Topic - Races: Engadin Ski
Marathon
Date first posted on eCommunity - 8
March 2008
This weekend sees the running of the Engadin Ski
Marathon,
Switzerland's representative event in the Worldloppet series of
cross-country ski marathons. It is one of the world's biggest races.
Between 08.40 and 09.20 on Sunday, 9 March, almost 11,000 racers
will leave the start-line at Maloja and head off in four waves for
the finish point in S-chanf, 42 kilometres away at the other end of
the Upper Engadin valley.
The ESM is run in free technique and the winner should finish in
about ninety minutes. Slower competitors will have 6 hours and 40
minutes to get to S-chanf before the course is closed. Some of them
will need all that time, especially those hampered by fancy dress -
the gorillas, the cows and the ostriches, the clowns and the Vikings
and the troupe of kilted Highlanders (the latter being the
remarkable "Flying Scotsmans" who hail, remarkably, from Basel).
This year's racers can expect good conditions. The Worldloppet's
website displays this summary: 30 to 40 cm of compact snow; air
temperature on race location: - 7 degrees C Minimum, 6 degrees C Maximum; weather:
Sunshine. For more details, go to www.worldloppet.com.
Of the 11,000 entrants, 93 are from the UK. The ESM always attracts
a sizeable British contingent. Partly this is because some people do
the race every year and regard it as a chance for a reunion with old
friends. But it is also because the event is one of the more
accessible Worldloppet marathons and is a popular choice for
newcomers to racing. At 42 kilometres it is shorter than many other
races, but still long enough to present a very worthwhile challenge.
Technically, the course is relatively easy, with long sections
across frozen lakes or over terrain that is either flat or gently
descending; yet there are also some seriously tricky sections (the
climb and then the descent near St Moritz) that are guaranteed to
produce a string of memorable tales. And although it is a free
technique event and most competitors will skate, classic skiers are
well catered for, with long stretches of classic track that are
segregated from the skating tracks. (In some other events the
skaters are allowed on to the classic tracks and quickly waste them.)
This year is the 40th anniversary of the ESM. The first race, in
1969, was a relatively low-key event by modern standards. Just 945
skiers started.
Over the years the one-day event has gradually broadened into
the "Engadin Week". The Week begins on the Sunday before the main
race, with the running of the Frauenlauf, a "Ladies' Race" that
starts in Samedan and ends in S-chanf. The Frauenlauf was
inaugurated in 2000 and usually it attracts about 1,000 entrants.
New for this year is a half marathon, run at the same time as the
full marathon and with the same starting point in Maloja, but with a
finish near Pontresina.
Other events, according to the Worldloppet's website, include "The
sports medicine symposium with famous guest speakers, the
anniversary exhibition in the MARATHON-village, the night sprint
races in Sils for elite skiers, the Marathon religious service and
the big Marathon party after the race."
For more details of the week's programme, and of the race itself, go
to www.engadin-skimarathon.ch. It has an English version, reachable
by clicking on a very subtly marked letter "E" that appears near the
top of the homepage.
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