I've had a long lay off!

Raced the Aletsch-Half-marathon at Bettmeralp on the 27th June.. I'd started work again that week..bonus! managed to wangle the Friday and Monday off work result! Set off Friday for Sierr

View from our World Cup watching deck chair

e rendezvousing with Milian and Steve on the motorway and headed for the Kanderstag Tunnel.. On a beautiful day we eventually arrived at the campsite couple of miles outside of Sierre. After putting up our tents beside the large pond, Steve and Lynda prepared some food accompanied by wine before heading to the Festival Week-end au bord de l'eau..We trekked down towards where we thought the site would be... easy enough to find, very small but a idyllic location on a beautiful late afternoon.  Once we got inside we made ourselves comfortable and waited to see and enjoy the John Kennedy Band... they had major problems with the sound and as it was getting closer to the start of the World Cup involving Switzerland who had to beat Honduras in their final group stage match...with the majority of attendees obviously more interested in this they decided to avoid a lost cause. We found a deck chair and plonked ourselves down on the edge of the lake with a TV shaded by a gazebo .. I must admit its probably up there with the best of them when it comes to locations for watchin football on TV. After we sat ate and drank a few beers before enjoying the evenings entertainment...Around 1am Lynda and I headed back... The 1-2 man tent of mine really isn't sufficient for 2 so Lynda decided to sleep in the car..Didn't hear Steve and Milian arriving back managing a decent  nights sleep.. Woke to a gorgeous morning, Steve was soon up..but Milian who must have been baking in his tent didn't budge till gone 1pm. We ate a late breakfast, packed tent, said our good-bye's
then headed through the valley for the 45km journey to the Campsite at Morel...stopping off at a market in Visp to buy food supplies. Pitched tent, it was such a wonderful late afternoon we had to have a little walk up the hill behind the site as the sun was going down behind the mountains, once back Lynda conjured up a lovely dinner, we ate sat on the grass listening to music and taking in the lovely air and our alpine surrounds..We finished eating and perfectly timed to see USA v Ghana World Cup match in HD at the site bar/restaurant, but as the game headed into extra time I really needed to get to sleep ready for my early start, again Lynda slept in the car.

Warming up 500m beyond the start line

Shortly after the start going through Bettmeralp

I didn't sleep well and lay awake long before the alarm went off, used the toilet before dismantling the tent.. Lynda woke we ate breakfast then drove to the Gondola Station, car park already busy bought our tickets and boarded for the short journey up to Bettmeralp..The Station you arrive at also doubles up as the registration/number pickup point..  once I'd done that plus another toilet visit we walk up through the village so I could show Lynda where to board Cable Car up to the finish (here had another toilet break).. Made a cock-up  here if I'd known just over the ridge from this Station the race came past at about the 5km point and Lynda could have seen me go by before making the journey up. Walked back down through village, beyond the finish line so I could do my stretches and warm up. Five minutes before the start I had to ask if I could jump the toilet queue which they kindly allowed me too. By the time I'd made my way through to vest numbers in my 108 region it was just seconds before the gun. Having run the race in 2008 I knew the slight rise up through the village would end after about 1km and then start rising steeply through the woods.. really hard to judge the pace.. didn't want to set off to fast but don't want to get stuck behind slower runners once the route skirts the mountain on single track.It all sorted

Just coming up the final 100metres

itself out over the steep sections so by the time the route levelled off for the rocky loop section around 11k I found myself alone the runners ahead out of sight and no one close behind. Things were going well just had to keep my concentration and as the route passed the Hotel at Riederfurka 2065 meters for the second time at 15km  caught the sight of a runner ahead of me at last... route kicks up severely here taking you up to the ridge above the Aletsch Glacier the effort took me past the guy ahead but once on the ridge at 16km 2200 metres my legs just wouldn't recover.. whether just fatigue or the altitude the run-able sections became painful.. runners started to pass me for the first time. By 19km I suddenly remembered how steep and difficult the final 2k were... impossible to run especially the way I felt..runners now walkers were coming past me in their droves as the route climbs from 2300 to 2650 metres ..I've never been so please to see the finish line... but even more so the refreshment tent, downed as much fluid as I possibly could after being handed my souvenir Rain Jacket.. Lynda managed to get up successfully and came running over to help me gather as much fruit before heading down to Bettmeralp in the Cable Car.. My finishing time of 2:09:01 was expectedly quicker than my previous effort in 2008 just because I'd trained harder this time... Disappointed at the way everything fell apart over the final 5km and secretly been hoping to finish nearer the 2 hour mark. At Bettmeralp we'd a 20 minute wait for the Gondola down, then a mad rush to get away as quick as possible..Car straight onto a waiting Train at the Kanderstag Tunnel..managed to get home in time to have a quick shower before heading for a packed outdoor Ice & Fire to see the miserable performance served up by England against Germany... Definitely not worth the dash back... been so much nicer a day staying up the Mountain.
In the evening checked website for results....


Aletsch Glacier Half-Marathon 
Men 50-54 (170)
1st Samuel Fao 1:54:23
11th Tony Greenwood - 2:09:01


Overall (1255 Men)
1st Cesar Costa 1:34:38
108th Tony Greenwood - 2:09:01

Amazingly the organisers gave me the number 108 thinking I would finish around that position...guess what!  I cant be to disappointed when I realise I finished ahead of 1147 Men ...and only 4 guys older than me finished ahead