Race Report: 2018 Zermatt Gornergrat Half Marathon, Switzerland

At 10:18am 7 July 2018, under a pure blue sky with the enormous Matterhorn shy behind a bikini-cloud, the gun went off. A few minutes later we were finally released, on a rolling start across the line in the Zermatt half marathon, a point in time I’d been focused on for six months, finally, finally, finally here. We were off!!! Phil and I had shaken hands, wished each other good luck, and were running alongside each other through the chalet-lined streets of the iconic mountain town as folks cheered us on: “HOP HOP HOP”! 13.1 miles of test awaited us, taking us from 1616m at Zermatt up to 2585m at Riffelburg, and I was ready for it, bring it the hell on.

In the holding pen at Zermatt waiting for the start. Phil had gone rather wild at this point, sprouting hair from his palms, a full-on hill-hunting werewolf!

Whhhoooaaarrr, almost at the start!!!

Go, Daft Hats, GOOOOOOO!!!!

Let’s not get too carried away though Jay, as I recall you were more than a tad nervous. Phil ran the race in 2017, with his mate who’d been burned by the altitude and the steepness of the course. The first couple of miles, Phil told me beforehand, are out and back into Zermatt, and are pretty flat. After that it’s about three miles at 10% uphill, on trails leading us up through the forest. I’d done some short sections of 10% on the Col de L’Iseran, and they’d been hard work, I had no idea whether I could keep going for three miles. From there I knew the course opened out above the treeline, with magnificent views, some flatter and downhill sections, and others which were un-runnable, hands-on-thighs at 15% or so. Jules (Phil’s better half) told me the end of the race is a mile or two like that, up alongside the cog railway, with a couple of hundred meters of flatter stuff at the top so you can run into the finish line.

The Zermatt Half Marathon profile: a bit hilly.

The Zermatt Half Marathon course – it’s only 13.1 miles, my watch was a bit off!

I’ve been running the past few months with an old Garmin Forerunner (a watch with a GPS in it), and had been getting used to the kind of pace I could do on the long hills, the longest being a 9 mile uphill to Les Arcs 1800m, at about 6%, at about 12 minutes per mile. From the off we were swept along, and the watch told me were were doing 8.5 minute miles – too fast – so we eased off a bit. Those couple of miles were over in an instant, the route left the milky glacier river we’d been tracking, and the hill came up at us. I didn’t take a camera with me, so thanks to Phil Russ for the great trail shots he grabbed on the way!

Lots of hills to hunt on this here joggy joggy!

At the start an announcer in Zermatt had told us to drink, because up here at altitude he said we needed 20% more water than at sea level. I took his advice on board, grabbing water at each of the stations except the last one, which was only a mile from the end. If you fancied it, you could have had sports drink, sports bars, bullion (thin soup), all sorts of stuff. I’d eaten my usual breakfast of oats and nuts, plus a bit of honey as a race-day lifter-upper, 3 hours beforehand, so avoided the food and other drinks, the water did the job. Oh, and a cold sponge went down a treat later on. The sun was in full force, although the altitude increase cancelled it out, and the air stayed beautifully cool.

The first ten-percenter had lots of folks walking, but all those hilly half marathons were in me, in my legs and head, and I was so happy to discover I could jog along without busting my lungs, and steadily got to the top at about 5.8 miles, and off out into the open. Phil had told me to remember to look up, to enjoy what was happening around me, and I remembered his words. The trails were tight in places, with sections of uneven rocks, dust and gravel, tree roots and streams, so some looking down is mandatory at least some of the time if you don’t want to break an ankle, but the scenery and the sensation of running with a pack of people were extra-ordinary. Out of this world, folks, I felt pure joy at it, but kept checking my watch to see how many miles were left!

As the course levelled off for a mile or so, I could start to run more easily, steadily overtaking folks, being amazed at the marathon and Ultra marathon runners who came flowing past me. Jules later told me my overall position improved throughout the race, using an app tracker the race organisers provided for free, which showed when we crossed a number of timing points along the course. The marathoners had got 13 miles in their legs before reaching Zermatt, from their start further down the valley at St Niklaus, and we’d merged onto the same course as them when we were released to coincide with the leaders coming through.

