Race Report: Swiss City Half Marathon 2021

I'm back with another race report, this time from Switzerland. The race occurred on Halloween, about two weeks ago from the time of this post. Pesky exam week has kept me from editing the video until now!

For a quick overview of the series, please read the intro post.

Swiss City Half (and Let's Run Episode 5)

The video I'm sharing hardly does the magical fairytale scenery any justice, but it's my best shot. The weather on the day was perfect, so perfect that each step I took made me more upset; how could a single place be blessed with such an unbelievably splendid landscape?

The historic Swiss villages, the lake cradled by misty mountains on all sides, the beautiful fall colors, I felt lucky to see them and share the experience on video. It gave me the feeling of running through a work of art.

Race Experience

The race assigned each runner an exact start time, and everyone started individually, spaced by two seconds apart. Talk about Swiss punctuality! This was the first time I'd seen such a setup, and while it took away the collective energy of a mass start, at least we didn't have to battle a massive bottleneck out of the starting funnel.

I was coming off the Amsterdam half two weeks prior and a light (non-Covid) cold going into the race, so my expectation was simply to enjoy the experience and run as fast as comfortable. Despite the imposing peaks in the distance, the course itself was only hilly by Dutch standards. There were a few climbs but nothing that lasted for a long time. Later on, when a familiar tension in my hip flared up, I just slowed a little and let it settle down.

Crowds were very energetic through the towns, and spectators were very eager to cheer by name. It's always a motivation-booster to hear my own name being called out!

taken seconds before a 1:37:13 finish time!

Tip: the full marathon is just two laps of the half, so if you're here for the views, then you're not missing out on anything by doing the shorter distance!