Perfect capture of a low key trail ultra race, the starting line less than one minute from the actual start of the race.
I really entered this race with the completely wrong attitude, but at least I knew that before I even started the race. I was clearly undertrained having taken it easy after completing the Chattanooga 100 Miler just four weeks earlier. Instead of training, I had been indulging in vegan junk food and sweets over the holidays more than I'd care to admit. Nevertheless, I was tempted to toe the line just to run this new course that had been created to allow the Recover From The Holidays 50K race to move for just this year while its original established location, the Huntsville Cross Country Park, was undergoing a complete overhaul and redesign by the city.
I didn't want to miss out, but I had also just started to map out my new training schedule for the new year and it didn't really call for a 50K that Monday, so I decided to just run by feel and if I ever felt like calling it a day, I would not feel guilty. That's not usually my attitude, but when race is just 5 minutes from your house, it's easy to bail. The decision to allow yourself to cut a race short is an almost guaranteed way for failure and you need to be okay with that beforehand.
Toeing the start line anyway allowed me to catch up and run with lots of friends with very little race pressure. The course layout is such that runners will get back to the start finish area every 3 miles, so it was easy to place your own little aid station there as you would see it 10 times during the full duration of the race. The race started with the flat half (or about a mile) of the 3 mile loop before they starting counting 10 laps to make sure we all got the full 31 miles.
Unlike the original course, this course was deceivingly challenging as the second half of the course (second half of each loop) contained about .5 miles of uphill running, some sections steeper than others. With every lap around the course, I found myself walking more and more of that climb and by the 7th loop, I walked nearly all of it. While some of that was related to the fact that I had made up my mind that this would be my final lap, the terrain certainly made it easy for me to call it a day. On top of it, temperatures were already in the 60s at the race start, which was highly unusual for this time of year even in the southeast. It was clear that I wasn't the only one noticing that as an additional challenge.
When it was all said and done for me, I had completed 22 miles at a decent pace. I was content with the way things had played out and happy to hang out and cheer on other runners as they continued their races to finish this rather challenging 50K course.
Next up, Mountain Mist 50K. See you on the trails!
One of two beautiful waterfalls inside Cloudland Canyon.
I had yet another year of amazing adventures in 2018 and the Chattanooga 100 Miler was supposed to be the icing on the cake. It was at the tail end of a heavy ultra and mountain running season and I had not race plans other than to cross the finish line feeling well. My buddy Paul had broken his neck (yep, you read that right) earlier in the year during a trail race and the Chattanooga 100 Miler was both his comeback race (#BrokenNeckTo100Miler) and his last chance to secure the final points he needed to secure himself a starting spot at the 2019 UTMB. Our entire Huntsville crew (Paul, Jerry, Jeff, honorary Huntsvillian Jan and myself) had signed up to be there with him for this awesome challenge.
A friendly "wild" pig in the middle of the trail at the bottom of the canyon.
Jerry's wife Wonda had organized a huge hunting cabin (really, it was more of a mansion) with enough bedrooms for all of us and our better halves just 30 minutes from the race start in Cloudland Canyon State Park, Georgia. Since the race started on Friday morning at 8AM, we had to be in Chattanooga on Thursday evening for our packet pickup at Rock/Creek. I was the first to arrive with a beer in hand by the time the rest of the gang showed up.
Creek view along the trail inside the canyon.
The Chattanooga 100 Miler is an out & back race course that takes runners from Cloudland Canyon State Park all the way to Covenant College atop Lookout Mountain before sending them back to the state park. Along the way, runners climb nearly 12,000ft while traversing in and out of Cloudland Canyon along beautiful waterfalls. There's even a "fun" bouldering and rope assist section on the return leg of the course. Most of the course runs on beautiful single track with some technical trails early and late in the race. However, most of the course is fairly easy trail with only a very short road section, but because it rained for more than 24 hours during the race, the entire course was rather challenging. That combined with the continuously dropping temps added to make not only for an epic adventure, but for an extremely challenging 10 miles as well.
Heavy rains the previous 24 hours had the water flowing exceptionally strong.
An 8AM race start allowed all of us to get plenty of sleep the night before the race. Luckily, my running crew was kind enough to join me for dinner at a fantastic vegan restaurant in Chattanooga, Sluggo's. Check it out, if you're ever in town and you're either vegan or just feeling adventurous. Our early dinner right after packet pickup meant we had plenty of time to lay out our racing gear before calling it an early night.
More views from the canyon trail.
By 5:30AM the next morning, everyone had slowly gotten up to get ready for the big day. Everyone had brought along their preferred pre-race breakfast items. I had my usual cup of coffee. The plan was to leave the house by 6:30AM to make the 30 minute drive to the race start. With lots of rain in the forecast for the day, I kept going back and forth between a windbreaker and a rain jacket, but ultimately settled for the windbreaker, since the temperatures were supposed to be mild.
We arrived at the race start just after 7AM with plenty of time to check in and to catch up with friends old and new. In fact, I bumped into one of my early running adventure buddies, Dan "The Man" Burstein. Dan and I had run a few 100 milers together in my early ultra running days, including an awesome Rim2Rim2Rim run at the Grand Canyon. It was awesome to catch up with this guy.
Views of Cloudland Canyon from the rim trail.
There were many other familiar faces at this race and there is something very comforting about seeing them toe the starting line alongside you as you embark on a 100 mile trail race. 100 milers to me are still the great unknown. Unforeseen any injury, you can pretty much map out how a race will unfold for you from the 50K all the way to the 100K distance, but when it comes to 100 miles, it is impossible to foresee the outcome. So many things come into play, both internal and external. There is nutrition, hydration, electrolytes, salt, potassium, carbs, sodium, etc. There is the weather, unpredictable as ever, hot, cold, wet, dry, etc. There are the trail conditions, wet, dry, muddy, single track, jeep road, asphalt, etc. There is climbing and descending, right and wrong gear choices, the list is nearly endless for things to go right and oh so very wrong.
The race started after the usual pre-race pep talk by Run Bum Sean Blanton. I had lined up somewhere in the second or third row, fully intent on running very conservatively from the start. Since this was a bonus race of sorts for me, I hadn't really had the kind of training cycle I usualy aim for heading into a 100 mile race. After UTMB in September, I had taken it rather easy, only running occasionally and participating in a couple of ultras and a few short distance races from 10K to half marathon. When I had planned to ramp up my training, I had gotten sick with a flu like virus, keeping me from running for nearly 3 weeks. O e could say, I had an extended taper leading into this race, which meant I had no idea what the day would or could bring for me. However, as it always the case as I get closer and closer to a race with lowered expectations, I still somehow thing I might be able to get a good performance out of myself. In this case, I actually thought (quite delusional I might add) I could try for a PR, if I started conservatively enough. That would mean to run a time faster than 21 hours 30 minutes.
Heavy fog cover hung inside the canyon like a canopy cover.
I settled in with Drew Cox, a runner I'd met at the Cannonball Ultra in Chattanooga, TN just a month earlier. We chatted for a bit, making the first 6 or so miles go by very quickly. The first 13 miles of the course consisted of a loop inside the state park that had us running along the canyon rim as well and do an out and back into and out of the canyon past a couple of spectacular waterfalls and along a rushing creek.
Beautiful view of the canyon.
Speaking of sightings along the trail, I did have a couple of "wild" animal encounters. The first encounter was with a spotted pig that was just wandering around on the trail inside the canyon, checking out runners as they passed by, looking for food. It would actually let you close enough to pet it. I'm not sure, but if I had to take a guess, this pig probably belonged to a farm somewhere and got away. However, from what I could tell, we were nowhere near a farm. Definitely the most unusal animal spotted during a trail race for me.
More canyon views.
The second "wild" animal spotting would be just a few miles later along the course, where we were running adjacent to a fenced in private property for just 100 yards or so. This time, it was a slightly less friendly pitbull barking at us from behind a fenced property. I had barely uttered the words "thank god this little fella is behind a fence, when I suddenly appeared in front of us as we came around a bent in the trail, without any fence between us. He started charging at Andrew Bustos for just a second, but when Andrew stepped towards him, he backed off again. For some reason, we all ran up that next hill just a bit faster. I think an ever so small adrenaline rush had something to do with that.
Andrew and I had started running together as we were making our way into the canyon. We ended up running together for the first 50K of the race. Andrew was running his first 100 miler and he had a plan. After 50K, he dropped me like a bad habit and I would not see him again until the finish line. He finished about 20 minutes ahead of me. Congrats on an awesome first 100 miler, Andrew! Way to push through some rough conditions.
