Engadin Ski Marathon 2004. The worst weather we have had so far, it was foggy at the start. But it cleared up to be a decent day, though conditions were slow.

Sunday 14 March 2004 - 56 Marathonistas got themselves to the start of the race, and 56 of them finished. A truly amazing feat.

• Last year we reported our first Marathonista engagement: Dan Voss proposed to Jennifer Gilbert on the Julier Pass the day after completing the race. Well this year they were back - with little Rebecca, just a few weeks old. A Marathonista baby!
• There were a total of 11,582 finishers on the day, 9575 men (83%) and 2007 women (17%), slightly up on last year;
• It was a weird year, the conditions were good, but much slower than the last few years. The fastest man (Frenchman Christophe Perrillat) completed the course in a time of 1hr 32 mins 40.2 secs, not much different from the usual 1hr 28 minutes for the winner. But further down the field, times were between ten and twenty minutes slower than usual;
• The fastest woman (Julia Tchepalova) finished in a relatively sluggish 1 hr 37 mins 53.3 seconds;
• The Engadin Marathonistas recorded an average time in of 4hrs 37' 36".This is well down on the 4hrs 23' 40" for 2003 and 4hrs 34' 05" from 2002. Most of that was down to the course. Most returning Marathonistas recorded slight improvements over their times from previous years, but it was by no means easy;
• I was again fastest Marathonista (phew) in 2hrs 24' 25". Fastest woman, and establishing a new record for us, was experienced X-C skier Effie Anagnostopoulos, finishing in 2hrs 49' 32". She doesn't qualify for the rookie Hall of Fame, as she's done the race a few years ago, but an impressive race nevertheless;
• We recorded quite a few Hall of Fame performances. Most notable were Gretchen Maddox's rookie effort of 3hrs 29' 33", only ever beaten as a rookie by Jilly Curry (15-year veteran of the British Freestyle Ski Team) and Andrew Husband, whose 3 hr 7' 35" was also the second fastest male rookie time, beating mine from 2001, although still some way behind David Norris's amazing 2hrs 44' 22" last year;
• Guy Spier cut the most off his previous year's time, cutting over an hour from 5hrs 19' 9" to 4hrs 6' 54" by swapping his classic skis for skating skis;
• Special mention must go to Laura Miller, of New York, who had never put on skis of any sort before this trip, and still finished the course in a respectable 6hrs 15';
• Once again Maren, our coach earns total respect. 57th-placed woman, though this time in a slower time of 2hrs 03'mins 10.3 seconds. RESPECT!
• The 2004 crew ended up raising around £18,000 for various causes. Our two official charities, WellChild & St Marks received £1,598 and £1,040 respectively;