The Jungfrau Marathon is one of the best known mountain

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

s in the world, in full view of the famous

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends ...

Mönch The Mönch (, German: "monk") at is a mountain in the Bernese Alps, in Switzerland. Together with the Eiger and the Jungfrau, it forms a highly recognisable group of mountains, visible from far away. The Mönch lies on the border between the ...

, and

Jungfrau The Jungfrau (, , , "maiden, virgin"), at is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönc ...

mountains in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland (; ; ), sometimes also known as the Bernese Highlands, is the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern. It is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context it is referred to as ''Oberland'' witho ...

area of the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

. The first Jungfrau Marathon was held in 1993. Approximately 3,500 runners from 35 different nations participate. The Jungfrau Marathon takes place each year in September. The 2007 edition of the competition incorporated the

World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge The World Long Distance Mountain Running Championships (from 2004 up to 2014 the name was World Long Distance Mountain Running Challenge), is an annual international mountain running competition organised by the World Mountain Running Association ...

and attracted 4200 participants from 50 countries.

The course

The course starts in

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss ...

and climbs 6,407 feet (1,953 m) in elevation to the finish at the

Eigergletscher The Eiger Glacier () is a glacier situated on the north-west side of the Eiger in the Bernese Alps of Switzerland, within the municipality of Lauterbrunnen in the canton of Bern. It extends from a height of above sea level behind the Little Ei ...

. It used to finish at

Kleine Scheidegg The Kleine Scheidegg () is a mountain pass at an elevation of , situated below and between the Eiger and Lauberhorn peaks in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. The name means "minor watershed", as it only divides the two arms of the L ...

. The first 10 km of the course are flat. The race begins in central Interlaken and circles around the town centre before moving east to

Bönigen Bönigen is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Switzerland, Swiss canton of Bern. It lies on the shore of Lake Brienz ...

, where runners briefly run along the shore of

Lake Brienz Lake Brienz () is a lake just north of the Alps, in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It has a length of about , a width of and a maximum depth of . Its area is ; the surface is above the sea-level. It is fed, among others, by the upper reaches ...

. The race proceeds southwards to

Wilderswil Wilderswil is a village and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerla ...

at the 10 km mark. From there the course heads upward through Zweilütschinen (at 15 km) to

Lauterbrunnen Lauterbrunnen () is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Swi ...

(at 20 km). The course loops for 5 km south of the town before returning to Lauterbrunnen and then heading eastward up the alpside. It is at this point that the race is steepest, zigzagging up the hillside and climbing 450 m in the 5 km to

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells t ...

. The course heads southeast and relentlessly upward over the

Wengernalp The Wengernalp is an alpine meadow at an elevation of 1874 m, above Wengen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. It lies on the southern slopes of the Lauberhorn, just below Kleine Scheidegg, a mountain pass connecting the valleys of Lauterbrunn ...

, turning east and then northeast beneath the Eiger toward the finish. It finishes at Eigerletscher at an altitude of 2,320 m. Shortly before leaving the moraine and turning towards the final ascent, the runners are traditionally greeted by a bagpipe player.

Past winners

Key:

References

External links

*
Official Jungfrau-Marathon-Homepage

{{Authority control Mountain marathons Recurring sporting events established in 1993 Marathons in Switzerland Interlaken Autumn in Switzerland