Several of our members enjoy a relaxing holiday in the Alps..............

Martin 'lets' Lydia catch him up....

The Swiss Alpine is an event with a multitude of races, from the 78k main event, through 2 different 42k races, a 31k race, a half marathon and an 11k. They all start or end in Davos and many of the events cover some of the route of the 78k (probably for the entertainment of the ultra runners that are on the course anywhere from about 6 to 12 hours).

I completed the 42k event 2 years ago but at the time, I couldn’t do the main 78k event as I had to catch a train in the evening and I was not sure if I could make it back in time for the last train. At the time, I enjoyed the event and decided to come back one day and complete the 78k version. It therefore wasn’t long before I planned with Marc Mason to return in 2009 to run the 78k making it a target race in my running calendar.

When the final plans for the event were made several friends decided to participate in the event as well namely Marc and Mary Mason, John and Sally Tierney and my wife Lydia.

My final preparations for the race included the Osmotherly Phoenix, and the Lyke Wake race, leaving 2 weeks for recovery, which seemed perfect. However as race day approached my legs hadn’t fully recovered and still felt rather tight. Further preparation included some downhill mountain walks which resulted in stiff calves while acclimatising for the race. Not feeling at my best started to make me quite nervous and to make matters worse on the morning of the race, fog was hanging down from the mountains which was followed by some serious rain shortly afterwards. All together, the enthusiasm to run 78k that day started to diminish. However, I was here to do it, so I decided to get on with it as best I could.

My plan was to complete the first 40k to a place called Berguen in under 3:30 from where, at that time, Marc and Lydia would be starting out on their 42k race. From Berguen we would all be following the same route for about 16k climbing up to Keschhuette at an altitude of just over 2600m. I calculated a pace of about 8:30 min/mile would be required to get me there in time. As the route dropped 500m over the first 30k, then only just recovered the altitude by 40k, there seemed to be a reasonable chance to meet this target.

At the start, things were slightly different from the usual local races I am used to competing in. Runners of the 78k, one of the 42k’s and the 31k, a total of 2 – 3000 runners all started at 8:00 in Davos and for the first 30k, we would all follow the same route. For me, it was essential to set-off on a steady pace. With my Garmin, I tried to keep to the required pace to get to Berguen in time, while keeping my heart rate below 140 bpm. Based on recent training runs, this should have been possible however today, the legs still felt rather stiff and I seemed to have to work harder than usual, but I was still just about keeping to the required pace. At least by now the weather had improved and it wasn’t raining anymore. Unfortunately, in the beginning the route was not quite as downhill as hoped for and after a flat loop through Davos, it was roughly a 10k climb into a little village on a mountain side, from where it dropped quite steep down into a valley. The legs still felt stiff, but with some salt tablets, I could at least keep any cramping at bay. Once I arrived in the valley, John Tierny and his family were on the side of the road, cheering on the runners which after seeing someone familiar, lifted my spirits.

From here, the route follows the river along the valley bottom to a railway bridge that crosses another valley, about 80 meters above a river, which provided a spectacular view. From the viaduct, it was another climb through some woods, before dropping into the village of Filisur at 30k. There was no improvement in my legs and there was still a long way to go, but at least I was still on schedule. From here on, it would be mostly uphill to Keschhuette, a total climb of 1600m over the next 22k and critical was the next 10k to Beguen, with a climb of 400m. I had calculated that the steepest climb in this section should be about 5%, however, the 5% in Switzerland seemed a lot steeper than the ones at home. I had to walk up these climbs and started to drop behind schedule, however with some effort I managed to get into Berguen only about 10 minutes behind schedule.

As the 42k had started out with an extra (approx. 1 mile) loop in Berguen, I only just managed to leave the village ahead of Marc and Lydia. However, I knew now that I could not keep up the pace I had hoped for, so I decided to slow down a little and let Lydia catch me up so we could complete the climb to Keschuette together. After a while, Marc passed me after only stopping for a short chat then off he went. A while later Lydia caught me up and we continued our climb together. It’s was a long climb up to Keschhuette, most 42k runners consider this half way, although it is ‘only’ 16k into the race. For the 78k runners, it is considered that getting to Keschhuette means having broken the back of the race. For Lydia and me, it certainly meant that the critical bit of the races had been completed. From here on it was just a long drag back to Davos.

This drag however was interrupted by Scaletta Pass at an altitude of 2600 meters which we reached after first dropping 200 meters (for the 78k) or 400 meters (for the 42k). From there on it was 20k downhill and my legs screamed all the way, but I managed to maintain a steady run to the finish. It felt like an endless section, but it was good to finally return to the stadium at Davos and finish the race in front of a small crowd, just over 9 hours later. Slightly longer than I hoped for, but for one reason or the other, the preparation had not quite worked out and the body had not recovered from previous racing as hoped for. Maybe something I can improve on next time?

Martin Dietrich

Mary Mason       11k event        1:20:01      107
John Tierney      ½ Marathon    2:21:49     232
Sally Tierney      ½ Marathon    2:42:06    383
Marc Mason       42k event        5:09:43    135
Lydia Dietrich    42k event       5:52:25    312
Martin Dietrich  78k event       9:03:17    307
 

Swiss Alpine Marathon website

(c)2009 Martin Dietrich