Speaking of conditions, the course was mostly undulating terrain with a few bigger climbs along the course. Times would have been much faster and the finishing rate would have been much higher, had it not been for weather and trail conditions that continued to deteriorate all day and all night. The rain became more steady and the temperatures continued to drop. I had grabbed my headlamp from my drop bag around at mile 45 at the Lula Lake AS, but wouldn't need it until just before the turnaround at mile 51 at Covenant AS. I had also changed from a windbreaker to a tape sealed rain jacket, which was definitely a key decision for my race.
Temperatures would vary greatly as would the winds and the driving rain. I regulated my body temperature by zipping my jacket up or don and by pulling the hood on or off. Along with the weather, the trails deteriorated as well. What had started as packed down single track trails had turned into ankle deep creeks or mudslides. It made finding your running rhythm very difficult, well, nearly impossible. Later into the race, lots of short climbs could not be runa s the terrain was way too slick and slippery to do so. Staying out of standing water on the trails was impossible as water was covering all of the trails by this point.
The bottom of Lookout Mountain also featured a short bouldering section with a rope-assisted ascent. I think that would have been way more fun had it not been dark, cold and wet as hell. I lost some serious time on this section, but that really didn't matter to me. I had realized at the halfway point that a PR was highly unlikely and that was before conditions got really had.
I was able to keep things together both mentally and physically. My wife was able to join me as my crew around mile 65 and it was just great to see her along the course for little mental boosts every few hours. I had changed my goal to sub 24 hours, but finishing was the ultimate goal. After 90+ miles, runners would arrive back at the start/finish area before completing another 8 mile loop inside the park. I was feeling pretty good rolling into this final AS. I got another boost from seeing my wife, refilled my bottles and headed out. I was ready to be done. What I did not know is that conditions had worsened big time along the trail I would have to run on for the next 4 miles. The rim trail was now completely under water, hiding both slick rock and roots beneath the surface. Running in this terrain had become impossible. Unfortunately, the driving rain and wind had increased to a full blown storm and the temps were rather cold along the canyon rim as well. As I slowed to a walk, my body temp dropped quickly. So quickly, in fact, that I started to think of quitting, but I didn't even know where to go to seek refuge. All I could do was continue on and hope to get off this section as quickly as possible. This was the longest hour or so of my life.
When I finally left the rim trail and entered the park road, I started to run what felt like 7 minute pace. I needed to get warm somehow. I could see the hand in front of my face, the rain was driving so hard. I kept running and cursing, cursing Sean and warning him not to send me on another trail loop before reaching the finish. Thankfully, the road section continued for a total of 3-4 miles all the way to the finish. I was elated to see the final arrow to the finish line and even happier when I saw the actual finish line, crossing it in 23 hours and 4 minutes for 6th male overall. I collected my high fives and hug from Sean followed by a hug from my wife before immediately heading for shelter. This was one hard earned buckle and I wouldn't want it any other way.
Obligatory pre-race selfie with the entire crew (me, Jerry, Jeff, Paul and Jan, from left to right).
Congrats to all who toed the starting line and an even bigger congrats to all finishers. A huge thanks to Sean and his entire crew of volunteers for another well executed race. I may have cursed you at times, but I sure am glad I got run this race:-)
Early on during the 2018 Dizzy Fifties 50K Trail Run before things became difficult.
This was to be an easy weekend, not a dizzy weekend, but car trouble had prevented me from running the Sky to Summit 50K the week prior, so I was still in urgent need of a long run. My race calendar showed one final race on the first weekend in December, the Chattanooga 100 Miler, but I hadn't been able to train much over the last 2 months.
First, I took some time off from long distance training, instead racing some shorter distance races up to the half marathon distance on both roads and trails. The goal was to ramp up distance after a few weeks in prep of the 100 mile race, but that plan was thwarted with something that started as a minor cold, but turned into a 3 week struggle to regain my energy. During this time, I barely logged any runs.
Fast forward to this weekend. This was now my last chance to see if I could even cover 31 miles running or if it would be a struggle from start to finish. If the latter as true, then I was likely going to pull the plug on the 100 miler in December, even if it wasn't going to be a goal race. Thankfully, I managed to get into the race via the waitlist.
Race morning promised to be a cold one. The race course had been redesigned last year and to make things even more interesting, it had been reversed for this year's edition. The race is run on Monte Sano mountain and consists of a total of three identical loops of single track trail with about 900-1000 feet of vertical gain per loop.
The entry list looked promising and with the given weather conditions, it was easy to predict fast finishing times. While I knew that I was neither in the position nor in the condition to compete for a podium when looking at the field of my fellow competitors, I still managed to forget that fact as soon as the race started.
