Once every year for a week in a valley completely surrounded by the
Alps and glaciers, a little town named Chamonix Mont Blanc comes alive
and gets transformed with a special vibe and passion for human
endurance. Mont Blanc is a mountain high in the Alps on the border of
of France,Switzerland and Italy at 4810m, it is the highest point in
the alps, with the Chamonix valley at 1024m. It is a mountain that
needs your respect like all mountains, it is a weather maker.
Mountains are awesome!... Chamonix is the starting point for many
climbing trips, downhill mountain biking, skiing, ice climbing and of
course the start and finish of the Ultra tour du Mont Blanc.
So, after doing my first 100 mile trail run on reunion island last
year, i found a new passion for ultra trail running and specifically
100 mile races and decided to train and enter the Ultra Tour du Mont
Blanc (UTMB), having gathered enough points i got an entry i was super
stoked. UTMB is a super though 100 mile trail race around the Mont
Blanc Massif ascending high mountain passes and passing though
France, Italy and Switzerland in pure mountain wilderness. It is more
than a race, it is a journey, an experience.
I spend a week before and after the race in the alps, and it was an
experience to see this little town get transformed into trail running
heaven for a week. I decided to buy some of the less available in
south africa compulsory gear over there before the race, and i wasn't
disappointed. Chamonix is outdoor shopping heaven for those looking
for outdoor gear for climbing, mountaineering, trail running, downhill
mountainbiking and many more. Almost every second shop is an outdoor
shop with rooms dedicated to each mountain sport, some jaw dropping
followed by drooling will happen if you are a gear junkie. So i easily
picked up waterproof gloves and rain pants witch is some of the less
than ordinary compulsory equipment i am used to.
I stayed in a youth hostel, and i met quite a few interesting people
and trail runners from all over the world ranging from Taiwan and
Russia to Spain. Some did CCC a unique 100km race starting in Italy
while others did UTMB. The CCC race started a few days before UTMB but
also ended in Chamonix. Then 4 days before the start i got sick after
coming down from a high altitude 3800m cable car ride up to aiguille
du midi, i panicked a bit but tried to recover myself hoping each day
the next day i would feel better. I remember some Spanish CCC runners
that finished and shared the room with me with me feeling worse than
them and this is before I started the UTMB race. But i was very
excited and recovered every day, and race day when i felt better but
was still sick i decided i am going to start, but take it a bit
easier.
Now, Clear your mind ....... It is 23:20 in Chamonix Mont Blanc, the
race start was postponed from 18:30 to 23:30 to miss a bad weather
system and storm passing through that brought in some snowfall.
It is still raining, and you can feel Mont Blanc's presence even
though it is dark, I walk into town with my backpack and rain gear and
the vibe hits you in the face. I worm myself thought the crowds of
supporters to get to the starting line with 2300 other UTMB runners.
It is as if the mountain is alive and watching all the runners line up
in the rain before the world famous trail running stage and arch while
tension is building..... and then as if it is coming straight from the
top of the mountain, the famous music of the DOMINO song gets pumped
though the speakers ... goosebumps! but also respect is the feeling
... It is as if the mountain is talking to you and saying respect me i
am big or else, but if you respect me i will reward you with more than
you can ever image. This is every emotional, and then we start and we
all touch a band above the starting arch on our way out, to say
respect and to this point i shall return after conquering 100 miles of
mountain.
The crowds are amazing, the first 2km of the start is just goosebumps
trying to run but working yourself though the supporter crowds with
people taking photos, very emotional, and then you get going, it gets
dark, it is still raining and we are on our way, the journey has
started!
Then 9km into the race we start to go up climbing 800m in 5km to la
charme, it is muddy and very slippery, 90% of people are using
trekking poles, my gortex salomons keeps the cold water out, soon i am
forced to put my waterproof gloves on as the temperature drops as we
go up. Then we go down 800m, the mud makes it very slippery but if you
trust your feet you don't slide. Reaching St Gervais 21km into the
race the rain stopped and the vibe of supporters was amazing, there
would be groups of supporters that would go absolutely crazy if you
pass them, you can't help to get a kick in your legs and run twice as
fast automatically while they blow horns ring alpine bells and shout
at you. Then there are silly french people shouting "O, la la!, O le
le!" the whole time very funny.
Then we started a huge climb to 2486m, I made the cutoff time by 5min
and had to exit the water point gate immediately without getting
water, and i was starting to feel very sick with a bacterial infection
brewing. I asked if i could at least get water, but they refused as i
had already exited the point, so up i went seeing a stream high above
me i though i will just have to look after myself. So up we went and i
got water, and then ice rain started witch turned into snow as we went
up col bonhomme, it was quite something, and you realize your are on
your own on the mountain. After coming down the mountain at 50km i
missed the cutoff, witch i think was a good thing as i would have
carried on with my sickness witch would have been bad for me. They
stopped me, and i was taken from the breathtaking beauty of italy
though the tunnel in the mountain back to chamonix where i tried to
recover from a now hectic sickness. Bad stuff happen, that is life.
So i have unfinished business, that is fine. I feel i would have
definitively finished the race making the cutoffs if i weren't sick.
Now being a spectator at the finish line of UTMB is a very emotional
experience. When runners enter Chamonix they don't enter as persons,
they enter as absolute heros with an emotion of heart moving pride
having found the reason making life worth living, whole families
would escort runners in where some runners would carry all 3 their
children on their back after 100miles!
Then when they go though the finish line arch the DOMINO song plays
and everyone are in tears... I still am, and not because i got sick.
Because it is such a beautiful race.
I will be back for this race, for sure, it was an amazing experience!
