![elzapersebouncingdothope24](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1PlmV5ratp54G9HDIq66s9/5b2e22d6bdf63a40d8364023102df793/image.png)

It is often said that the strongest and most resilient riders are the ones who are at the back of the field. Lisa's determination to finish this ride has been nothing short of inspirational. Her attitude to never give up means that she can join the other 43 riders who have finished, rather than the 50 that scratched. Whilst technically out of the time limit, she is also the third woman to finish and on the podium.

![elzafinishhope2024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3HU0RduAwq332p5bCjezfj/512aeccdf973216826e35919985e1c5b/image.png)

It has been quite the journey to follow and I really hope that she will add her Instagram stories as a highlight so that others can look back and take motivation from her retelling of the ups and downs of the route and of the ride.

You can follow her on Instagram [here](https://www.instagram.com/elza_per_se/).

Chapeau Lisa and massive kudos for finishing what you started, despite the challenges!

Thanks for following our commentary of the Hope 1000 - it has been enjoyable and inspiring to follow!

See you on the road,

Steve


The End

And then there were thirteen... after a full week on the route we have had numerous more finishers today but also, perhaps inevitably, more scratches. In particular I'm afraid our lanterne rouge pair of Scott and Mary Sebring have now scratched. This leaves Lisa Pfeiffer as our last rider on the route. More on Lisa later!

In particular, today we saw our second place woman arrive at the finish. Anke Warlich finshed this morning having taken almost exactly 7 days to reach the finish line, a great ride! As I said before, she is classified on the tracker individually and so takes 2nd place although she has been riding as a pair with partner Tobias.

![anketobiasfinishhope2024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3NH3iNP2wRYBW6jpeAtwgd/96fb4c94c2cf8fca83cfad6c785028ca/image.png)
> 📸 Hope 1000 blog

Followers of ultra-distance racing will be familiar with the theory that the ultimate wet-weather glove is in fact 'Marigold' washing-up gloves! It turns out this is not just a British thing as Sebastian Neill shows!

![sebneillmarigoldshope2024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4gQe5P4zFTMgwRMb7g4D9f/76d568746938bda60388292352b6dadd/image.png)
> 📸 Hope 1000 blog

As I mentioned earlier, Lisa (aka. Elza) is now our last rider. I have mentioned a few times that her Instagram Stories are quite a fascinating and inspiring insight into the life on the trail of an ultra racer. It's incredible to see the mental strength that she keeps on going despite setbacks and emotional lows that would see many other people scratch from the race long ago.

Whilst her pace is now quite slow the past two days, I really hope that she is able to finish the race as it would be an amazing testament to how mental strength can triumph over difficult situations. Not only that, but she is now guaranteed a place on the women's podium if she finishes!

![elzapersebookreadhope2024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/62HlVHwx2IF8QM23N3BLK/efdedf2f1862108236f431563efd70b7/image.png)
> 📸 @elza_per_se

The official rules of the Hope 1000 event show that any finisher arriving in Montreux within 14 days of the start will be considered an official finisher. That gives another whole week for determined riders to finish. However, one week since the start, I'm afraid my updates will become less frequent from now. I hope to keep giving you updates until all riders are fully accounted for but it is not likely to be daily - more on-demand.

Thanks for following so far and please do check back soon!

Day Eight

So, here we are, just a little short of a week since the start! We already have 26 finishers who have completed the route and arrived in Montreux and a further 47 riders who have scratched from the event. That leaves 21 riders out on the trail after 7 days of riding, still pushing to finish.

Many ultra-racers will tell you that in many ways it is these riders towards the back of the pack who are actually the strongest, most resilient. It takes a lot of strength to keep going for this long, despite many others around you finishing or abandoning the event. They endure many more days on the road than those at the front and with the Swiss weather being what it is, that can be very hard going. It seems like today has been a very wet and rainy day for the riders still out there, a big contrast to the sunny and hot weather earlier in the week.

I've already highlighted Lisa (Elza) and her Instagram Stories this week, and today she continues to document how she continues to ride despite setbacks and frustrations. It is quite inspiring to see how she refuses to give up. Today she passed the halfway point and continues to ride the second half of the route!

![elzapersehalfwayhope2024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6VmOQPiDu2RRoK5Lf1OFm6/3b91aa93aefe849018d97eaa16024e42/image.png)
> 📸 @elza_per_se

Also still on the road are our lanterne rouge couple, Scott and Mary Sebring. They are not quite yet halfway but continue to ride steadily each day. It hope that they are enjoying the ride and will manage to get to Montreux safely, at their own pace!

