Montafon Arlberg Marathon

On Saturday, June 29, '24 I stood at the start of the Montafon Arlberg Marathon with my brother Frenk. Frenk had already completed the marathon a few years earlier, in the opposite direction. I was familiar with the start and finish location, but I was especially looking forward to the unknown 42 km through the Europaschutzgebiet Verwall, with approximately 1700 meters of altitude over mostly unpaved förster paths and single tracks.

After a week of acclimatization with Ruth Ruckwied in her guest house 'Am Mühlrain' in beautiful Sankt Jakob am Arlberg, we were taken from the station in Sankt Anton by shuttle bus to the starting location in Silbertal at 6:00 am. After collecting our starting number and final preparation, we were released at 8:30 am. The Silbertal is located at an altitude of 880 m and is the longest side valley in the Montafon. The valley ends at the Silbertaler Winterjöchle at an altitude of almost 2000 m. This is also halfway through the race and the pass to the Schönverwall valley. In short, the first half of the marathon is almost constantly uphill, with an altitude difference of 1200 m. I therefore decided to take it easy and regularly replenish energy and fluids. I have consistently walked the steep parts, above 7 to 8% gradient, and used them to eat and drink. I ran on the weaker parts, checking the right intensity through my breathing and heart rate.

The Langer See and Patteriol in the background

After 3 hours I reached the Langer See and the Winterjöchle. I felt great and enjoyed the surroundings and the view of the 3056 m high Patteriol. The Langer See is a natural mountain lake at an altitude of 1950 m and is fed by various spring streams on the swampy slopes. At the start we were warned to stay on the trail because of the extremely wet conditions. The central Alps had also suffered from extreme snowfall in late winter and spring. The melting snow now created numerous passages of spring streams and an extra swampy swamp. The passage of the Langer See thus became a difficult passage with regularly wet feet despite an agile dance over the boulders and rocks.

Beyond the Winterjöchle, a long descent begins into the breathtaking Schönverwall. I had largely explored this part a few days ago on the e-MTB with Saskia. Then we enjoyed the view on the terrace at the Konstanzerhutte and a delicious Kaisersmarren, now I had to make do with some banana and water. The Hammer gels and the 4Gold sports drink were killing me by now. My race plan to take the first half moderately now started to pay off, because unlike the UTMB Eiger Northfacetrail in 2023, I was able to continue running downhill.

Running is perhaps the most underestimated part of trail riding in the mountains. In the Schönverwall I was successively met by Saskia, by Jacques and at the Wagnerhutte by Aggie. And with every meter I descended I felt the heat increasing and the flexibility in my legs decreasing inversely proportional. Once in the forests of the Moosbachtal, the heat began to take its toll. Here followed a few more tricky climbs, but braking on the very steep descents in particular required a lot of the legs.

Saskia waited for me a few more times, but in the meantime I could no longer say anything sensible. Although I was able to keep running, that was all. The last 2 km were fairly flat by Alpine standards. But even the smallest increase now felt like a climb. The finish line was in the Dorfstrasse in Sankt Anton, and after 5:58:31 I crossed the finish arch of the Montafon Arlberg Marathon, tired but satisfied.

Frenk also completed his second Montafon marathon and together we enjoyed some time that afternoon in Sankt Anton before Saskia and I drove back to our beautiful South Limburg on Sunday. Another experience and adventure richer!