 |
Details on the distances and very importantly the
changes of altitude. The distances doesn't say anything about the courses
which were often pretty rough. Among those who managed to finish we didn't
finish top but were very satisfied with our performance. |
 |
Gigathlon Camp in Locarno |
 |
Athletes' information on Friday night |
 |
Swim start for Barbara who is a great swimmer |
 |
I took over from Barbara for Inline Skating with
underground surprises (cobble stone) which were in fact easy to manage. |
 |
I (background) arrive in the changing zone in
Cevio |
 |
The changing zone in Cevio where I changed from
Inline to Mountainbiking |
 |
The final bikeable curves on the way to Passo
Narčt. I had never done before a 2,100m climb by Mountainbike (the highest
so far had been 1,400m) |
 |
The final assault to the Passo |
 |
20 steps to the Passo to go |
 |
Here we are! |
 |
There was hope that we could ride down |
 |
This hope - as many hopes - was wrong. We had to
drag/carry the bike down for the first 600m of altitude (about 1.5 hours). |
 |
Many people sprained their ankle or worse.
Some people had to been flown out by helicopter. |
 |
At least some flat stretch (however, the boards
across the creek were very shaky to walk on) |
 |
I (background) arrive in the changing zone in
Airolo to hand over to Barbara for Cycling |
 |
Impressions from the cycling leg. It was pouring
rain across all three passes. Many people gave up. Barbara made it through
which is fantastic, even more so as she had very little experience in long
distance, alpine Cycling. |
 |
Keeping warm while waiting to take over from
Barbara for the running leg |
 |
Food/drink station on the running course |
 |
The running course before it went steep and
off-road. By the time I came through here, it was already pitch-black. We
had to cross a ravine and some of the downhills were so steep and slippery I
couldn't even stand without sliding. The picture is taken at about kilometer
10. I ran the first 10K in 50 Minutes but then things slowed down
significantly due to the course. |
 |
Arriving in the finish on Saturday (or rather
1:30AM on Sunday) |
 |
The camp in Lucerne (long before everybody had
arrived) |
 |
Swimming on Sunday for Barbara |
 |
Entry to the changing zone in Sursee |
 |
The changing zone where I handed from
Inline to Barbara for Cycling |
 |
Barbara ready to take over for Cycling |
 |
After the Cycling it was my turn again for
Mountainbiking. The mountainbiking path on Sunday had fewer rocks but
definitely more mud. Sometimes things went out of control. I saw people
sliding down trails sideways. |
 |
I arrive in Laufen to change to Running |
 |
Runners leaving Laufen for the final run to
Basel. On the first 5K had huge problems, as I had not drank enough during
the Mountainbiking. I also hadn't eaten properly for a while. Only after the
race I learned that also the top athletes did only eat liquid food. At the
first food/water station on the Run I drank 1.4 litres, ate a full Banana
and a energy bar. After that I felt much better. |
 |
The finish line in Basel |
 |
The Singles' winner arriving in Basel |
 |
Barbara and I after 31 hours, 38 minutes and 40
Seconds on the course, some 5.5 hours of sleep in 48 hours, 394K of distance
and 8,210m of change of altitude (up only) |
 |
The award party |