Engadin Skimarathon

As of December 2012 the number of registrations has been consequently 8% above the registrations of the previous year. It seems that Dario Cologna and the Swiss cross country skiing national team made cross country skiing the new trend.

The marathon week started as usual with the women’s race on Sunday, 3^rd March 2013. The race day offered excellent conditions and sunny weather. 959 participants were registered, 16 % more registrations than 2012. The local athlete Ursina Badilatti won the race in 42.41,2. For the first time it was possible to start as a team of four. 19 teams have registered for the team category “Go 4 Frauenlauf”.

On Thursday the traditional Marathon-Village in St. Moritz opened its doors with lots of attractions. On Thursday evening Christian Wenk – paralyzed, doctor, pianist and hand-biker – impressed with his speech and by playing piano at the Sportsymposium. On Friday night the spectacular 33^rd night sprint took place across the Marathon-Village in St. Moritz.

Despite the weather forecast for Sunday, which was not very promising, the Marathon-Sunday started with a clear blue sky and temperatures below 0°C. The tracks were frozen which indicated perfect conditions for a fast race. As Maloja awakened, thousands of participants were ready for their race to Pontresina or S-chanf.

Cristian Zorzi (ITA) won the Helvetia-Sprint in St. Moritz. The field was compact all the way to lake Staz. There a group of 20 athletes, led by the French athlete Christophe Perrillat Collomb, who was able to distance themselves. Remo Fischer took over the lead shortly before Pontresina but had to pass it on to Christian Martinelli (ITA), Cristian Zorzi (ITA) and Jules Cuenot (SUI) in Samedan. However, Ivan Perrillat Boiteux (FRA) won the Craft-Sprint in La Punt. The Swiss athletes Toni Livers, Eligius Tambornino, Martin Jäger, Roman Furger and Remo Fischer had been part of the leading group throughout the whole race. Remo Fischer took over the leading position again until one kilometre before the finish line. A spectacular sprint decided the race and Pierre Guedon (FRA) won in a time of 1:28.19,6 followed by Cristian Zorzi (ITA) in 1:28.20,1 and Christophe Perrillat Collomb (FRA) in 1:28.20,6. Remo Fischer (SUI) on rank 4 achieved the best swiss result with 1:28.21,0.

Riita-Liisa Roponen (FIN) dominated the race on the women’s side and won in a time of 1:29.52,3. Never before has a woman been able to pass the finish line only one minute and 30 seconds behind the winning man. Riita-Liisa Roponen at the same time reached a new best time since the new race routing through the lake Staz. Second was Seraina Boner (SUI) with 1:32.04,3 and third Anouk Faivre Picon (FRA) with 1:32.24,3.

For the first time it was possible to participate in the Engadin Skimarathon as a team. 40 teams signed up for the project “Companies at the start”. A minimum of four working colleagues was requested to build a team. Two team members had to finish the marathon and two the half marathon. The two best rankings in the age categories per team were added up for the ranking. The team Kägi fret, a company located in Lichtensteig (SUI), won this category and became the first “Engadin Skimarathon Company Champion”. The project “school classes at the Start” was again a big success. 22 school classes (total 266 students) from all over Switzerland participated in this project.

The success of the 45^th Engadin Skimarathon is owed to the numerous volunteers as well as to the main sponsors Coop, Rivella and Helvetia and our co-sponsors, supporters and partners. Thanks to their commitment the event has been a great experience for all participants as well as the spectators.

Mark the 2^nd as well as the 9^th March, 2014 in your agenda. These are the dates for the 15^th women’s race and the 46^th Engadin Skimarathon / 7^th half marathon. The organisational committee is already looking forward to welcoming you to the Engadin again next year.