Jungfrau Marathon

I've entered the 20th Jungfrau Marathon for this year. I did some running on the trails around Jungfrau and Eiger last summer and decided that I'd give it a go.

Any advice on training?

I also have lined up: The Three Forts Marathon, Dartmoor Discovery and the Lakeland 50.

SP

Talk to the two who did that multi-day alp-thingy a while ago!

Can't remember who they were, though I think Crash Hamster might have been one of them?

Wow! Glad I've spotted this..... I walked there last year, am going back this June & hope to do the race next year (too late for this year).

I've got a friend who's done it a couple of time as he used to live out there.

I'm lined up to do Snowdon this year as training & hoping to find something 'fell' like as training next summer.

Im in too. Holidayed in the region for years. I have run 15 marathons but don't have a clue how to train for this one. Any ideas? I've tried to find a plan but can't. I understand there is a fair amount of walking in the second half ...

Im in for this too. Just done a very hilly Marathon in Lancaster(Lancashire) as preparation. My wifes Uncle has done this every year for at least 10 years and he is primarliy a fell runner. His advice is to stick to your usual Marathon plan as far as milage is concerned but do at least 2 of your weekly runs as hill sessions. Ive also been doing every other LSR on hills too.

I think you can expect to be 1hr - 1hr 30 slower over the whole distance but the vast majority of this difference will be in the second half so you shouldn't have to change your usual marathon pace for the first half. I did London in 3:19 this year so I'm aiming for a sub 5 hour. 

Im not sure what the friday registration is but i'm guessing its something similar to London, where you get your number etc.

There's around 8000 runners over the 2 days with 4000 expected to run on each day.

this makes very interesting reading....

http://www.philippe-durand.fr/JFM/Paces.php

This guy did it in 4:34:12 and his Flat Marathon average is 3:15.

He suggests you add around 40% onto your flat time. The averages show that most people go out too fast. Based on this I will be holding back by around 10% in the first 26km compared to a flat Marathon.

I'm down to do this .....twice

I've been offered a press place and sampled the Eiger Gletscher for the first time a week past on Saturday. It frightened the life out of me and induced a mini panic attack just before the drop back to Kleine Scheidegg. My initial reaction was to plan to withdraw, but I'm going to give it a go. I'm up to nearly 30km in training in the UK which will take me comfortably from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen (25km mark) but I know it's the climb from Lauterbrunnen that will represent my biggest challenge. The race president himself advises non-professional runners to treat it as a 25km run followed by a 17km hike.

I have also, incidentally, tried to interest Runner's World in an article or two about it (I'm a vastly experienced journalist) without even an acknowledgement, so far.

I'm starting to get pretty nervous now..

Any suggestions on how to combat the possible cramp at the highest point? And should I worry about altitude??

Sean - thanks for that article, interesting reading. I would love to be able to do it @5hours.

Excited? Yes, and a bit nervous too!

Having been injured for much of the early summer I'm under-trained and probably shouldn't be attempting it - but there is no way that I'm going to pull out now! My plan is to run as far as Wengen and see how it feels. If I have to stop there then so be it.

In fact I ran/walked the 13km section between Lauterbrunnen and Allmend last weekend. I was overtaken by quite a few runners doing training runs over the full distance!

I do have the advantage of living in Switzerland so I know the area well. If anyone wants any specific information please do ask...

Steve

Having offered advice, I'm having difficulty in answering this one...

It all depends upon the weather! Currently the forecast for the whole weekend is looking very good. I will post a weather update sometime next week.

Some runners have supporters waiting between Wengen and Wixi armed with warmer clothing but generally this is not necessary and most people seem to complete the course wearing just a vest.

I asked a friend who has done the course several times and he said that apart from one year when it was very wet he has never needed additional clothing. He suggested that sunburn was sometimes a greater problem!

Personally I'm planning to hedge my bets by wearing a t-shirt style top rather than a vest.

I'm sorry that I can't give you a definitive answer.

Steve