Hill running race 2:59:29 [5] 42.2 km (4:15 / km) +1850m 3:29 / km
Jungfrau marathon. The toughest one so far but definitely the most satisfying. A few guys started pretty quick on the flat part so was in a group in 4-7th place with two Columbians and a Russian guy. The pace felt about right so just tried to tick off the kilometres. My stomach wasn’t good early on so had to force the drinks and energy in.
After 20km the guys started picking it up a bit, I probably should have eased off but kept with them until the start of the climb. Straight away it was a struggle going uphill but I tried to stick with William as we dropped the other two. Lost some ground before Wengen and was feeling particularly bad so focused on getting some gels and water in. The gap to William in 4th seemed less on the steeper part out of Wengen at 32km so I tried to reel him in. It was getting cold by then so I put on extra layers and felt a lot better. We passed the first of the lead group about 37km and straight after that I saw Mamu struggling. On the small downhill before the final steep climb I overtook him and William to get in to 2nd. I put in a big effort on the slippery rocky section after that and eventually saw the Moroccan who was in the lead and passed him. From then on I didn’t look back and pushed as hard as possible to the top and on the short downhill to the end. It was really foggy and I had no idea how big the gap was so didn’t take any chances. Enjoyed being involved in such a close race!