{"id":1614,"date":"2014-09-30T11:51:51","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T00:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/run.dj\/?p=1614"},"modified":"2014-10-05T12:39:13","modified_gmt":"2014-10-05T01:39:13","slug":"ultra-trail-du-mont-blanc-utmb-2014-guest-blog-tanya-carroll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/run.dj\/?p=1614","title":{"rendered":"Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) 2014 Guest Blog Tanya Carroll"},"content":{"rendered":"

WARNING \u2013 this might be as long and as tedious to read as it was following me online during the run!\u00a0\u00a0 However it could be really useful if you suffer from insomnia.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Looking<\/a>

Looking up towards Mont Blanc and the Aiguille du Midi cable car<\/p><\/div>\n

Until now my longest \u2018race report\u2019 has been a paragraph or so on Facebook, where I would usually claim that \u201cI will never ever ever do <insert race name> again\u201d<\/em>. Within 2-3 days I would be on the phone trying to book accommodation close to the event for the following year. Such is the addiction of ultra-running.<\/p>\n

It was this compulsion to enter more races that led me to the UTMB website towards the end of last year. I was initially surprised to see that I had the 7 qualifying points I needed to enter, thanks to two North Face 100km races and Mount Solitary 45km. Having the points however was only half the battle. There are a lot more runners wanting to do UTMB than there are spaces, so they operate a lottery system. I had heard it is pretty common to miss out multiple times before getting a chance to compete. So I put my name in the hat, thinking that in a couple of years it would be good to do it. Then in January I found out I had fluked it and got in first time. I was pretty terrified as this would be my first 100 mile race, and it is not really known as a beginners course.<\/p>\n

Now fast track to Tuesday 26th<\/sup> August 2014. My 13 year old son Joel and I arrived in Chamonix on a train (actually 3 trains) from Paris. It was 10pm and we expected we could get a taxi from the train station, but there were none to be seen. However I had forgotten how small Chamonix town centre is, and it took no more than 5 mins to walk to our accommodation. I knew we were staying near to the finish but I was surprised to see we were only around 50m from the finishing arch. I did splurge a bit on this hotel as back in June it seemed like the only place still available, but as it turns out I needn\u2019t have rushed. There are a lot of places within 5-10 mins walk and my sister was able to find an AirBNB apartment on the main street just a week before the race.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The view from our hotel over the start\/finish area<\/p><\/div>\n

The next morning I joined a group run hosted by Sebastian Chaigneau and Fernanda Maciel . There were around 40 others and we ran for half an hour on some flat trails around Chamonix. I had been quite worried about a hamstring injury that had been niggling me ever since TNF 100 in May. Luckily it felt good, and this short jog helped settle my nerves down a bit. It was great to see Tony Williams who is also coached by Andy DuBois.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My training partner for the day \u2013 didn\u2019t push me as hard as David Brown on a Tues night hills session though.<\/p><\/div>\n

I picked up my race kit and bib later than day. Queues were long and it took about an hour, but it was a good chance to chat to other runners. I saw Andrew Tuckey there and wished him luck, not that he needed it. He ended up having a fantastic race, finishing 6th<\/sup> overall.<\/p>\n

I then visited the race expo which is huge, and where I managed to spend around AUD $500 on miscellaneous running gear, despite only really needing to buy an $8 plastic tumbler and $25 waterproof gloves!!\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t see Hammer or Tailwind products there, but pretty much everything else I could have possibly needed was for sale. I also chatted to Shona Stephenson at the Innov8 stand and she was determined to have a good race this year. Like Andrew she absolutely smashed it, finishing 10th<\/sup> female.<\/p>\n

My sister Amy arrived Weds night and the next day the three of us went up the Aiguille du Midi cable car to have a look around. It is one of Chamonix\u2019s main tourist attractions and it is the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world. The view was pretty cool, but I did get a shock when we climbed the stairs to the caf\u00e9 on the top terrace. I really felt the effects of the altitude (3,842 metres). I was short of breath and had a headache which lasted until late that night. I had asked a few people whether you needed to do altitude training for UTMB, but they said it wasn\u2019t really necessary. The highest peaks in UTMB are only around 2,500m, but I was nervous nonetheless.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo from the cable car as we were approaching the top station<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

The view back down to Chamonix. The hills at the top of the picture are where you run in the final stages of UTMB<\/p><\/div>\n

In the top caf\u00e9 I was left to mind our wallets and cameras while Amy and Joel went to get food. As I was waiting Killian Jornet and Emelie Forsberg walked past. Like a true groupie I abandoned all our valuables and chased them down for a photo. They were lovely and asked me about which race I was doing etc. I felt like a bit of a dork asking for a photo but now I have a profile picture that I can keep up forever (sorry kids you won\u2019t get a look in now). I crouched down a bit as they are so cute and little, so I have a hunchback thing going on in the photo.<\/p>\n

\"3<\/a>

3 famous trail runners – yeah right!<\/p><\/div>\n

That night back in the hotel I heard the crowds roar as the winner of the 119km TDS race was approaching through the streets. I bolted down the stairs, and got to see Xavier Thevenard as he crossed the finish line (he also won UTMB in 2013). There are around 7,500 competitors across all five races, so the town is pretty jammed with runners & supporters, and the cheers and commotion was unreal.\"TDS2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I wanted to get a good nights kip on Thurs night, but I didn\u2019t fall asleep until around midnight, and woke just before 8am. I fussed around all day, packing and unpacking, and depositing my single drop bag across town. I tried to lay down and have a snooze around 2pm, but just couldn\u2019t nod off.<\/p>\n

