One of a kind: Jungfrau Marathon
FOR the past five years, I’ve scanned through write-ups of the Jungfrau Marathon but came up with so many excuses like it was an uphill one, that it included mountain trails and had an unpredictable climate. I even tried to sign up once but registration closed early. When my running brother Olaf Bornack brought up the idea of joining it immediately after running the Middle German Marathon last year, I felt ecstatic. No more excuses this time. A few hours after registration opened, we signed up immediately. It closed within the next few days.
According to Olaf, “The JungfrauMarathon may be the most beautiful marathon course in the world because of its marvelous mountain scenery and the excellent change of the landscape between start and finish. The difference in altitude of 1,829 meters is a challenge. There’s no marathon in Europe with such great dimensions. Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, the most famous mountain peaks of the Alps, loom majestically over the course.”
The plan was just to train moderately for it since it was a scenic run. The only uphill training I did was the three bridges of the 11th University Run. The car ride from Zurich took two hours to reach Interlaken. I met Olaf, who took a 14-hour train ride from Germany, in The Linder Grand Hotel. Again, the advantage of booking early: we were 500 meters from race pickup and starting line and 600 meters from the train station.
The race pick-up was very fast and organized (got our packets in less than 30 minutes). We had time to go up to Jungfraujoch to visit the “Sphinx” observation hall. It is called the “Top of Europe,” having the highest railway station in the entire Europe! We changed trains three times to get there and were able to survey the race route and the finish line on the way. We were lucky that we didn’t have to find our usual pre-marathon dinner as our hotel had BBQ dinner by the river consisting of steak, salmon and sausages.
Race day
We had breakfast at the hotel and were surprised by the hotel’s support. There was a runners’ buffet consisting of water, sports drinks, energy bars and bananas. Before the race promptly started at 9 a.m, it was announced that 62 nations were represented.
I was proud to be the only Filipino representative and was more determined than ever to finish this grueling race. It was a sunny day and the race started around the quaint town of Interlaken. I particularly enjoyed running through different wooden covered bridges as we passed from town to town, going higher and higher.
The crowd support was amazing! Some even managed to call out my name with difficulty as it was written on my race number. My trail running shoes were perfect for the mountain trails as we ascended. The air was getting thin as we ascended past 1,500 meters that I had to hold the railings as I was getting dizzy spells.
The next five kilometers after the 35k mark were the most difficult as it was very steep along single trail paths. We passed through runners lying down along the path and some even passed out while the others were suffering from cramps.
I was so glad Olaf was with me as he never left my side and kept encouraging me to continue on. I knew that if I stopped and sat, it would be the end as my tired legs would surely give in to cramps. A lot of runners were taken by sweepers as there was a cut-off time.
The water stations were well supplied with everything any runner could wish for. Olaf pointed to the top of the mountain and said it was downhill the last two kilometers. This gave me my third wind as we reached the top and sprinted to the finish line.
I finished my 48th marathon with my slowest time of 5 hours and 40 minutes. It was definitely my most difficult marathon ever. We had free beer at the finish line and were given each a huge bar of Swiss chocolate.
We took the free train ride back to the hotel. I couldn’t join Olaf anymore for dinner as I was too exhausted from the race. Besides, my next adventure next morning would be water rafting on the Thunder River of Interlaken.
See you on the road.