With that mile over, the trail narrowed and kicked upwards for about half a mile. I’d been worried about working out which bits I should try and run, but needn’t have bothered: no-one was running this stuff. Hands went on knees and we all formed a giant caterpillar of plodders, hearts hammering, lungs pulling in as much of the thinning air as we could, just clawing away the trail. Eventually it dropped and we were again released, hopping over rocks, my mind-voice uttering a fair few expletives as I nearly went over! A bloke flew past me at one point, I swear his feet didn’t touch the crazy slabs of rock, respect! Phil told me later on he’d seen a guy along this section being given CPR. He’d stopped to help but the organisers were on it, and a helicopter came in quickly. We’ve not heard if the bloke survived, and of course wish him the very best of luck.

Phil had to stop every now and again to let the pack catch him up.

About 8 miles in, the course actually tracks downhill or level for about three miles, and I’d decided at this point to get my head down and run, as fast as I dared. I figured the last part couldn’t be run anyway, and as long as I could drag myself up there I’d be OK. On one downhill section I was passing a fair few runners, arms flapping about like Animal from the Muppets, when my right foot decided to raise the alarm and a few shooting pains slowed me down a bit, although they didn’t come back and I’ve felt OK since.

Although there were long sections of course with no supporters, there were lots of places with support, and the “HOP HOP HOPs” and “BRAVO” rang in my ears, encouraging me along. A few folks spotted my name on my bib and shouted it out, clapping me through, and I tried to give a thumbs-up to everyone who was helping the runners. As I came through the Riffelalp train station, Jule’s voice rang out from the crowd and she came legging alongside the course shouting encouragement. Ju had an array of cameras set up to grab some great shots, saving us a small fortune on the official race photos! Quad bikes were patrolling the wider sections of trail too, and it felt all along that we were being perfectly looked after.

The ‘Jules Personal Mountain Trainer’ service running alongside me at Riffelalp

Turning the corner at Riffelalp it took me a second to work out the course had just gone vertical!

That final section eventually appeared, and it is the feisty animal folks say it is. Almost two miles of slogging away trying to walk as fast as you can, heart beating against chest wall, air thin in your lungs, legs threatening to cramp up. I kept alongside the overhang to the railway line, after a bit of shade. It felt like cheating, having to walk, but running was just impossible: I tried a few times but just couldn’t do more than a few strides and took to just trying to pick people off by turning my legs over a bit quicker than them. The watch showed the miles very, very slowly increasing.

The long, long final drag up to Riffelburg

The point the course gets close to Riffelburg the noise started to increase. Folks around the finish had walked down the course and were shouting us on up the long drag and over the top. The trail narrows but eventually becomes runnable again, sweeping around the hill, past a couple of bag-pipers filling us all with adrenaline again for the arm-raised triumphant crossing of the line. Done it. What a feeling!

The months of effort. The long years my Dad’s suffered with his lungs. The dreadfully sad need to have our dog Charlie put down just over a week before the race. The donations and message of support from friends, family and strangers. It all hit me and after I’d hugged Ju I sat on the hillside, looked out at 4000m peaks, and cried. These runs aren’t really about running. They’re about struggle, and that’s a deeply personal thing for all of us. Everyone out there was running their own race, their own struggle against their own demons, their own problems, chasing their own personal peace.

A short while later Phil ploughed his way up the incline, defying an injury which had stopped him running the 7 weeks before the race. That takes some serious mental strength, and I salute him for piling his way up that animal of a course. I also thank him, once again, for inspiring me to be here in the first place. Phil: you’re a hero my friend!