Sadly, today our only registered pair also scratched - Jeannette and Rene Gamma. Whilst a few other riders are travelling as pairs (e.g. Scott and Mary, Anke and Tobias), only Jeannette and Rene are registered in the pairs category. I don't know whether these will qualify as the fastest pairs or not, but from the tracker perspective there appears to be no winner in that category now.

Also today I heard from Nathalie - she explained that she celebrated her win with a bottle of Schnapps which she had carried with her right from the start! A well deserved reward for her ride!

As the riders feel more and more fatigue we continue to wish them a safe ride and that they will be reach the finish soon!

Back tomorrow for more!

Day Seven

A late and short update tonight, as I'm actually out for a summer solstice bivvy under the stars myself! I feel like I can better identify with our riders here too!

The big news of today is the announcement from the organiser that Nathalie's time is confirmed but that both FKTs will stand due to the route variation. Their statement below:

> First of all, congratulations to Nathalie on her amazing ride. BRAVO.
> She reached the finish line in Montreux at Freddie Mercury yesterday afternoon at 4:05 p.m. This means she has a net ride time of 4 days, 9 hours and 37 minutes. Nathalie has thus beaten the previous record set by Lael Wilcox in 2018 of 4 days, 10 hours and 13 minutes by 36 minutes.
> This year, however, the route was around 5 km shorter due to a diversion - shortcut due to the snow conditions in the Lenk area.
> We will therefore list both women as record holders on the two different length routes until further notice.

I also finally got a picture of Nathalie at the finish!

![IMG 4678](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7LedMFvLQ2HeAMg9HS80ST/11551b447063986de8cfe0dd4dda7c45/IMG_4678.jpeg)
> 📸 Hope 1000 blog

Otherwise today has been another day of riding for most and finishing for some! The weather continues to be warm but with storms over some passes.

![IMG 4677](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1Z4hNVe3rPkKBsodgABIrK/4f9ce84b24c2608f64a91137af0213a8/IMG_4677.png)
> Martin Gautschi, Fabian Burri and Raoul Wymann at Kleine Scheidegg
> 📸 Hope 1000 blog

I hope you enjoyed the longest day of the year! I'll be back tomorrow with more updates!

Day Six

![imagegrossescheidegghope2024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3O2Bm8OmPFKa6v6aeF99gc/aea9d028aeb8d7da1052ca4efc3cc9b7/image.png)
 > 📸 Heinz Zaugg / Hope 1000 blog

Well, from what I hear from the ground, today has been pretty warm! At least 30 degrees and sunny. My friend/informant on the ground Olly has been riding into the night tonight specifically to try and get some more miles in during the cooler part of the day.

The great news is that we now have a total of ten finishers. As mentioned previously, Markus came in first man and first overall and then Nathalie first woman and sixth overall. Also arriving at the finish are: Benjamin Maibach, Antoine Regnard, Marc Buechel, Victor Thomas, David Gambuli, Oliver Gyger, Thomas Siegenthaler and Luca Bernasconi.

Raphael Gassmann and Henri Walter are both very close and still riding into the night - perhaps to try and make one final push to the finish.

![imagemiggscherrerfbhope2024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/78m9KC1tvrAnXM67A3Q2pL/f9d5052eae5834107af417ad9e1b5936/image.png)
 > 📸 Migg Scherrer

Many of the riders today have been through the picturesque tourist villages of Grindelwald, Wengen and Lauterbrunnen. These will have provided a great chance to stop and resupply but also a very strange atmosphere. Lots of foreign tourists milling around and not expecting muddy, tired, dishevelled mountain bikers! Also the prices of the food and drink are probably higher!

The terrain in the latter half of the course is noticeably 'spikier'. In the first half there were a lot of mountains (this is Switzerland, of course) but in this latter half the mountains are higher (up to ~2000m) and each one is bigger. So, longer climbs and longer descents! Hopefully the riders have been able to enjoy the long descents as a reward for their hard work climbing. Even the very last part of the route is a descent from a 1500m peak right down to the waters' edge at Montreux.

In the women's field, Anke Warlich continues to hold a steady second place, but has perhaps slowed a little. She can afford to - her next-nearest rival is now Lisa some 250km back. Lisbeth unfortunately scratched today, which is a shame as the women had so far kept an unbroken record of not scratching vs the men!

