To the Top of Mount Crumpit

Okay, it was more like to the top of the mountain next to the Matterhorn, but it was probably a higher elevation than Mount Crumpit anyway. Fortunately, as predicted, Jordan didn't encounter any of these:

 

But sadly, we didn't get quite a full view of this either:

 

But, given that it was supposed to thunderstorm during the race, we're pretty pleased with the weather we had. Anyway, to stop beating around the bush, yesterday Jordan ran a marathon up to the base of the Matterhorn! What a crazy fool. Lol no seriously though, we knew it would be difficult, but it was beyond what either of us (particularly Jordan) could have anticipated. It was more like a half marathon followed by an insanely difficult 13.1 mile hike up two mountains.  Here is Jordan at the beginning of the race, before he realized all this:

Wearing the running tank he won 2 weeks ago at Chamonix.

We found each other after I missed the bus from the hotel (there wasn't another one coming until after the race started) and hitchhiked down the mountain with this awesome Swiss family. It was my first time hitchhiking! :)

Gray shirt, on the right, a few people back

You can see his smiley face in the left middle :)

I didn't see him during the race (with the timing of the train that went up the mountain, I wasn't ever able to see him, though I waited for an hour at one point-- our timing was off). But here are some photos from the train of the racers heading up to Zermatt.

The scenery was really breathtaking! Unfortunately, Jordan said later that he was trying so hard not to be sick/pass out, that it was really hard to enjoy the scenery.

To summarize the race, Jordan climbed approximately 6,000 feet in 3:49 (his PR for a marathon is 2:34, so that gives you an idea of how difficult the terrain was), with a finishing elevation of approximately 8,300 feet above sea level. Jordan said he felt like he was barely getting enough oxygen, and was doing everything he could not to pass out while running. He ended up placing 25th overall and 4th in his age group, and said he was actually really proud of himself for doing that well. We were both proud of him for finishing at all! To be frank, that race would be like some kind of crazy torture for someone like me-- you could get me to talk about anything. It was truly insane. 

Sadly, I was misinformed about the location of the finishline (language barriers, doh!) and so despite my best efforts, I ended up at the Ultra-marathon finish line instead of Jordan's finish line, and missed him end the race. I was pretty much well... angry. But at least I did get to see this sweet lady at the top:

 

 When I finally got the train back down and found Jordan again (after wandering around for an hour, shouting his name into the male shower/bathroom, and having the race announcer call him to the finish line to meet his wife....) we were able to at least get a picture of him by the finish line.

So, the day certainly didn't go quite as we anticipated, but it was a good race and we're so glad Jordan was able to have this awesome experience. If anybody wants to know the gory details, they can email him and get the full scoop ;).

And here's one of us in front a cloud-hewn Matterhorn: