Engadin Marathonistory - 2003
Engadin Marathonistas in front of the Hotel Sport, Pontresina. Do we look excited? No, of course not, it's 6.30am on race day, 9 March 2003!
Engadin Marathonistas in front of the Hotel Sport, Pontresina. Do we look excited? No, of course not, it's 6.30am on race day, 9 March 2003!

2003 - the year the Marathonistas started to feel like it was becoming a bit of an institution...

  • 45 of us gathered in Pontresina; 36 "Marathonistas" started the race, and all 36 finished it.
  • We raised over £23,000 for various charities.
  • Our first Marathonista engagement! Jennifer Gilbert and Dan Voss - got engaged after completing the race! Dan skied with the ring in his pocket, intending to propose right after the finish. Apparently he even has bruises to show where he fell on it! Anyway, they got separated at the finish, so the big moment had to wait - until they were at the top of the Julier pass on the way back to Zurich.
  • There were a total of 11,170 finishers on the day, 9263 men (83%) and 1907 women (17%), slightly up on last year. The fastest man ( 31-year-old Patrick Mächler for those who care about these things) completed the course in a time of 1hr 28mins 0.9 secs. The fastest woman (32-year-old Natascia Leonardi Cortesi) finished in 1 hr 32 mins 21.6 seconds.
  • Sadly we had lost 10 racers at a very late stage in the preparations, for reasons which included pressure of work, pregnancy (2), a broken finger, an unexpected dislike of cross-country skiing, and fear of terrorism (in Switzerland!?)
  • The Engadin Marathonistas recorded an average time in 2003 of 4hrs 23' 40". This compares with the 2002 average of 4hrs 34' 05". We were evenly split between 18 skaters and 18 classic skiers. The skaters recorded an average time of 3hrs 43' 32"; for the classic skiers it was a somewhat more sturdy 5hrs 3' 48".
  • I was fastest Marathonista (phew!) in 2hrs 27' 36". Fastest Newbie, David Norris, crossed the line in 2hrs 44' 22".
  • Karen Liebreich won the award for Best Acceleration, cutting a huge 1hr 2' 3" off her 2002 time by switching from classic to skating.
  • Steady Eddie prize went to Peter Hornick, for coming home in under 8 hours with a huge smile on his face.
  • Astrid Oyehaug was Fastest Classicker, followed closely by husband Oystein, then Elin Anundskaas and Katherine Henderson.
  • Fastest Classic Newbie award goes to Rikki Tahta for an impressive 4hr 21' 50" dash to the line.
  • Special mention for Coolness Under Fire went to Francesca Ecsery-Merrens, who was aiming for the 6-hour mark and finished in 5hrs 58' 56".
  • Our coach Maren is a total stud. She completed the course as 64th-placed woman in 1hr 54mins 36.6 seconds. RESPECT!
  • The 2003 crew ended up raising a fabulous £23,230, of which about £8,000 went to Children Nationwide, the rest to other causes.