Rest and Rain

Tuesday: Bike Tour, 65K, 3:10 hrs
Wednesday: nearly rest, Bike Stroll, 15K
Thursday: rest, gym at the hotel, 1:30 hrs

Shoreline restaurant in historic building
at Swiss banks of Lake Constance

I don't want to peculate that I spent 3 days at my sisters home. Conveniently she lives in Eriskirch near Lake Constance which is a popular holiday area and one of the most popular biking routes in Europe. I was happy to do two bike tours on Monday and Tuesday. If you like have a look at the small photo gallery of Monday's tour.

On Wednesday I moved to Oberstdorf, a touristic center in the Allgäu which is - for me - the most beautiful part of Germany. Unfortunately the place is also the one with the most rainfall. What it is proving right now. I booked a Klettersteig Tour for Saturday and already cancelled it again. Tomorrow I will be travelling home and my Summer in the Alps will be over.

Did some shopping on the way and bought a pair of heavy mountain boots suitable for very big heights and very low temperature. Luckily I found a shop in Kempten storing them. In flat Northern Germany where I live it is impossible to buy proper equipment for climbing. This buy is part of my preparation for the next trip: The Summer in the Alps will be followed by the Autumn in the Himalayas. Start will be on Sept 28. So it is 8 weeks at home now. I wonder if Angelika will be able to stand this.

Swiss Alpine Marathon

The Swiss Alpine Marathon at Davos has been a classic running event since 1986. The main distances are 78K and 42K, framed by other competitions with shorter routes, a separate team event and walks.

Davos is a famous center for skiing. It might be pretty when covered with deep snow but in summer it is just an ugly town surrounded by steep hills which are artificially designed for winter sports. There is no obvious reason why Davos has the same price level as London City. It is comprehensible that the town has to set up big events to draw visitors in summer.

However, once you leave the town and enter the neighboured valleys you easily recognise that Engadin is one of the most beautiful areas of the Alps: steep georges, green alps, rocky tops.


The marathon is a perfectly organised event with every comfort you can think of. The photo shows the start of the 78K race at 8am in Davos. The strong little lady wearing the green shirt and black shorts is Lizzy Hawker from England. She not only won the race 37 minutes ahead of the second lady, Lizzy smashed the course record by 15 minutes and finished after 6:30:12 with just 4 men ahead of her .

It was my first visit to an ultra distance race. This special species of runner seems to suffer from distinctive self-confidence what is not always likeable. But seeing them approaching the finish line one is tempted to try the long distance oneself.

The start of the 42K race takes place in the beautiful village of Bergün (1365m) at 11.30 am. The 78K runners have already covered around 35K when they reach Bergün and from here on the routes of both races are mostly the same.

The next section is a long and arduous ascent to Kesch Hut at 2638m.

High at Kesch Hut it is foggy, wet and very cold.
I am happy about the immediate steep descent of 300m...

... into a lonely valley called Val Funtauna.

Then it is another steep ascent to ...

Scaletta pass at 2606m ...

... and steeply down again to the alm Dürrboden at 2007m.

Finally a very long valley back to Davos.

It seems I have lost some weight en route.

London Marathon 2007

August 1 always is the start of the new Flora London Marathon season. Did you notice that I sent out the first 2007 newsletter last week?

english version / german version

To subscribe the newsletter please refer to
www.london-marathon.info .

Blackout

Monday: Bike Tour East End of Lake Constance, 89K, 4:03 hrs, flat route

Sorry dears, I have to admit - while I am staying with my sister at the Bodensee ("Lake Constance") - this evening ended up to be a wine session, too long to post any substancial content. To be honest I had a beer and three quarters of wine. I think I will sleep well. See you tomorrow.

News from the Mountain Goat

Friday: rest
Saturday: Swiss Alpine Marathon, 42K, 1900m, 4:55:12 hrs
Sunday: rest


Just a short line to report about the Swiss Alpine Marathon in Davos. The route was as tough as I expected it to be. I had a loss of form after the final descent with still 16K to go. 2 mugs of coke made me come back and I managed to cover the final 10K in 49 minutes finishing in 4:55:12 what was 15th place within my age group of 72 runners. Please don't hesitate to have a look at my race photo gallery. More tonight.

A Matter of Perspective

This is how our guesthouse in Lermoos (Austria) was advertised.
Mind the shadow in the right bottom corner of the photo.

This is what caused the shadow. Not really the place where one wants to spend their holiday.

I didn't expect an English word to exist for "Gartenzwerg" but actually I found garden gnome. Please note that this photo is taken of an Austrian garden, not a German.

One more impression: This is me, totally exhausted after the Tuesday mountain bike tour of 100K. Yes, Sabine, this is that kind of padded trousers.

Some more photos of the Mount Zugspitze Race

Many thanks for your kind comments concerning the Mount Zugspitze Race. I take "Bergziege" as a compliment. And I think I can really need some luck with (the rest of) my life. There are still some dreams left to come true.

Here are some more photos of last Sunday's race. By the way the winner made it to the top in 2:06 hrs, the first lady was home in 2:29 hrs.

Alpine scenery at about half way, at height level of 2000m.

Easy running between the steeper parts.

This kind of path is called a "Klettersteig". Originally it is obviously not built for running.

The final ascent to the top.

Very last steps before the finish in the fog, height level 2960m.

Ralf organizing the well earned award, free beer as much as you can drink.