![448403315 449695844451631 6932379967475530979 n](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3fqeGHrRm2efhBwXGyBFmP/7e0805b2218b858e9a2a696dc755f102/448403315_449695844451631_6932379967475530979_n.jpg)
> 📸 [@elza_per_se](https://www.instagram.com/elza_per_se/)

Lisa has been posting on her story as most days, but today she has really given a great narrative about her struggles, how she has overcome the desire to scratch and keep pushing each day. It's a really great read, so get over to her Instagram stories to have a read before it disappears! Inspiring stuff Lisa! 🙂

Our lanterne rouge is kind of a pair, but riding as individual riders rather than in the pair category! Mary and Scott Sebring from the US are currently 350km and still rolling. Perhaps more of a touring pace, but what a great place to come and tour on a mountain bike!

I am still hoping to get a picture from Nathalie of her finish and we are also still waiting to confirm whether Nathalie's time counts as a new FKT. I will confirm both as soon as I have more information!

Otherwise, I will be back tomorrow for another update on this beautiful but brutal ride!


Day Five

![imagefreddiemontreuxhope2024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2ZniA2kJcrorLWTnuXoUEY/464e4b246c97cb5dc58f4ef886155744/image.png)

I had been holding off on this post whilst trying to get hold of some kind of picture... but so far I don't have one and I feel Nathalie deserves a post! She rolled into Montreux this afternoon to finish in 4 days 10 hours, the first woman and 6th overall. She has been consistently in the top ten riders for almost the whole time and has ridden a strong race.

In fact, so strong that according to the TrackLeaders site she has beaten Lael Wilcox' FKT by a mere 5 minutes! I have reached out to the Hope 1000 team to see if I can get confirmation and they have said that it needs to be confirmed. Partly because the margins are so slim but also because the route this year had a couple of diversions.

Hopefully we can get a picture soon, in which case I'll come back and update the post. 

Nathalie Finishes

![markushagerfirstfinisherhope100024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3q5E09TLgMWPJyllpZSubj/6ffd8a6d0be3b9a5aa00842e7e02472f/image.png)
> 📸 Hope 1000 blog

We have our first finisher! Markus is at the Freddie Mercury statue in Montreux. He finished in 3 days, 21 hours and 49 minutes and with little or no sleep. After finishing on the podium three times and scratching once; after four consecutive attempts, he finally reached the top step. Congratulations Markus, an incredible ride!

Benjamin, Antoine and Marc have also finished, with Victor and Nathalie not far to go. Another update to follow later when, hopefully, Nathalie arrives. Then our usual update tonight!

Markus Gets His Win

Cover photo 📸 Oliver Gyger / Hope 1000 blog

So I feel a little foolish... for two reasons. Firstly, it was pointed out to me today that there is an official Hope1000 Live Media Blog which riders can submit pictures and messages to. I don't know how I didn't see that before but it would have made it much easier to get some nice pictures for my posts! You can see the whole live blog [here](https://www.hope1000.ch/LIVE/BLOG).

Secondly, for two days in a row now I predicted someone would catch Marcus... but I've been wrong twice. Markus is now less than 30km from the finish and still riding. His nearest rival, Benjamin, is about 25km back. So, tonight my prediction will be that Markus is going to make it to the finish first and finally get the win he has been looking for. I'm still in awe of how he can ride near-continuously for 90 hours without sleep (or extremely short power naps perhaps!).

![hope100024-benjaminsimmental](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/ogkWno9C7DIiK8c21zMGm/63afb49ee00c1360a3c32f35a1392bf3/image.png)
> 📸 Benjamin Maibach / Hope 1000 blog

Whilst Markus is storming, Benjamin has even had time to stop for a photo today - this is the man currently pursuing our race leader. Our other front-runner from yesterday, Manuel, who I predicted may catch Markus has scratched today. In third place we have Antoine Regnard, some 70km behind Markus.

Nathalie is still holding her place and is currently riding in 7th. The gaps here are smaller and the riders from 4th to 10th are all passing each other during the day, unlike the front three who have been riding solo and chasing each other and keeping their relative positions. Nathalie is now just 155km from the finish and seems still to be riding strong. Hopefully tomorrow we will have both a male and female first finisher reaching Freddie in Montreux!

The gap between Nathalie and Anke is increasing a little over time but Anke is in a solid 2nd place. Lisa and Lisbeth are still pretty much neck-and-neck further down the field in 3rd and 4th. Lisa looks to be riding a little slower at times, but riding later into the evenings and catching back up. Yesterday she reported a potential cold or allergies, which may be hampering her progress!