After starting out slightly ahead of my goal pace (read: too fast), I settled into a more reasonable pace towards the end of the first loop. I was running somewhere around 8th or 9th place. I would make up a couple of spots on the second loop before losing these two spots again to different runners on the final loop, finishing in 8th place overall out of about 100 runners.
The Dizzy Fifties course is very runnable. In fact, the entire loop is runnable, if one manages a sustainable pace. The first 6 miles in this year's direction are rather fast, rolling through the state park with little vertical gain or loss until runners hit the only aid station aside from the start/finish line aid station. Once we pass this aid station, we drop down the Sinks Trail for a fast one mile descent. After that runners immediately tackle the first and steepest of two climbs before continuing running on rolling single track around the memorable Stone Cuts before returning to the start finish area.
I managed to sustain a solid pace for the first lap and while I dropped pace on the second loop, I was still on track to run my third fastest 50K ever. That was, until fatigue started to catch up with me in the form of severe muscle cramps in both my quads and my calves. Add to that a painful toe stub followed by a hard fall and you know how the third loop turned out. My pace slowed significantly and in the end, I was lucky to hang on to my 8th place finish in 4 hours and 43 minutes.
The Dizzy Fifties is a well organized event and a fun race for first timers and veteran ultra runners alike, thanks to the efforts of RD Ryan Chaffin and his crew of volunteers. The course was extremely well marked, never leaving any doubt where to go. The most challenging thing were the fallen leaves hiding rocks and roots. However, this same fall foliage is also what makes this race course and the state park so beautiful this time of year. Do yourself a favor and sign up next year and be sure not to wait until the last minute. You wouldn't want to miss out.
I had originally tried to sign up for the Big Backyard Ultra put on my Laz of Barkley Marathon's fame. I had just come back from a work trip to the west coast and noticed that only 60 or so runners were signed up. Registration was still open on Ultrasignup so I thought, why not throw my hat in the ring. I'd never done a "Last Man Standing" (LMS) event, so this should be fun. Little did I know that there had been a long application process with some runners selected by lottery and others selected on merit and that more than 1000 runners had applied.
All smiles all day...and half the night.
Needless to say, this guy didn't get selected 4 days out from the event:-) But I was still in need of miles as my work trip and kept my mileage low, so I went back to Ultrasignup and lo and behold, there was an LMS event in Chattanooga the following weekend, the Cannonball just a short 2 hour drive from home. I signed up right away. Maybe I should've read the fine print first. The LMS format was similar but not identical. At the Backyard Ultra, runners line up every hour to run a 4.1 mile loop. The first 12 hours during the day on a moderate trail, the 12 hours during the night on a road out & back. This would continue until only one runner remained and completed a loop.
The final 5 prior to lap 16.
At the Cannonball, 60 or so runners lined up to run a 4.3 mile trail loop with 650 feet of vertical gain at Stringer's Ridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They would run this loop every hour until only one runner remained. In addition, race directors reserved the right to reduce the lap time by one minute per loop every hour after the first 5 hours.
I decided to book a cheap hotel room that I split with fellow Huntsvillian Kelly Clary for the night before the race to sleep in as late as possible. We left the hotel in downtown Chattanooga around 7AM to make the short 10 minute drive to Stringer's Ridge, an urban park in the middle of Chattanooga. The parking lot was almost full already, but I managed to find the final spot, perfect for setting up my chair and cooler with supplies as it was only a few steps from the start/finish area.
It was still dark, but it would be light by the time the 8AM start of the first lap rolled around. I had plenty of time to set up and to say hello to the Huntsville peeps that had made the trip up here, Natalie, Jay, Kelly M, and Kelly C. and I, of course. My race plan was easy, run 12 hours/laps and see how I feel. The max I was mentally ready for would be 24 hours/laps for 100 miles, but that mental steadfastness waned over a little during the event.
The course record stood at 64.5 miles, which seemed a little soft to me and I was certain it would go down this year. If I wanted to be part of the group I would have to run 16 laps or until midnight to actually break it and run 68.8 miles. 8AM rolled around and we all took off. My plan was simple, check out the course on the first couple of loops to figure out the best strategy to find a rhythm that would take me around the loop in 55 minutes, allowing me just enough time to drink a bottle of fluids (I would alternate Nuun Electrolytes and Sword Endurance) and eat half of my homemade Banana Dark Chocolate spread tortilla wraps.
