Marathonistas before the start at Maloja, 10 March 2002. From left: Tarquin Cooper, Jeremy Levy, Peter Benn, YGS, Phil Nettleton, Marc Gordon, Sherry Coutu, Toby Strauss.

Striking out on our own, we chose the Hotel Sport in Pontresina. It turned out to be a great choice.

• Our group comprised of 26 adults and 6 kids;
• Of the 21 of us who raced (up from 5 the year before), 9 of us skated, the rest did classic technique;
• All who started completed the course;
• Our fastest time was 2 hrs 36 mins (the race winner did it in 1hour and 30 minutes, but he's some kind of monster);
• Our slowest time was 8 hours; our average was 4 hours and 32 minutes;
• Our fastest woman finished in 3 hours 37 minutes (the women's race winner finished in 1 hour 35 minutes but she's some kind of monster too);
• We raised more than £19k for various charities including around £10k for Children Nationwide;
• Marc Gordon was lightly injured when he was knocked over by a deer;
• We stayed in a really nice hotel and, most importantly, every single participant said they would like to repeat the experience!