![peterbaslerhope100024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1ZJcEogo9UpdevWaBx3h5b/4f25850c12b488373027acd31d703b91/image.png)
> 📸 Peter Basler / Hope 1000 blog

Here Peter Basler (just approaching the 600km mark) shows us the kind of terrain that the riders are facing along the way!

Our only pair, Rene and Jeannette Gamma are at 400km on the route now and making steady progress. My friend Olly is also keeping on making steady progress and just approaching 600km with Grosse Scheidegg, Grindelwald, Wengen and Lauterbrunnen on the cards for tomorrow if all goes well! Enjoy the views 🙂

Most likely by the time I wake up tomorrow we will have a first finisher - watch this space, I hope to make an update in the morning as well as the daily update of the day.

Day Four

So I don't know about you, but I'm looking in tiny detail at the "Race Flow" chart to see if I can find any evidence of even the tiniest power nap for Markus Hager. So far... I can't find any. Markus looks to have been riding without any sleep for over 65 hours (2 days, 17 hours). The big problem is... that his tactic doesn't seem to be working. Benjamin Maibach and Manuel Rudaz both slept for around 4/4.5 hours the first night and then last night Benjamin slept for 3h and Manuel stopped/slept for even longer.

Benjamin started the day 8h behind Markus and Manuel nearly 12h. Both riders look to have stopped for tonight but during the day Benjamin took 5 hours out of Markus' lead and Manuel took 8 hours. That's a vast difference in speed. If these two riders continue at this pace tomorrow then they will catch Markus during the day. Based on last year's data, I don't think Markus will stop to sleep. In 2023 he rode the whole distance without more than about 1h maximum stopped, so I think we can assume he will repeat this.

Unfortunately for Markus, he is currently a little down on his 2023 pace and a way off Robin Gemperle's FKT pace so even if he wins it would take something special to break any records.

Also in the Top 10, we see that after being a strong 2nd-place contender, Marc Buechel has been off the pace today and is losing places. The others, including first woman Nathalie, are keeping roughly even pace with each other and resting for similar amounts of time.

Elsewhere in the pack, Migg Scherrer posted on Facebook of what has become something of a race legend - a fridge in the middle of nowhere in the Alps with an honesty-box for payment, containing cold drinks and ice creams!

![remote-swiss-fridge](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4IdfcHuwUUnbFZZ6jh02EP/6a6f4330156696e64a4a894662bb846d/remote-swiss-fridge.jpg)
> 📸 Original photos - Migg Scherrer

I don't know the exact location but I'm sure the riders that find it will be extremely grateful for the resupply!

As mentioned earlier, Nathalie continues to lead the womens' race, now over a day ahead of second place Anke Warlich: Anke has stopped for tonight but has not yet reached the spot on the road where Nathalie slept last night. Further back in the pack, I had thought that Lisbeth's diversion off-route and in the middle of the day indicated a scratch, but she is back on the route and moving after a long rest. She and Lisa, in 4th place, are riding quite close together for the whole race so far and switching places a few times. Perhaps a race to watch within the overall race!

Lisa is still updating Instagram regularly and one of the best sources of media from within the race that I've found - so you may see her pictures quite frequently! Thanks Lisa!

![elzaperse-instaimage2-hope2024](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/69E1EOoulf5gnS4YQbcq3v/979d8960a51274559c1f2d9fb1f0cee3/image.png)
> 📸 @elza_per_se

Lisa is reporting struggling with either a cold or allergies and is currently resting around the 300km mark, in the same town as our one-and-only pair of the race, Rene and Jeannette Gamma.

Obviously the priority of many riders is to keep moving rather than giving updates to the rest of the world, so I don't have a huge amount of things to post from riders, but since the front runners are now passing through one of my favourite parts of the world, I can break out some of my own photos from visiting the Lauterbrunnen valley so you can see what they are seeing as they ride!

The riders will be descending this very path from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen, seeing the vista down the valley with the tumbling waterfalls and green fields below.

![IMG1384-lauterbrunnental](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/21Fkol2xyH4q4eyaOnx8sj/ee4f238a4c192791ca6b532daf22b26c/IMG_1384.JPG)
> 📸 Steve Haskew

Tomorrow we will find out whether Markus' non-stop strategy will continue to pay off or whether Benjamin and/or Manuel will catch him! By this time tomorrow we may well have a bouncing dot at the finish line in Montreux!

