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| Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau |
Jungfrau
marathon celebrated its 20th anniversary this year and gathered together 8000
competitors from 70 countries. What made it special this time was that it was
also the World Championships in Long Distance Mountain Running. This assured
that the best of the best were there. I got to run for Finland there, which I
later regretted. Run starts from 500m in Interlaken, climbs up to 2200m at
Eigergletscher and descends then the final kilometre to the finish at Kleine
Scheidegg. 42km long course contains altogether 1829m climb with the steepest
climb from the valley of Lauterbrunnen up to Wengen. From Wengen there is still
12km to go with 1km climb. The final climb from Wixi to Eigergletscher goes
along a moraine with a magnificent view over Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. It is
said to be one of the prettiest and toughest marathons in the world.
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| Arrival to Interlaken |
A Czech elite
orienteer Monika Topinkova was the one who suggested that we would do it
together. At the same time some of my orienteering friends in Britain recommended
the very same thing. I suspected that it was perhaps some kind of conspiracy to
eliminate one of the Finnish orienteers. But soon I learned that mountain
marathons were something that British and European elite orienteers did. And
were good at too. I also learned that fell running and mountaineering are
popular sports elsewhere in Europe, they just haven't reached Finland yet. The
lack of mountains may explain something.
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| Start the day before the race |
I hadn’t
run either a marathon or a fell race before but once I found about Jungfrau I
decided to go for it (how mad was that?). I had no idea how to prepare for it
but luckily there was plenty of help available when I dared to ask. Big thanks
to all of you involved! Monika swore to Lore of Running and Bob Williams training
program. It was my base too but I felt I needed some additional strength
training and hill work (which I strongly misjudged anyway and did far too
little). I also got valuable advice from Swiss top orienteers Simone Niggli and Marc Lauenstein who both have
finished in top three on this marathon. British orienteers and fell runners Oli
Johnson, Murray Strain, Tessa Hill, and Ray Ward also helped me with
preparations. Oli gave me valuable advice and convinced me I could do it,
Murray went and spied the route in advance, Tessa accompanied me on one of the
vital preparation runs in the Lakes, and Ray provided me a ruthless description
of the race as it is. It was important to stop dreaming and know the truth. But
did I realize it? No I did not. The truth hit me first after Lauterbrunnen.
The first
10km of the course was on flat around the village. I placed myself a few rows
behind other elite runners at the start to avoid starting too fast. I just tried to find
a comfortable rhythm and ran my own pace as relaxed as possible. I ran the
first 10km in 41min, a bit faster than I had planned but it felt slow and easy.
I stopped for a drink and continued. Guys I had been running with (one with a
name Juergen and a green Asics guy) were quicker with drinking but I reached
them again in next ascend. Number 74 was there too (one of the elite girls I
kept on seeing). First half of the race is said to be flat but actually there
is a 250m climb to Lauterbrunnen, which is considered far from flat around
Birmingham. Anyway, next few kilometres were ascending so I slowed down a bit
and lapped some 4:30-5:00 kilometres. Others did the same. We followed the
river in the valley and there was a refreshing breeze from the water. I was
enjoying the run.
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| Lauterbrunnen |
15km lap
was still a few minutes ahead of my schedule even though I had dropped the pace
a little. From there onwards it was undulating gravel road and very nice to
run. Now I was running together with one of my room mates, a British fell
runner Anna Lupton, still chatting comfortably. I was a bit surprised she
wasn't running any faster but didn't dare to ask why. Afterwards I found out
that she always takes it easy at the beginning and is a world-class climber
(she was 4th at the final climb and I lost over 30min to her on the last 16km).
I reach the
half way mark in 1h34min, still a minute ahead of my schedule, feeling fresh
and great. Speaker says my name and country and I get a lot of cheering.
"HOPHOP, HYVA SUOMI, YKSI-KAKSI-KOLME, GO ON FINLAND". I smile and
enjoy every moment of it. There are a few Finnish spectators too. I have now
idea who they are. Anna is now about a minute ahead of me and I see only a
glimpse of her every now and then. Number 74 is just a few steps ahead. I've
been running with her, Juergen and the green Asics guy pretty much same pace
for 1,5 hours now. This seems to be a good gang to run with I think when I pick up the first two gels. I am planning to take one of them just before the steep
climb and have the other one for reserve on the way up. Still feeling good and ready
for the climb. Just bring it on!
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| Another way of going up |
We reach the
25,5km point where the steep zigzagging climb up to Wengen starts (about 500m
climb on 2km). 1h50min, I'm right in time. There are lots of people cheering
when we start climbing before the road turns into a hiking path and goes into
woods. I feel stiffening in my calves and the increasing gradient doesn't help
much. Number 74 is pushing now and I let her go focusing on my own run. I try
to keep running as easy and economic as possible taking only small steps. It feels
like I'm not going forward at all and my calves are hurting more and more.
