotel room. Well, Meg shuffled and I hobbled. We grabbed a shower, ate some dinner in town, then passed out. At 6am the alarm went off so that we could finish packing to get back on the trains. We were in Geneva by 1:30 for our checkin, but the plane got delayed for 6 hours. Our 7pm arrival in Cairo turned into 4am, but everything made it in once piece. X-rays show the foot seems to be in intact and I will follow up with more medical care. 

Overall it was a great time, even with the foot issues, and I hate to say it, but I would consider doing a 50 miler again on the right course and without pre-existing injuries.