I find it hard to believe that it has been almost 3 years since my crazy husband ran the Jungfrau Marathon - an entirely uphill marathon, up a Swiss Alp, often with a 10% grade, that ends on a glacier.
When signing up for this marathon the organizers suggest that you add 1.5 hours to your best marathon time, and assume that will be your time for Jungfrau. If that calculated time is over 6 hours, they suggest you not enter. Anyone who takes longer than 6 hours to finish the race does not receive a race shirt or finisher medal.
Dan finished in the top third for all of the men in 2011's race, and I was obviously so proud of him.
Jungfrau is in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland, and is worth the visit if you're into hiking, skiing, and other outdoorsy activities. It's picturesque as can be, and was in fact the area that Tolkien used (Lauterbrunnen specifically) as inspiration when writing about Rivendell in "Lord of the Rings."
We stayed in Wengen for the race, and since Dan's legs weren't complete lead the day after, we went for a hike to explore the Jungfrau at a slower pace. On the way home we stopped in Lauterbrunnen for a few hours to check out some waterfalls, have a beer, and take a lot of pictures.
If you ever the chance to participate in the Jungfrau Marathon, I say go for it, as it's been labelled as one of the most beautiful race courses in the world. It's not so bad to participate as a spectator either.
This year's race will take place in about 2 weeks, and it's hard for me to believe how far we've come since that race. We've made friends, we've lost friends, we've had highs and lows, we've made a little human, we've grown as individuals and as a couple. I hope to be able to bring Oswin to Wengen and Jungfrau sometime in the near future, to take the cogwheel train to Kleine-Scheidegg, to pretend we're walking in a chapter of "Lord of the Rings," to show her somewhere that showed us how strong we really are, well, that would be amazing.
Happy travels friends, and if you're running this year, Hop Schweiz!
A la prochaine friends...
Honey
When signing up for this marathon the organizers suggest that you add 1.5 hours to your best marathon time, and assume that will be your time for Jungfrau. If that calculated time is over 6 hours, they suggest you not enter. Anyone who takes longer than 6 hours to finish the race does not receive a race shirt or finisher medal.
Dan finished in the top third for all of the men in 2011's race, and I was obviously so proud of him.
Jungfrau is in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland, and is worth the visit if you're into hiking, skiing, and other outdoorsy activities. It's picturesque as can be, and was in fact the area that Tolkien used (Lauterbrunnen specifically) as inspiration when writing about Rivendell in "Lord of the Rings."
We stayed in Wengen for the race, and since Dan's legs weren't complete lead the day after, we went for a hike to explore the Jungfrau at a slower pace. On the way home we stopped in Lauterbrunnen for a few hours to check out some waterfalls, have a beer, and take a lot of pictures.
If you ever the chance to participate in the Jungfrau Marathon, I say go for it, as it's been labelled as one of the most beautiful race courses in the world. It's not so bad to participate as a spectator either.
This year's race will take place in about 2 weeks, and it's hard for me to believe how far we've come since that race. We've made friends, we've lost friends, we've had highs and lows, we've made a little human, we've grown as individuals and as a couple. I hope to be able to bring Oswin to Wengen and Jungfrau sometime in the near future, to take the cogwheel train to Kleine-Scheidegg, to pretend we're walking in a chapter of "Lord of the Rings," to show her somewhere that showed us how strong we really are, well, that would be amazing.
Happy travels friends, and if you're running this year, Hop Schweiz!
A la prochaine friends...
Honey