"Just keep it relaxed" I say to myself imagining that running is
better than walking. However, when the first walker comes and passes me I change
to walking myself too. It feels great and I can keep up with the guy who just
passed me. For a while it feels better to work with legs instead of calves. A
few skinny mountain runners pass me but I don't care. They seem to weight
around 40kg, so it's no wonder that they fly so lightly.
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| Eigergletscher |
The climb
is massive and it gradually starts to wear me out. I had certainly
underestimated it. It takes ages to reach the next kilometre and I start to
understand the brutality of it. My calves hurt, my legs hurt, my back hurts. Pain
is everywhere and the climb doesn't seem to end. My back is really bad, it has
never hurt so much during a run. I take a few longer leaps to reach the top
sooner but it's a huge mistake. On one turn my leap is too long and my right
quad cramps. A few steps later my left quad cramps too. Both quads are cramping
when I reach the hilltop at Wengen. I take another caffeinated gel and try to
shake off the cramps. 29km in 2h33min, still almost in schedule. If I just get
these blocks of wood (that is my legs) to work again I can still make it to 4h.
I continue
but my quads are getting worse and worse, now they are just cramping
continuously. I see signs for massage and feel tempted to go there. But I still
feel too ambitious to stop (only afterwards I realize that I could have saved
up to 10-15 minutes if I had stopped there for 5min massage). I am determined
to continue even if my legs protest. Brain seems to have lost contact to legs
no matter what I do. Quads just stop to co-operate and I feel totally helpless.
I have never experienced anything like that before. I thought I had strong
quads but they're out of the game now. After a while I'm forced to stop and try
to shake and massage my legs. I see a few other elite runners by the side of
the road, unable to continue. I want to continue but it seems impossible. Somehow
I manage to plod forward to Cafe Oberland (32,5km) where I grab a few energy
gels provided with extra portion of sodium. My last hope is that salts could
help my cramping muscles and I would be able to continue. It is a long shot but
believe in placebo effect and manage to trick my brain and legs for a while.
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| A few more steps |
Route from
Cafe Oberland to Wixi is nice and fairly runnable stretch on gravel road with
bearable amount of climbing but my legs protest to run with me. My way of
moving is hard to describe but it's something between walking and jogging, like
trying to run with straight legs without lifting your knees. It must have
looked awful. Mostly I am just overtaken by other runners but to my big
surprise I suddenly catch an Ethiopian girl and pass her! She was one of the
two Ethiopians who were running in the leading pack the first half of the race nearly
10 minutes faster than me. They were among the favourites but now she is even
more knackered than me. I am delighted to realize that I'm not the only one
knocked down by the climb. The other Ethiopian, who was 3rd at 21km, managed to
get up to Wengen but spent then nearly as long as I for the last 10km (and
that's a lot). With that little mental booze I get myself to Wixi (38km),
almost 10min slower than I had hoped. But I'm not thinking about the time
anymore. I'm already out of the game, I just need to find a way to get up the
final climb somehow.
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| Finishers |
So only 4km
left but still awfully far from the finish. I take my second salty gel and I
start to feel queasy. I am near vomiting but manage to keep it inside. I
remember Marc telling that nausea and vomiting are just normal, part of the
game. But did he say something about cramps? I can't remember. I was prepared
to feel really bad and struggle but I hadn't thought that my legs would let me
down this way. Climb up to Eigergletscher (2205m) at 41km is definitively the
worst part of the course. It includes about 350m ascent on 2km. Small rocky alpine
path gets smaller and rougher the higher up we get. Normally I would love this
kind of path but now I just couldn't hate it more. The final climb is just pure
agony and I have to stop several times and let other runners pass. I'm
surprised to see still other elite runners. I had thought they were long gone
but they keep storming pass me on the final climb. Once I look up to the
highest point and immediately regret it. It just seems too much to my legs and
I'm very near quitting. Random dog walkers seem to go faster than me and my lap
on the final ascending kilometre is 16:50. Could it go any slower? The final
kilometre to the finish is downhill but it doesn't help me much. I cannot run
and several runners pass me even on this last descent to finish. I reach the
finish line in tears and swear not to run a mountain race ever again. Monika
comes a while later and shares the feeling with me. She had had a bad day too
with a cramping tummy.
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| Kleine Scheidegg |
My room
mates Anna (10th) and Jo (18th), both experienced mountain runners, tried to
cheer me up saying that your first marathon/mountain race is always a challenge
and it seldom goes as you hope and that I should be proud of myself. After a
while I start to understand how right they are but it's still hard not to feel
disappointed and frustrated after being forced to walk far before feeling tired
enough to do so. Maybe 4h time target was too ambitious but I really feel that I
could have gone near that if my legs had let me try. Number 74 who I ran with
the first 25km had a solid race and finished in 4h4min. My positions on the
other hand dropped dramatically from Wengen onwards. It's hard to say if I had
been able to finish stronger if I had started slower but I guess the climb had
knocked me down any way at some point. I should have run much more hills. Long
hills.
If I forgot
to mention, the route was pretty and the views were stunning. But you can get
there by train too.