I also consumed a Honey Stinger gel after every loop. This strategy worked perfectly, I never bonked and never got dehydrated. In the later hours, I would eat potatoes with salt, potato chips and Oreo cookies to avoid a caloric deficit in the cooler overnight hours.
Most of us ran the first loops with a wind breaker and/or sleeves and gloves. I would keep my gloves and sleeves for the entire duration of the race. Other than that I just wore my Altra racing singlet and my favorite running shorts along with the pair of Altra Lone Peak 4.0 that already took me through the Matterhorn Ultraks, UTMB and the Jungfrau Marathon, all without ever changing the shoes or my CEP merino socks, which are definitely a winning combo for me these days. Not a single blister during my 35 hour adventure at UTMB that included hours of rain and mud.
The first few laps were uneventful as everyone tried to figure out this race. I chatted with Shannon "Sharpie" Sharp and David "DDr Pepper" Dye in between laps as they were always a ways ahead of me on every loop. The smack talk started early, there were comments of peeps already looking tired. After the first few laps, I fell in with ultra runners extraordinaire Nathan Holland and Ryan Meulemans and we spent the next hours together, challenging each other to pace the perfect lap. We actually managed a couple of times. We would use "landmarks" to check our pace. There was the turn, the overlook, the house and the stomp. We always knew when we needed to slow down or pick it up a bit. That and the trail banter made the hour tick by much quicker.
Of course, once major difference between this type of event and a regular ultra is that you either run near your competition or you'll at least see them again every hour at the start. This gives plenty of opportunity for smack talk. Ryan started us off, sharing that he was ready to go for 2 days or longer if needed, which I followed up with a "I already took Monday off from work". We had a lot of fun with it, but I'm sure not everyone within earshot appreciated it:-)
It became clear after a few hours that lots of runners were in it for the long run. When Nathan called it after 12 hours, there were still 13 runners lining up for the next lap. After 16 hours, there were still 5 of us left. When everyone lined up again for lap 17, I said my goodbyes and called it a day. I was completely fine physically, I just had no desire to go out for another lap. It took only 3 more laps to declare a winner, Ryan Meulemans, who laid down a great performance. When it was all said and done, 9 runners tied the current course record and 5 runners broke the course record.
As more runners become aware of this LMS format and event, numbers are only going to get bigger. 100 miles should be doable for someone next year, unless the RD decides to drop the time limit sooner than he did this year.
Thanks to everyone for putting on an excellent event, I had a blast.
The Jungfrau Marathon concluded my "3 mountain races in 2 weeks" adventure in the Alps. In the process, I raced +160 miles and climbed +51,000 feet in 3 countries (Switzerland, France and Italy) and across and around some of the most beautiful landscapes and mountains, including the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Eiger, Jungfrau and Mönch, to name the most prominent ones. At the conclusion of my trip to Europe, I had actually had the opportunity to run in a total of 6 countries, including Spain, Germany and Austria.
I arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland via rental car from Zurich airport after a few days of work in Barcelona, Spain. I had only run once while in Barcelona as I was still recovering from UTMB the previous weekend. To be honest, I had no ambitions for the Jungfrau Marathon. I was here to complete another bucket list race and not knowing how my legs would handle it, I just wanted to enjoy it.
The Jungfrau Marathon is widely known as the world's most scenic marathon, so it was no surprise that nearly 5000 registered runners from across the globe showed up the day before the race to pick up their race bibs. There was a decent sized expo in the center of town right next to the race start. The area had already been widely blocked off as I quickly realized when I tried to drive to packet pickup. I had to park my car a few blocks from packet pickup, which allowed my to take a relaxing stroll to familiarize myself with this beautiful town.
I picked up my race packet and enjoyed a free pre-race pasta dinner before checking out the expo and heading back to my rented room. Luckily, I had found a room a 5 minute walk from the race start, but that's about the only good thing I can say about my accommodations. I had ended up with a couple of rather questionable accommodations during my 4 week travels in Europe and this was definitely one of them, but that's for a different conversation. Eventually, I managed to get a decent night's sleep before the 8:30AM mass start the next morning.
Interestingly enough, this race actually provided pacers starting with 4:30 hour goal times in 30 min increments to 6 hours, if memory serves right. I say interestingly, because this race is not like any other marathon I've ever run. For starters, it begins on paved roads and ends on technical trails. More importantly, it is a point to point, all uphill race that continuously increases in steepness all the way to the finish. All that to say that is is extremely challenging to pace towards a particular finishing time under these circumstances.
To help runners pan their race, organizers recommend they add 90 minutes to their most recent marathon times to come up with a finishing time estimate. Since I hadn't run a marathon in some time, I decided to take my marathon PR and add 90 minutes to that for a "goal" time. I lied up next to the 4:30 hour pacer and figured I'd run by feel and use the pacer as a guide. If it felt too difficult, I'd just drop back. I had no plans other than to start slow and see how I felt.
When the race finally started, after a performance of a large group fo Alpenhorn players, I ran completely by feel and immediately lost sight of the 4:30 pacer. In fact, I had no idea if he was ahead or behind me. I didn't realize that he was actually behind me until about mile 12, when an on course announcer I had just passed welcomed the 4:30 pacer along with the crowd of spectators. Prior to that realization, I had actually peeked down at watch when it had vibrated to indicate another mile split. I was surprised to see a pace way faster than I would have expected or hoped. I quickly decided to ignore it and just continue to run by feel. If it felt easy, I was pk with it and if I would start to suffer later, I'd just slow down. The only goal was to finish and to enjoy the journey. For now, I was doing just that.
Around mile 16, I fell in with the 4:30 pacer and we chatted for a bit as we climbed the first of two extremely steep sections on the course. I stuck with him until about mile 20 or 21 and since I was feeling pretty good at that time, I decided to start pushing a little. With les than a 10K to go, I saw no reason to try to preserve any more energy. I was feeling surprisingly good considering the last 2 weeks and with this one being the last in my "race series" I wanted to push at least a little.
Just as I decided to pick up my pace, the course got a little steeper again. I changed to a run walk strategy, letting my heart rate be my guide as we made our way up the final miles to the finish at the Kleine Scheidegg. In the process, I passed quite a few runners. I had a blast. I was feeling great, but the push to the finish did turn into a laborious effort. One only needed to lift his or her head and the views of Eiger, Jungfrau and Mönch mountains and their glacier moraines to forget all about any potential pains. I was only disappointed because my iPhone camera would not allow me to take any pictures until after I reached the finish line. In fact, all pictures in this race report are from the finish line area, since my iPhone would not unlock due to its screen being too wet.
I crossed the finish line 10 minutes ahead of the 4:30 pacer and was happy with both my time and my effort. I ended up spending another couple of hours at the finish line, where runners were served free (non-alcoholic) draft beer and lots of awesome food choices were available for purchase. Along with plenty of food and drink, they had also set up the largest mobile shower station I had ever seen. An Oktoberfest sized tent had been set up as a changing room along with another giant tent that offered nearly 100 showers. I was able to take a long hot shower before taking the 1 hour train ride down the mountain via Grindelwald and back to Interlaken.
Even though I had already completed this bucket list race 3 years earlier in 2015, I could not resist another trip around the Mont Blanc massif. If you've ever been to this area you would understand and if you haven't been and are passionate about adventure and mountain running, Chamonix is nothing short of the world's mecca of trail and mountain running. Sure, there are other contenders in the Alps, but Chamonix and it's now famous Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc and its weeklong celebration of trail and ultra running with no less than 7 distance events is the clear front runner. UTMB boasts 33,000ft of vertical gain over 105 miles of alpine mountain running.
In fact, people refer to UTMB as the Tour de France of Ultrarunning and rightfully so. It is hard to describe the feeling that rush through your body as you enter one village after another after having spent hours climbing up and down the surrounding peaks and be greeted by thousands of enthusiastic supporters cheering you on with rattles and child sized cowbells like you are indeed about to win the Tour de France. Or the feeling you get when, after climbing 3000 vertical feet in the middle of the night and finally reaching the peak, you are once again cheered by spectators with giant cowbells and you wonder, how did they get up here? Why are they up here in the middle of the night? The feelings one experiences are indescribable.
It is for these reasons and for the sheer beauty I experienced in 2015 that I wanted to come back, no, I had to come back. This time like last time, it would be a bit of a family affair. in 2015, my better half was able to set aside some vacation time to join me and support me for all 39 hours it took me to circumvent Mont Blanc and finish the race. This time, I was able to recruit my brother Andy, who would fly in from Germany to hand out and be my crew. I hadn't spent time with him in a long time, so I was really looking forward this this week, also called race week in Chamonix.
