Glacier 3000 race coming up

From the French Valais to the Swiss German region of the Alps a new adventure awaits. I will embark on a journey this weekend that will challenge me both mentally and physically. I will make my way across the Western Bernese alps of Switzerland ascending 2,000 meters while also crossing the Tsanfleuron glacier en-route for a finish line sitting at an altitude of 3,000 meters.

The course record is around 2 hours and 20 mins so you can imagine this 26 kilometer race will challenge your aerobic capacity to the max. Here is a photo of the glacier that will sit between me and finish in the last portion of the race:

 

Gear 

Due to the fact that we will run for such a long period of time on the glacier temperature control will be a concern. Good thing I have my Buff MXS Gloves and Buff Headwear to protect against UV rays and also to keep my head and ears nice and cozy as the temperatures drop near the peak of Scex Rouge. Gear becomes quite important in races like these where you gain so much elevation that you could experience warm conditions for nearly an hour and in the next hour you could be in freezing temperatures. I will also utilize the MIO Alpha to maintain a low heart rate early on in the race to preserve energy for the final steep approach to the 3,000 meter peak. Another important piece of equipment when racing high alpine are sunglasses. My Julbo "Stunt" sunglasses will help limit the possibility of snow blindness as the weather has predicted that we will run over snow/glacier for nearly 3 kilometers this year due to recent weather.

 

If you would like to follow the results and/or check out more information please visit the page: http://www.glacier3000.ch/en/Summer/

 

 



Race report #2 of the Euro season to follow soon...