Roman Furger from Uri has won the 48th Engadin Ski Marathon. After a thrilling race, he narrowly beat the two people from Davos, Toni Livers and Joeri Kindschi. Last year's French winner Anouk Faivre Picon achieved her third women's victory. She won ahead of Seraina Boner from Davos and Czech Klara Moravcova. Furger and Faivre Picon had already been together at the top of the podium of the Engadin Ski Marathon in 2012.
Excellent snow conditions, but headwinds and a tactical race course characterized the 48th Engadin Ski Marathon. A top group of around 50 men dominated the race with all the favorites for over 40 kilometers. The strong French team in particular did a lot of management work; the favorites from a Swiss perspective held back until they took heart at Zuoz, a good two kilometers from the finish line.
In the final spurt, Roman Furger from Schattdorf (UR) prevailed against Toni Livers and Joeri Kindschi from Davos. 13 runners finished in the first 10 seconds, with Candide Pralong (6th), another Swiss made it into the top ten.
Winner Roman Furger attributed the fact that the final time of 1:48:08 was higher than expected in particular to the wind. Dario Cologna ran a smart race; he usually stayed in the top twenty. In the end, however, the most-named favorite lacked the necessary competition luck: He had worked his way up to third place in order to get to the finish stadium, but broke a stick at the second-last bend.
“I heard a stick break and then a few unpleasant words from Dario,” said winner Roman Furger at the finish line and regretted his competitor's bad luck. “I would have loved to go into the final spurt with Dario. That would have remained exciting right up to the finish line.” Cologna had to bury his ambitions for a third victory at the Engadin Ski Marathon; he finished 25th
Anouk Faivre Picon for the third time
Anouk Faivre Picon was able to achieve her third victory: “That was my hardest Engadin so far,” said the Frenchwoman at the finish line. “The north wind was bothering everyone and you always had to be careful that you could stay in the wake of a group.” With her winning time of 1:54:07, Faivre Picon beat Davos Seraina Boner by 14 seconds.
Boner had led for a long time, but then, like Cologna, was very unlucky: Handicapped by a runner, she crashed downhill in front of the finish stadium. Faivre Picon and Boner had clearly dominated the women's race: third-placed Czech Klara Moravcova was 2:19 behind the winner.
With Heidi Widmer, Rahel Imoberdorf and the winner of last Sunday's women's run, Bettina Gruber, three other Swiss women placed in the top ten.
The men's half marathon was won by only sixteen-year-old Yanik Pauchard from Madulain in a time of 55:20 ahead of Alex Stirnemann from Wohlen (AG) and the German Tobias Alraun. For women, Norwegian Anita Moen won the race up to Pontresina. After 1:01:12 she moved Anja Lozza from Zuoz and Selina Schnider from Davos to the places.
Apart from the north wind, the external conditions were almost optimal. Slightly overcast skies and temperatures just below freezing point ensured a stable surface even for the rear categories. At 13,093, the number of registered people exceeded 13,000 for the third time in a row.
This is a very good sign for OC President Ivo Damaso: “It was a difficult winter with little snow for the entire Alpine region. The fact that we were once again able to keep registrations at this high level is a big compliment to everyone involved and especially to our many hundreds of volunteers.”
gartmann.biz has been responsible for the media operations of the Engadin Ski Marathon since 2014. Christian Gartmann is media manager for the event.