Swiss Alpine Marathon Davos – Course amendments and new start times – The Swissalpine on 30 July in Davos has many changes in store. Jonas Buud, the Swedish athlete, leads the pack on the 78-kilometre supreme-category distance. By Anita Fuchs

"Back to the roots" – is the slogan adopted by the organisers of the Swissalpine for their upcoming 26th race. As such, the K78, which starts and ends in Davos, and the K42 (Bergün to Davos) will as a one-off lead past the Keschhütte (2,632 m above sea level) and the Sertig Pass (2,739 m above sea level), which was the culmination of the longest distance race until 13 years ago.

"We are convinced that these variations will offer participants a unique experience," commented Andrea Tuffli, Organising Committee President and founding father of the marathon.

The first section of the course with 2,370 metres both uphill and downhill is also being modified. As previously, it will lead past the Lengmatte instead of the Junkerboden, where bottlenecks and congestion have repeatedly been an obstacle to the running. Runners in the C42 and K30, who will be sent off on the course along with entrants in the K78 at 7.00 hours, will also be affected by this correction. This is because the extended time slot introduced last year was well received by the slower runners, as they again had 14 hours to complete the main distance. This also means that the target finish time will be pushed back to 21.00 hours.

Top cross-country skiers compete in K21

There will also be a change to the start time of the K42. Given the steady increase in entrants, the field will be split into two blocks (starting at 10.30 and 11.30 hours). A further modification will affect the K21 (Klosters to Davos) in which there will be only one starting field (at 14.00 hours), due to the current number of participants and because a bottleneck has been removed with the new route. The classic half-marathon and the WALK will start as usual on the spectacular Sunniberg Bridge, but will now go via Klosters Platz. There can be no doubt that local top cross-country skier Seraina Boner will be especially motivated by this. She has already stood on the Swissalpine winners' podium many times, along with her friend, Toni Livers, who is also one of the favourites for the K21.

The leading runners in the K78, who will be led by four-time winner Jonas Buud from Sweden, will also be worth looking out for. His strongest competition currently comes from Johan Oosthuizen, South Africa, who came fourth in 2010, as well as Christophe Jaquerod (third place in 2005) and Bruno Heuberger (fifth in 2010). The situation at the start is wide open for the women. Last year's winner, Jasmin Nunige, who also triumphed in the Swissalpine in 2005 and 2008, will decide at short notice whether or not she will be running. The Davos resident announced in spring that she had health problems (she was tragically diagnosed with multiple sclerosis) and has been taking each day as it comes ever since. Certainly taking part will be Elizabeth "Lizzy" Hawker, whose course record of 6:30:12 hours, which she set in 2006, still stands.

Highly varied supporting programme

The top runners and all the other 5,000 athletes expected from 50 countries will guarantee that the Swissalpine is a very special experience – whichever of the eight distances you choose. But there will be plenty going on in the week leading up to the race. This is thanks to the Highseven, which is the name given to the very varied and predominantly free supporting programme. On offer are, amongst other things, course inspections, a PostBus excursion into the Viamala gorge, a seminar on the Basics for the Swissalpine, a guided tour of the Kirchner Museum and the Swissalpine Expo with a Medical Parc. This means that not only sports enthusiasts but also those interested in cultural and health-related matters will be getting their money's worth with the Swissalpine.

More Information: www.swissalpine.ch