Check back tomorrow to find out!

Day Three

Cover pic 📸 @ollywebb96

After a damp, grey day yesterday, it looks like the riders have been rewarded with a much warmer day and some sunshine! It doesn't seem to matter either way to Markus Hager, whose day-one rival Mike Mono has now scratched. Having said that, Marc Buechel has spent today catching him up, briefly passing him before Marc took a longer break. However, of the front-runners, it seems to be only Markus, Marc and Raphael who didn't sleep at all last night and with Marc stopping in the last few hours, Markus leaves himself open to a big challenge as the most fatigued rider. If Marc can rest effectively and then continue with today's pace, he could easily catch and overtake Markus. In fact, chatting to Dotwatcher expert Yoan Dercourt, taking risks with little sleep is potentially Markus' achilles heel; while he knows himself well, he can sometimes take a big gamble on pushing on too long and it doesn't always pay off!

Not at all far behind this battle is another... Nathalie Schneitter is slowly but surely picking off the mens' field. She has made her way up to 8th position but with David Gambuli and Aurelien Mekil both sleeping on the trail within only a couple of km of her position and still riding into the night, she will potentially be in 6th position before I've even finished writing this post! Last night she stopped about 5 hours overnight, soon after midnight, so these small gains are only symbolic at this stage and only in the morning will we have a better picture of the full top ten. Her nearest rival in the womens' race is still Anke Warlich, tailing her now by a huge 175km and approximately 9 hours. Whilst the womens' race win seems almost certain, unless she experiences a major problem, it would be really fantastic to see if she can reach the overall podium!

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Next in the womens' field we had been shaping up to have a small race-within-the-race between Lisbeth Hofstetter and Lisa Pfeiffer, with them riding very closely for most of the race so far. Lisbeth pulled out a lead during today but unfortunately looks to have stopped this afternoon. She doesn't yet show as scratched but sadly it looks that way. Lisa is very active on Instagram Stories and worth a follow - for example she has given us an insight into the trail conditions. I have heard that there is a lot of greasy mud generally and it is pretty hard going in places, which Lisa shows here!

![instaimageelzapersehope241](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7mD0ADS92wXexsJnexFxY/acab92202fce1e170b46b09e9eefc957/image.png)
> 📸 [@elza_per_se](https://www.instagram.com/elza_per_se/)

The pairs race seems to be an extremely simple affair this year... Rene and Jeannette Gamma are the only pair! They are currently 215km in and have bedded down for the night. All they need to do is keep on riding and they will be the winning pair.

The next section of the route for the leaders is the part I think I'm most envious of... they will ride up and over Grosse Scheidegg, through the village of Grindelwald, up and over Kleine Scheidegg pass and into the tiny mountain village of Wengen. I've been to Wengen many times (in winter, with skis instead of a bike!) and the beautiful hanging valley of Lauterbrunnen is possibly one of the most picture-postcard places on the route? I hope they get some time to see the sights and that they will pass through in daylight to enjoy it!

The views in Switzerland are of course second-to-none and an excellent example of this is the rainbow captured on the route (and used as the feature picture for this post!) by my friend Olly Webb, currently riding mid-pack and 326km into the route. Keep turning those pedals Olly! (and not just because I need my SPOT tracker back before the Pan Celtic 😁)

There have been a few scratches today - notably Mike Mono who had been in second place, Willi Felix, the event creator and Paul Addy, a returning rider who scratched last year but previously came second in the super-self-sufficient 2020 edition of GBDURO!

We'll be back tomorrow with some more updates... but even now as I finish typing, we have two changes: 1. it looks like Markus' stop in Schangnau was only a short resupply and not a sleep stop. Let's hope he can keep it going! Also, 2. Nathalie Schneitter looks to have stopped for the night but so have Victor Thomas and Luca Bernasconi, in the same town, so all three are sharing fifth place for the meantime!

Day Two

Steve Haskew

Hope 1000 2024 Tracking + Commentary: The HOPE 1000 rolls out from the Swiss shores of Lake Constance to the finish at the Freddie Mercury statue in Montreux. A true mountain race that can challenge riders with heat and storms, all in one day.

Hope 1000 2024 Tracking

The HOPE 1000 rolls out from the Swiss shores of Lake Constance to the finish at the Freddie Mercury statue in Montreux. A true mountain race that can challenge riders with heat and storms, all in one afternoon.

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Hope 1000 2024

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