Successful debut for SCOTT at the 11th Zermatt Marathon
10 July 2012
Successful debut for SCOTT at the 11th Zermatt Marathon
Last weekend around 1,000 runners lined up at the start of the 2012 Zermatt Marathon aiming to conquer the 1,900 metres of ascent required to complete the course. Now in its 11th year, the route passes through stunning mountain terrain in the shadow of the mighty Matterhorn. The race set off from St. Niklaus, at an altitude of 1,116 metres in Switzerland’s lowest valley. From there, they ran towards Zermatt, continuing on to the finish at the Riffelberg at an altitude of 2,858m.
More than 900 finishers reached the Riffelberg at the Gornergrat, running either as individuals or as part of a relay team. The race was won by Michieka Paul Maticha of Kenya in the impressive time of 2:59.54, a comfortable distance ahead of his nearest competitors, Patrick Wieser (2nd in 3:07.58) and Jean-Christophe Dupont (3rd in 3:11.36). The women’s race was won by Daniela Gassman-Bahr of Switzerland in a time of 3:29:13.
SCOTT were delighted to be involved in their 1st year as the 2012 Zermatt Marathon’s main sponsor. Athletes and supporters alike were able to benefit from expert advice about SCOTT’s current range of running footwear and apparel from stands set up at three “hotspots” at the venue. Athletes were able to buy a SCOTT limited edition technical Zermatt Marathon top as a memento of their participation in the event.
In addition to the success as main sponsor, the Zermatt Marathon was very successful for SCOTT athletes. Team SCOTT member Gerd Frick from South Tyrol (ITA) finished in 4th place in a time of 3:13:19, an improvement of 4 places on his position last year. His SCOTT teammate, Adam Kovacs (HUN) achieved a great result by finishing in 5th place in a time of 3:21:40. Kovacs is one of Team SCOTT`s promising young athletes who finished an excellent 2nd place at the LGT Alpine Marathon a few weeks ago in Liechtenstein which was won by Patrick Wieser. Adam’s next challenge will be the Orienteering World Championships in Lausanne from 14th-16th July. Local hero Martin Schmid from Zermatt finished in the top 10. Like SCOTT athlete, Gerd Frick, this is his 4th top 10 finish at this event wearing the SCOTT T2C running shoe.
We congratulate all participants and our SCOTT athletes for their outstanding performance and wish Adam every success for his next race at the World Orienteering Championships in Lausanne next weekend.
Impressions and photos of the 11th Zermatt marathon:
Further information and results: