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It was only a matter of time before this happened....I bit off more than I could chew!!!
After finishing the Mongolia 100km race in 17 hours, I set myself the goal of competing in a multi-day off road ultra marathon. The race around Mont Blanc looked perfect. It was a 2 day'er relatively close to family and would allow for good support along the way (something I sorely missed in Mongolia). After finishing my first Comrades marathon earlier in the year I felt reasonably confident that I could give the race a good go. A couple of things did worry me: the altitude gain looked rather harsh, and the need for walking poles which I had never used before.
Mom and Dad met Colette and I in London, and from there we all flew to Geneva and then drove on to Chamonix in France. The Alps are spectacular in summer, particularly the Mont Blanc region. Its one awesome mountain reaching 4800m high and some 42 glaciers grinding their way down from its summit. The day before the race we did our best to drive the race route (most of the race is on single track mountain paths), and it was then that I realized just how tough this race was going to be. The number of mountain passes that require crossing is mental. With much support and co-ordination from the folks and Colette I was registered, and lined up for the start at 7pm Friday evening.
The early part of the race went by without much incident, running through the crisp air as the sun sets behind the Alps is not a bad way to spend an evening. However after reaching Notre Dame Gorge around midnight, this starting getting nasty. I have never seen a climb like the one that lay ahead...1500m height gain in only 8km's! Followed by a ridiculously steep decent and another 1000m climb in 10km's. Tackling these 2 climbs took from 2am till 6:30am only covering 35km's in the process. Fortunately the sun coming up lifted my spirits, unfortunately I would only get to see my loving supporters at lunch time around Cormayeur. What I was starting to realize was that the downhill sections were worse than the ups, as at least on the ups you had your walking poles to drag yourself up. Meeting the folks and Col at Cormayeur was awesome....it has been an extremely lonely night (mostly French speaking athletes) and really needed some cheering up. I lay down for around 30min, changed clothes, restocked food supplies, got some heart felt hugs and headed off again. This was gut wrenching knowing that I has been running/hiking for 18 hr's and was still some way off the half way mark.
Leaving Cormayeur I was still 40min ahead of the cut-off and managed to extend that to around an hour over the next 20km's. By this stage my legs were starting feel the effects of the race. My hips were struggling due to the use of the walking poles, and a reoccurring ankle injury was starting to play up. By the time I saw Col and the folks at Arnuva (89km) my ankle was in real trouble and so was my gap ahead of the cut-off. A visit to the medical tent resulted in a strapped ankle and advise from the nurses to consider quitting the race. By this stage I knew the chances of finishing the race were shot, and all I could do was push to make the first race classification point: 102km in La Fouly, all competitors passing that point were deemed as completed and received the race certificate and goodies. Unfortunately this meant climbing to the highest point in the race, and then negotiating the decent in rain and fog.
Fortunately after many breaks, sparkle sweets, and MP3 tracks I made it to La Fouly at 10:32pm Saturday night. It was a tough situation as Col and the folks were very happy to see me stop racing and were proud of what I had achieved, but something inside of you is absolutely distraught that you did not meet your goal. It was with some consolation that I found out I came 1663 out of 2500 runners, with only 1151 runners finishing the 158km's. It is an absolutely awesome race, and one that I hope to give another go in a few years (after better preparation with climbing, poles, and sleep deprivation!)
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO'S OF: BEFORE RACE RACE - FRIDAY RACE - SATURDAY AFTER RACE
This site was last updated 09/06/06 |
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