Consistency of behavior with the presented vision is one of the most important factors in business. It is not well perceived by the public and legislators, when a company says that it does not advertise its products among minors while sponsoring the concert, of which the audience is mostly teenagers. But that’s another story. I decided to show that in the real world I’m consistent with what I write on the blog and I took part in the mountain run aptly named “Swiss Irontrail”, and whose main sponsor was the company… Mammut.

This time I went to the east where, as Jerzy Stuhr stated in the movie “Sexmission”, “must be some kind of civilization”. He meant of course The Soviet Union. I landed on the eastern edge of Switzerland, in the Canton of Grisons, in Davos, which hosts the annual World Economic Forum. However, with reference to the aforementioned Soviet Union, I have to add, that a frequent visitor to this resort is a former member of the Polish United Workers’ Party (PZPR) and minister in the socialist government, Aleksander Kwasniewski. This behavior did not have consistency at all – eulogist and activist of socialism fell in love with one of the most luxurious resorts in the world (the symbol of rotten capitalism).

Well, we are chit-chatting here but there is a time to start having fun.

From the old and pleasantly situated village of Mayenfeld, a footpath winds through green and shady meadows to the foot of the mountains, which on this side look down from their stern and lofty heights upon the valley below. The land grows gradually wilder as the path ascends, and the climber has not gone far before he begins to inhale the fragrance of the short grass and sturdy mountain-plants, for the way is steep and leads directly up to the summits above.
/Johanna Spyri, Heidi/

Start for the 42.7 kilometers had its beginning in Lenzerheide at an altitude of about 1500 m above sea level. Firstly, 4 kilometers warm-up around the lake Heidsee and then sharply up to 2000 m. After about 15 kilometers, at an altitude of over 2500 meters there was first regeneration point in the cable car station. Then calmly down by the broad road, which in winter is the ski slope and re-climbing to the highest point of the trail, which was Weisshorn peak with the height of 2653 m above sea level.

Almost at the end of the climb, when I ran from behind the rocks, I saw a tall man in a black coat standing close to my path. When I ran closer, I saw that he has leaned on the valyrian steel sword – then I recognised him. Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, pointed with a blade to the summit, said, “winter is coming,” and vanished in the first flakes of snow. With this warning obtained in the last minute, I quickly put on the hood of my green Mammut DRYTECH Premium jacket and with confidence came to the top.

There was a snowstorm raging there. Thick snowflakes were whirling in a mad dance and coated the glasses, the wind howled like a bunshee and on the limit of visibility, mysterious characters with blue eyes were running around. Fortunately, the storm did not last longer than 10 minutes, and after a moment beautiful sun looked out from beyond the clouds. I run down in the sunrays through the Rainbow Bridge to Arosa.

There, in the atomic shelter I ate pasta with bolognese sauce and drank Coca-Cola. After about 20 minutes I moved on. Initially down, which did not bother so much to digest, and then up through alpine meadows where alpine cows grazed.

Fatigue gave itself felt. I knew that for the next course I will take poles which relieve foot and help climbing. Also, in terms of fluid intake, I had  bottles with water in my backpack, which turned out not to be very convenient, because each time I had to pull off the backpack, draw the bottle, unscrew and drink. So another learning resulting from the practice – for next time – backpack with water tank and tube. Meanwhile, it was necessary to support differently to run further forward, gain new meters and kilometers. It reminded me then very instructive joke, just in a topic of gaining kilometers:

Young camel asks his dad:
– Daddy, why gazelles have such beautiful and graceful hoofs, and we have such a big splayed hooves?
– You see my son, our hooves are adapted to to go thousands of kilometers through the desert, shuffle step by step, constantly forward and not sink into the sand.
– Aha. And why antelopes have such a smooth and shiny coat, and we have awful hanging lints?
– You see my son, our skin is adapted to to go thousands of kilometers through the desert, still forward, where during the day is extremely hot and at  the night the temperature drops below zero.
– Aha. And why zebras have such a beautiful and graceful line back, and we have such terrible humps?
– You see my son, our humps are necessary for this to go thousands of kilometers through the desert, still ahead, and when other animals have to die of hunger, we can go further by taking food from our humps.
– Aha. But why do we need it all, as we though live in the zoo?

The last, short stop was in Jatz, after 35 kilometers, at the height of 1831 m above sea level and then 500 meters up on a distance of 2 km. After reaching the Strelapass, where there was a checkpoint, it has been only the long descent to Davos.

In Davos, at the finish line my family was waiting for me and also the remnants of fans who were still not bored, despite the fact that they were greeting the winners of the trail more than five hours earlier. At the end of the run through Grisons could not miss Heidi, the honorary resident of the canton.

Heidi ran to the far edge of the slope and continued to wave her hand to Clara until the last glimpse of horse and rider had disappeared.
/Johanna Spyri, Heidi/