LGT Alpin Halbmaraton +

Fifty | Garden | Liechtenstein | Ninety | Twenty-Five

11 June 2022

Tweet

Today I ran a halbmaraton "plus" through Liechtenstein. It was only the second time that I've been in the country and my first race. Like many of the races I've done in the Alps the past couple years there was a serious uphill component. The first 10K were flat and easy along the Rhine from Bendern to Vaduz. Immediately after the 10K finish line we headed up the mountain, passing the castle of the prince of this tiny monarchy and gaining roughly 100m of altitude for every kilometer through the 22nd. The hot sun made this climb a grueling affair, but we did get to alternate between farms and forest and there were plenty of water stops. Coming down into Steg the "last" 3 kilometers were a joy, both from the endorphins and the views. The website claimed the plus meant 25K, but hitting that mark at the Stausee we learned there was nearly another kilometer to the finish line uphill on the other side of the lake. This is not the first 25K I've signed up for that turned out to be longer though. Back in Tennessee I ran one that turned out to be 27 through the Cheatham wilderness, which the race organizer thought was a great joke. Today I put a swimsuit and towel in my dropbag to facilitate my recovery in the cold mountain waters and conveniently the finish was right next to a freezing cold creek. Gawd, it felt good! The I popped over to the Stübli, which had a special menu for the event, and enjoyed beer and schnitzel while I dried in the sun. One couldn't ask for a better Saturday.