Here’s Phil on the final climb, you can see down to the valley we had just run up from

And that was it. We watched more runners fighting their way into the finish, supped our 0.0% Heineken handed out at the finish, posed for a few photos and hugged each other. The racers’ numbers have a chip in them which gives us three days of free access to the railway, and Ju had bought a one day ticket allowing her to get up to the finish. We used these tickets to get up to Gornergrat, where the ultra runners were finishing their gruelling climb and being adorned in silver and gold blankets to protect them against the cold. The views up there of glaciers and 40-odd 4000m peaks are sensational, a more than fitting end to a day I won’t forget in a hurry.

I did the run in 2hrs, 37 mins, was 19th in my class and 114th overall, from about 800 runners. I also raised over £1100 for the British Lung Foundation (final donations gratefully accepted here), I’m very happy with that.

If you’re interested in doing the race, I can highly recommend it! The 2019 race is on 6 July, and entries are open. Have a look at the official website, and book early as the half marathon fills up. I’ve photographed a couple of pages from the 2018 race magazine to give you some idea of the logistics too.

If you’re planning on doing the run, a few hints and tips picked up from Phil and the race itself:

• Race numbers are issued a day or two before at St Niklaus down the valley, from the race office near the train station. Parking was tight in the station, and there was a funeral on when we arrived so the approach road had no parking. We went back to the bottom of the road and parked up in a free car park and walked 200m or so back up the road.
• Discount gear from previous year’s races was available at the race office when we got the numbers – well worth a look – I got a 2015 rucksack for 10 CHF (£7.50), running tops were about 5 CHF.
• The race cost includes three days on the valley trains, which is an absolute bargain when you find out how much the trains cost (normally 114 CHF for Zermatt to Gornergrat – about £90)! Spectators can get a one day pass from the race office (only cash was taken – 77 CHF for a single day – about £60) when the numbers are picked up.
• The half marathon race itself starts in Zermatt, which is car-free. You need to use the train to get up there from lower down the valley. Our campsite ran a taxi, but we just cycled to the nearest train station where there were loads of bike racks.
• The half marathon is a rolling start. When you apply for a place they ask your estimated start time, and you get a number which places you in a specific group. Phil and I guessed at about 3 hours and got numbers starting with 5000. At Zermatt there are starting pens close to the train station, and you need to be in yours about 15 to 20 mins before your group is released. There are loads of officials around who all speak English and will help you. When it’s time for your group to head off, the announcer will release you. You then walk to the start line and are fed into the stream of marathon and ultra runners.
• Guessing your finish time is hard work if you’ve not done it before. There’s a fair bit of climbing to do, and maybe 2.5 miles most of us are forced to walk due to the steepness. The air’s a bit thin too. As a rough guide I was running flat half marathons alone in training in about 1 hour 56, and finished this race in 2 hours 37.
• Outside the train station there are also bag collectors. These will collect the bag issued to you when you got your number, and transfer it up the mountain for you so you can get it at Riffelburg (where they spotted me coming, read my number and had the bag ready before I got to them). If you have valuables (your phone, keys etc), there is a separate baggage service for them too.
• It can be cool in the valley and up at Riffelburg and Gornergrat if you opt to nip up there afterwards (a few degrees, rain, possible sleet even in summer). We put jogging bottoms and waterproof jacket in the bag, although it was warm enough not to need them. There are are hot showers at the top (amazingly), so you can pop in your washing gear and change of clothing if you want.
• The course is a mixture of road and trail, but is mostly trail. I wore road shoes and they were fine. Some sections were uneven rock, difficult to get any speed over but some guys and gals did. Trail shoes would be worth wearing if you have ’em, especially in wet weather. There’s a video showing some of the terrain here.
• The course is exposed once out of the trees after about 6 miles. I wore Factor 50 sunscreen on my arms, neck and the lower part of my race, and a hat to keep the sun off my forehead and ears.
• There were maybe 6 or 7 drinks stations along the course, easily enough I think. The volunteers at the stations shouted out what they were offering (in German – wasser is water), or you could just go and look in the cups.
• The trains back down the hill got VERY busy later in the afternoon, with runners, spectators and lots of ‘normal’ tourists. On two separate trains we saw folks pass out in the crowded, hot trains. Worth considering getting back down earlier to avoid this.

Cheers, Jay