Above: Steve, first B&R runner back to the stadium in Davos, proudly wearing his club vest before the start

Feeling adventurous four members of B&R AC set off in the SwissAlpine  Marathon and Half marathon in Davos. Ann Stuart and Judy Appleby faced the gruelling, prestigious mountain marathon K42 whilst Steve James and myself took the softer option of the half, K21. Both races were mainly off- road at high altitude, though on very different routes. (There was also, unbelievably, an ultra race too, the K78, but this only seemed to be for a different species of mortals to ourselves!) At the time of entering, it is safe to say that at least 3 out of the 4 of us had little idea what we were letting ourselves in for!

Above: The half marathon started on the graceful curve of the new bridge near Klosters.

Above: Jane in the main street in Klosters - the race would soon wipe the smile off her face!

            The K21 had a spectacular start on the new Sunniberg suspension bridge down at 1050m altitude near the ski resort of Klosters. Immediately after the bridge the climbing began back up to Davos at 1500m, through pine forest mainly for the first 12 km on rooty woodland trail and stony track, via the Wolfgang Pass at 1630m. I quickly began to regret the strudel and fondue, and not doing more training on the Waseley Hills, as Steve pulled ahead with his superior climbing technique and benefit of weeks of hill cycling! The trees provided welcome shade, though we emerged here and there into the sun through meadows where spectators clanged cow bells to cheer us on. At about 15km the route went alongside the enticing blue water of the Davosersee where people were swimming, after which I had hoped for an easy run into the town on the road. I was dismayed when we headed east  towards the Dischmatal valley where we joined the K42 and crazy K78ers. We  climbed up into the Mattenwald woods before looping down into Davos. At the end of the trail there was 0.5 km of road then the welcome sight of the finish in the sports stadium. The ever-patient Rose James was there to greet a grinning Steve after 2hr 12m 35s and I followed at 2hr 17m 01s. Steve was 320th man out of 617, and 11th O/55M and I was 112th woman out of 343 and 14th O/45W. On balance, these places were quite respectable and cheered us up a bit after the slow times.

Above: The marathon runners started at the typical Alpine village of Bergun.

            Meanwhile, the serious business of the K42 marathon was underway, Judy and Ann having set off a couple of hours earlier further south in the picturesque village of Bergun at 1365m alt. They had two enormous peaks ahead; the first topped by the Keschhutte at 2632m after 15.8km then the mighty Scalettapass at 2606m after another 8km and a descent between. The going at this altitude was tough, to say the least, on narrow stony alpine trail,  on hands and knees in places, with snow patches, and no shelter from the sun. The day before at the Expo, we had seen a video of this part of the 2007 race, with lines of runners all walking which had stunned us all into silence. After the Scalettapass there was over 1000m of tricky descent over nearly 20km to the Dischmatal valley and the Mattenwald, then into Davos. Judy entered the stadium looking fresh as a daisy after 5hr 40m 54s, 89 th woman out of 197, and 7th W50. This was a fantastic achievement, given the winning man’s time of 3hr 22m, and gave her a new PB for a mountain marathon after her 6 hour run in Cuba in the winter.

Above: The K42 runners had to climb the rocky terrain above Davos.

            Then we waited for Ann. We didn’t get too concerned until 6 hours passed since this was her first attempt at a mountain marathon, but after that we became increasingly worried. There were no reports from the officials that she had stopped, so we just waited. Only after the cutoff time had passed at 7pm and the tape was being cleared away did we find out that she had fallen, broken her arm and been lifted off to hospital at around 3pm in the helicopter! Ann had nearly reached the first major summit when she first fell, but managed to struggle on for another half hour with the aid of a nice Frenchman called Sebastian before stopping for treatment in the cow shed at the Keschhutte. It was then decided to pull her out and take her down. Luckily the hospital was just opposite our hotel, and Ann, sporting an impressive splint, a dislocated finger on the other hand and numerous purple bruises, managed to be amazingly cheerful despite her ordeal and disappointment (and possible bill for the helicopter). She even managed a beer that night with the rest of us and graciously showed interest in our splendid medals and t shirts.

            The SwissAlpine was certainly an unforgettable experience for us all. Thanks to Judy for organizing us, Rose for putting up with us and to Sebastian and the docs.

(Some consolation for Ann: Sebastian has already sent her an email via the club to enquire after her…how does she do it…)

Above: The view from Hotel Larix B&R's race H.Q.

Report by Jane Anderson