Jungfrau Marathon

Glenn MacDonald-Jones recently completed the Jungfrau Marathon in Switzerland. Glenn was 5th out of the 103 British runners who took part finishing in 591st place overall in 4:28:19. 4 000 competitors from 38 countries started the race from Interlaken at the foot of the Swiss alps. The winners were Jonathon Wyatt from New Zealand (2:55:32) and Anita Hakenstad Evertsen from Norway (3:23:05). The course follows gently rising roads and tracks up the valley from Interlaken to the village of Lauterbrunnen from where there is a very steep climb along hiking trails equivalent to twice the height of the Wrekin. The course continued through the beautiful mountain village of Wengen and climbs continually to the foot of the Eigergletscher glacier under the daunting face of the Monch and Jungfrau mountains. A final 1 kilometre downhill section brings the runners to the finish at the lovely ski resort of Kleine Scheidegg. Altogether the amount of climb is 2144 meters – nearly 7000 feet – over the classic 26.2 mile marathon distance