Jon Ellis finished fourth in the gruelling Swissalpine Marathon 78K race on Saturday, in a time of 6:47:50.
Jon has already tasted success in ultra races here in the UK, winning both the South Downs Way 50 and the North Downs Way 50 earlier this year, but it was his first Alpine ultra.
He was delighted with how the race went, in particular his decision to hold back in the early stages, as he explains: “The course follows the valley floor for the first couple of hours, descending around 500m in the process, and the temptation was to go off quickly. I chose to run very conservatively and it really paid dividends later on when we hit the mountains”.
In retrospect, he felt he should have incorporated more steep hill training to be able to compete with the very best, but on balance said: “I couldn’t be happier with my first Alpine ultra. It’s a beautiful route and a superbly organised event. I definitely hope to be back next year, and I’ll be looking to make it onto the podium next time!”
Tempted? You can find out more here about this race and others in the programme.
Full results of Jon’s race here.