I met up with my brother in Zurich as be both arrived on different planes from different places, he from Hamburg, Germany and I from Huntsville, Alabama, USA. I had rented a car for the week as I felt it would be much easier to get around. After some initial issues with my original reservation, we finally got on the road to Zermatt, Switzerland, where I had planned to participate in a final tuneup race, the Matterhorn Ultraks 50K, but that journey has been described already in another race report. On Monday morning, we left Zermatt for the 2 hour drive to Chamonix. I had reserved a pretty unique AirBNB and I could not wait to see if in person.
We arrived in Chamonix a bit earlier than initially planned, but our AirBNB hosts were very accommodating. We found the place right away, it sat just below the lift to Brevent just 500m from the start/finish area of the UTMB, but not on the actual course, so we would be able to sleep. Like I said, race week is one huge party with runners essentially arriving day and night throughout the week.
Our AirBNB was actually a remodeled wooden train car, probably the coolest place I've ever stayed in, well, almost. The hut on the side of an active volcano in Nicaragua was probably slightly more unique. However, this place was nothing short of amazing, queen sized bed, bathroom, shower, kitchen, dining table, couch, TV, wifi, everything we could possibly need during our weeklong stay.
Pierre and Veronique were gracious and extremely helpful hosts and after a quick tour of our new "home", we headed to the center of town to check things out. I remembered the location of every important venue, so we just went ahead and picked up some basic groceries first. After that, we explored some more before heading back to our caboose.
I pretty much spent the week leading up to the race meeting friends for coffee and dinner, getting my race kit in order, picking up my race bib and taking car of other logistical things. I had been here before, so I wasn't as nervous, initially. That changed pretty quickly on race day, when we received some unwelcome news just 4 hours before the 6PM race start.
I had completed my mandatory gear check with flying colors during the bib pickup two days earlier. There was also a separate mandatory gear list for inclement weather conditions, bot foe extremely hot and extremely cold conditions, but since the weather and the forecast had been fantastic all week, we were not required to present the additional mandatory kit for these conditions. My Thursday evening, I had packed my gear in my 12l Salomon vest and I was ready to go.
On race morning, I met my buddy Brian Bell for coffee to chat about his TDS finish a day earlier and about my impending race. We were talking about the course reruote that had become necessary due to a deadly rockfall just 2 days earlier on the final climb of the course to Tete Aux Vents. The course had seen some rain and we were discussing shoe choices. In fact, I became so concerned I picked up an extra pair of my preferred Altra Lone Peak 4.0 in town, just to have a dry air to change into later on in the race. However, at no time did we discuss the possibility of a dramatic change in weather, so I was extremely surprised when I received an email from the race organization just 4 hours prior to the race informing us that we were required to pack the mandatory winter kit along with the other mandatory gear. Apparently, the forecast now called for rain for the next 24 hours along with temps as low as -10 celsius or 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Quite the change from the 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit we'd been experiencing all week.
A little bit of stress set in as I struggled to decide exactly what extra pieces of gear to pack. I had brought different additional layers and jackets that would fulfill the mandatory requirements, so now I had to make some tough choices. Ultimately, I found an appropriate balance between weight and function and I was lucky to be able to hand the rest of the gear to my brother in case I needed another change at a later stage of the race.
I laid down for most of the midday trying to get some rest. Sleep was impossible, so the next best thing was to just rest my body. About 3 hours before the start, at 4PM I started to tape my feet, inside of my big toes, inside of the balls of my feet and the edges of both of my heels. I use KT tape as it allows for some stretch as I pull it around the corners or edges of my heels, preventing any creases in the tape, which would ultimately cause friction blisters, which is why I was taping my feet in the first place.
I threw on my race kit, opting against my racing singlet and instead wearing a long sleeve mid layer along with a rain jacket and shorts. I would keep waterproof gloves easily accessible as cold hands are another common issue for me, especially at higher mountain altitudes.
Since I still had to drop off my drop bag for the mile 48 aid station in Courmayeur at the collection drop off spot at the local gym near the race start, we decided to leave the comfort of our caboose around 4PM. It was raining pretty steadily at this point. We dropped off my bag and now had about 90 minutes of time to kill before the race start. I had no desire to stay out in the rain any longer than necessary, so we did like the French do. We found a cafe near the start and ordered a couple of lattes to stay both warm and dry.
