As most of you will know, I enjoy a bit of running round the
mountains. To this end, today is the start of another milestone for me, being
my second attempt to complete the Ultra Trail de Mont Blanc. Last year I made
the best attempt I could, but after running 28 hours, 11 with a badly sprained
ankle, I had no choice but to be rescued at 122km. This year I am here with a
fair bit of luck, much excitement and a lot of determination to finish, I will
do what I can!
The main purpose of this is to let you know that if you
wanted to check in on my progress and make sure I am still in one piece, the
event provides many ways to do it. You can follow me, runner 1887, as I make
each checkpoint at http://utmb.livetrail.net/coureur.php.
You can also follow Andrew Tolley and Jordi Moncada with whom I have the honour
of running. You can also see coverage of the event on http://ultratrail.tv/en where you can watch
the start, the highlights, and experience the joy of seeing half-broken runners
wincing through checkpoints in the middle of the night!
For a taste of this awesome event you might want to take a
few minutes to see the trailer http://youtu.be/2QFFdAyyuzA
which shows you a little of the atmosphere and the environment. In facts and
figures, the UTMB is a 106 mile foot race around the Mont Blanc massive,
starting in Chamonix, France, and travelling through Italy and Switzerland
before returning. The event takes in nearly 10km of height gain. So while it
doesn’t ascend the peaks of the mountains, it does take in the equivalent of
nearly three ascents of Mont Blanc! About 2,500 people are lucky enough to run
this event, selected by lottery after qualifying through many hours and countless
miles of other trail races, including hundreds of the world’s most competitive
(and obsessive) trail runners. One of these runners is likely to finish in
little over 20 hours, but the majority will take between 35 and 45 hours. That
makes a slow average pace if you are used to road running, but the terrain and
the gradients of these awesome mountains make progress challenging, and even
the slowest competitor will need to run whenever they can.
I will be lining up in Chamonix this afternoon at 5:30pm
local time, in the ranks of the dayglo lycra clad masses. Aside from a change
of clothes and a few bowls of soup and some coffee, I should keep moving until
at least 9am on Sunday, at which point I am hoping to have earned some sleep
(and a few tartiflettes)!
Emily and the girls are here for moral support, my brother
in law and family are here with Andy running the CCC race today, and many other
friends. Also many friends checking in from afar, some who have been here and
immersed themselves in this remarkable challenge before such as Andrew Laurie
who helped motivate me to do these races in the first place. As I discovered
last year, while the running and the eating and drinking and survival all fall
to me, the knowledge that other people are supporting me from near and afar make
all the difference. A race like this is much more a mental battle than a
physical one, and every message of support helps build the wave of positivity
that I need to get through – so please do check in on how I am doing, and do
feel free to send me an sms or facebook me, I will be delighted to hear from
you in the long hours ahead!
Thanks for all your support!
Julian
