So after the CCC 2008, I thought to my self: "Cool, now I can relax." My goal is then to do the full tour of Mont Blanc, the UTMB 2009. One week later, I find out that there is a new point system, and that I need to do another race if I want to be able to apply for the UTMB 2009. I said to myself, "greeeat". So I look for the available races, and I only pretty much find this one, which is 54Km, and 3600m of elevation gain (that is 34mi and 12000feet for our American friends). Later I find out that I could have done an easier race, and that there were a bunch of possibilities. Oh well.
The race starts at 5h00 o'clock in the morning, and you have up to 13 hours to complete it. Doing the calculations, it should go ok, considering the CCC 2008 was 98km and 5500m and I finished in 23h16, and that I would try to avoid getting stomach problems, and that I could save some time at the stops by only staying there 10 minutes and not doing the whole social scene, I should be able to save enough time to be able to finish the race in time.
The race starts well, there is a large climb just at the beginning, which is good to avoid the cold. The first stop is a little far, but it is good, because it is there when you need it. Then you traverse back towards the main Chamonix valley, and there, there you are rewarded with a super view that is revealed as you reach a col. That for me was the highlight of the race. At this point you start feeling in your legs the 2000+ meters that you have on them. Plus, never mind that I had not trained at all for this race.
Then, the trail pretty much goes parallel to the valley, zigs zags some (to make up some kilometers) and then descends down to Chamonix.
I will have to admit that for many of the remaining uphills, I had a hard time, fortunately I was able to stay behind some people and shadow them. I even apologized, I told one woman "BTW if you find it too bothersome that I am really close behind let me know, but I have the feeling that if I don't stay this close, I will give up following you and then I will be here all day"
The very end, the descent from Flegere, is similar to the CCC. I got there, and the person told us that we only had 6km and 45 minutes to the finish line, this was good news since I had 1h30 left before the cut-off time. The fishy thing, is that I did not believe them, since I felt it was further away. At this point, I put on some serious music and started heading down like a reckless driver. The catch is that if I didn't finish in time, it would have been like if I had not been there.... well in the end I finished with 20 minutes to spare!. The good news for the others, is that they increased the allotted time by 30 minutes (so I really finished with 50 minutes to spare).
I really liked this race. I cannot avoid to compare it to the CCC. I would say, the terrain is definately more technical, you get more pebbles in your shoes!, you even take some metal ladders and stuff. There is more elevation gain in less distance. I mean, the work is pretty much the same as the Famous Death March of November 1999!
What's cool, is that I am learning how to better manage the race. I got my refuel times to 10-15 minutes (yeah I can do less, but I have to empty my shoes at every stop). I only drink Coke, bananas and bars. I stop and treats my blisters as soon as possible, for this race, I only got one tiny one!