With about 45 minutes to go, I lined up at the race start in the big market square. The front area is roped off to allow space for the elite field of runners and behind that it's everyone for themselves. Please lined up hours before the start and while I very vividly remembered the frustration of being stuck behind runners for almost 40 miles, I also remembered how badly I suffered later on and that it never hurts to start slow. So I was perfectly content to line up in the very back, I mean the very back. The only folks behind me were spectators. I took in the atmosphere and as the actual race start approached, I was eager to get started. I had come up with some A,B, and C goals, but at the end of the day, my goal in a 100 mile race is always to finish, no more no less. To finish is to succeed. Don't believe me? Check the list of DNFs from this year alone, lots of carnage across the board. Nearly 800 runners out of a total of 2500 runners did not finish.
If you want to be technical about it, I actually beat Kilian, Jim, Zack and a host of other elites that abandoned the race for a multitude of reasons, some of them due to going out too hard, some of them due to unfortunate injuries and falls. All that to say, anything can happen over the course of 100 miles and when you train long and hard for these events, the main goal should always be first and foremost to finish. At least that's what I believe.
As the race got started, the giant throng of runners slowly snaked its way through the narrow streets of Chamonix. Runners were excited, spectactors were excited, video cameras and flashing everywhere. There wasn't a single empty spectator spot anywhere along the course for nearly all of
in Chamonix. these images would be repeated in just about every village we passed through for the most part, day or night.
I settled into my perceived easy pace pretty quickly. It required me to pass a runner here or there, but for the most part, the early stages were uneventful. The miles ticked by quickly and I was mostly concerned with the slippery and muddy terrain on the downhills. My focus was going to be on my hydration and nutrition plan early on as I knew that it could be an issue later on in the race.
Without giving a blow by blow, the first 50K and even 50M went by without any issues. No hotspots, no hydration issues. My brother met me at 30k and 50M providing a much appreciated mental lift. At Courmayeur, I decided to change everything but my shoes and socks. After having been wet for 13 hours, it felt great to out on some dry clothes. I was hoping that it would stay dry at least for the time being. It was challenging to keep my temperature regulated, as it was warm in the valleys and bitter cold at the higher altitudes. However, I prefer to be warm and sweaty over cold and dry, so I kept opting for an extra layer for most of the race.
Things continued without any serious issues, but the climb out of Courmayeur to Refuge Bonatti was the first one that felt challenging. Things didn't get easier after that. I continued to move pretty well and I was in good spirits the entire time, but slowly my feet were starting to hurt a little. I'm happy to report that I never developed any blisters, but the pain continued to increase, making the downhills the most challenging part as the race went on.
Thankfully, I connected with a British expat from the Netherlands and we continued on together for the remainder of the race. We still had high hopes of finishing in under 34 hours but as we started the final (newly added) to last climb to replace the rerouted climb to Tete Aux Vent, these thoughts were fleeting fast. This was the third straight up vertical 500m climb after two 1000m climbs in just the last 20k and it was wearing us down. We were questioning not our sanity, but the thoughts of the race directors when designing the final third of this course. There was some cursing as well, but ultimately we knew were were getting it done, just not as fast as initially hoped. In fact, my A goal (still realistic at mile 48) and my B goal (still realistic until the final 2 climbs) had passed and there was only the C goal and the "just finish" goal left. Sometimes, it's a good idea to have multiple goals. While it may allow some to adjust their goals to easily, I like it because it means i'm not putting all eggs in one basket. I am able to stay in the race mentally as I haven't failed until I drop from a race. A backup goal is very important to me in 100 milers.
There was still some silver lining. As Alan and I made our way down from La Flegere, the final 10K descent to the finish, we knew we'd still finish the race in the dark of the second night and that was a victory in and of itself for me. We cruised to the finish, cursing the occasional root and rock on the final switchbacks down to Chamonix, but when we hit the pavement, all of that was quickly forgotten.
We crossed the finish line to the cheers of our personal supporters, the only drawback to finishing at 5AM in the morning:-) Other spectators were still in bed recovering from the party of the previous night. Another reason to not rush to the finish as the latest finishers usually have the biggest crowds on Sunday afternoon. Once again, this race was everything I had hoped for and more. I cursed it more than once and swore to never run again. Never has already been replaced by "maybe in a couple of years". Chamonix, its people and the Mont Blanc massif have a special place in my heart and my life. If you ever question why you trail run, come to Chamonix and you will never question it again, ever.
For me, it was made even more special because my brother joined my on this, my second journey around this magnificent mountain. I'm glad I got to spend this time with him and I'm sure he enjoyed it almost as much as me, even though he's never worn a pair of running shoes just to run in them:-)
Please comment below, if you are interested in the mandatory gear an other gear I used and I will gladly share it.
