Gornergrat Zermatt Marathon

At the beginning of July, I decided to embark in one of the most sublime and thrilling races in Europe along with another 799 brave runners from more than 36 countries: The Gornergrat Zermatt marathon.

It was a bit chilly that morning, most likely because I didn’t have many layers on; The train journey from Zermatt to the start line village, a legendary provenance of alpinism, took me less time than I expected. I was just counting the minutes to start conquering my first marathon in Switzerland, very exciting indeed; and then, the gun went off at exactly 8:36 am.

The first half marathon was flatter than the second one; From St Nicklaus at 1116 m to Zermatt, the course continued through the valley floor, mainly along the left bank of the vista river.

Running through the village was unique; an idyllic car free mountain town tucked away in the Swiss alps. After completing 21km into the race, the course winded along an alpine road up to Sunnegga. The next leg of the race is via Gait, and after a stretch of flat land, I reached Riffelalp ar 2,222m. Over the remaining kilometres an elevation of the terrain almost 400 meters have to be overcame before reaching Rifferlberg at 2,585m. The area is uneven, bumpy and running through the dirt tracks, demanded a lot of stamina.

I was taken by surprised, I couldn’t used the leki running poles that I had in my running vest, are they are banned by the organisation; Those could have saved my legs in the final part of the race and they were very heavy and tired and the heart rate went up to the roof. At that point I had little energy left in the tank, but I recalled seeing the famous Swiss black nosed sheep just 200 metres away from the end, and gave a tiny push to finally make it to the end.

Crossing the finish line in such a serene spot was astonishing; Even though the Matterhorn was camouflaged by enormous clouds. Completing my 27th marathon surrounded by mountains and admiring glimpses of the Toblerone peak at some stages of the race, was one in a lifetime experience that I will never ever forget.

All the hard work for the previous months training and fundraising towards my goal for WaterAid, to help provide clean drinking water close to home to those in need have paid off. Next stop, Chicago.