\n

Start to Saint Gervais<\/strong><\/p>\n

0 \u2013 21kms
\nFri 5.30pm \u2013 8.53pm<\/p>\n

Position out of 2434 starters:
\n– Le Delevret\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01715
\n– Saint Gervais \u00a0 1849<\/p>\n

The beauty of being so close to the start\/finish was that I stayed in my room, went to the toilet a dozen times (you think I\u2019m joking), and then finally went down to the line right on 5pm as the briefing started. They started playing the Conquest of Paradise which is the race theme song, and I really did feel like I could conquer anything (except my nerves). I gave Joel and Amy a hug and kiss goodbye and joined the crowd of runners as we stood waiting for the countdown. I have never got teary in a race before, not even on\u00a0 finishing, but I found myself feeling very emotional. All the adjectives I could think of to describe the start seem too cliched, but take what you\u2019ve heard and multiple it by ten. Maybe \u201cchoice\u201d in a really exaggerated kiwi accent would be the best descriptor.<\/p>\n

\"Joel<\/a>

Joel and I just before it starting pouring down at the start- when did he get so tall?<\/p><\/div>\n

Light drops of rain had been falling, but I hate running in a rain jacket, so I had resisted putting on my waterproof gear. But now\u00a0five mins before the start it was bucketing down. I didn\u2019t know how cold I would get in the mountains through the middle of the night so I decided I would cover up. Finally the countdown started and we were off. It didn\u2019t take too long to cross the starting mat, and whilst it was fairly congested at the start it was only a few minutes until we were running.<\/p>\n

\"Still<\/a>

Still from UTMB Video captured by Michael McGrath<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo from UTMB FB page, credit Franck Oddoux<\/p><\/div>\n

It seemed like half the males in the field stopped in the first few kilometres for a toilet break. I then rounded a corner to see one female competitor squatting down in front of me, the last remaining sunlight bouncing off her completely exposed bottom. No ducking behind a bush, just right there on the edge of the trail. I wondered if that\u2019s just what you do in European races. The other interesting sight was a guy in a sumo suit. I think it was one of those plastic ones, great for moisture wicking I hear. Fine if you are doing City to Surf or the Bridge Run, but 100 miles in a plastic suit!<\/p>\n

I had been told that the only flat part of the UTMB course is the first 8 kms and this is pretty close to the truth. I was running at a steady pace, and was soon in Les Houches where I just grabbed a banana and soup and ate on the move. The crowd support through the towns was very uplifting, especially as the rain was still coming down. I loved high fiving all the kids who lined the streets.<\/p>\n

I started the climb up to Le Delevret (the first of nine major ascents throughout the course). I chatted to a runner from the UK who had trekked the whole thing just 10 days before. He thought that this first climb was harder than some of the other longer ones to come, so I prepared myself. It was definitely tough (around 900m ascent in 4.5kms), and I did feel a bit breathless towards the top, but overall I was pleasantly surprised. It was really muddy (for those of you who did Buffalo Stampede think of the first two hills) and my feet were soaked as the rain was pretty heavy at times.<\/p>\n

Then came a 6km downhill. I love descents but Andy had wisely told me to look after my quads during the first half of the race, and to run lightly. As a result a lot of people did fly by, but I wasn\u2019t concerned. I came into the Saint Gervais checkpoint pretty close to my expected time, but which was only 37 mins before the cut off. I did think to myself that the cutoffs must be pretty tight as I thought I was running OK. Whilst I knew I was near the back, there were still plenty of people behind me (585 to be precise).<\/p>\n

Despite feeling really positive at this point, a couple of key things had already gone wrong. For some reason even though I had trained using Tailwind, it just wasn\u2019t going down that well. It tasted too sweet, and I really didn\u2019t feel like drinking it. At this early stage I wasn\u2019t too worried because I was getting some good calories from real food, particularly from the delicious chicken noodle soup they had at most checkpoints. But I was conscious that it was a long race, and that I would have to be careful if I wanted enough energy to finish this thing. As it turned out, this first bottle of Tailwind was the only one I drank for the whole race.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The best ever chicken noodle soup<\/p><\/div>\n

What was more alarming to me was that my iPod had stopped working after only 20 mins of listening to music. \u201cWhat the <bleep>, <bleep> < bleep>\u201d Oh and another <bleep> for good measure. I had spent months downloading all my favourite songs, sorting and resorting them into numerous playlists. I had a high tempo list when I really wanted to get moving up some of the hard climbs, more relaxed songs if I was cruising along in the middle of the race etc etc. I was also carrying a charger to recharge the iPod on the run, and I had another one in my drop bag \u2013 that\u2019s how concerned I was that the battery would run out.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019d asked me prior to the run to rank my kit in terms of importance, I would have said my iPod was second only to my headlamp. I guess it\u00a0must have got water on it during the downpour, despite it being in a ziplock bag. For about a minute I thought about how terrible it was going to be to run for around 40 more hours without music. But there wasn\u2019t much I could do about it, so surprisingly I was able to put it out of my mind pretty quickly.<\/p>\n

\n

Saint Gervais to Les Chapieux<\/strong><\/p>\n

21kms \u2013 49kms
\nFri 8.53pm to Sat 3.32am<\/p>\n

Position out of 2434 starters:
\n– Les Contamines\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01642
\n– La Balme\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01410 – not sure how this happened or if it’s right?
\n– Croix du bonhomme\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 1649
\n– Les Chapieux\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01696<\/p>\n

\"Notre-Dame<\/a>

Notre-Dame de la Gorge – Photo from Flickr, credit Nick Ham<\/p><\/div>\n

This section was one of the most memorable of the whole course. It started off very gently and again I felt good and thought that perhaps people had exaggerated how hard this race was (it was a bit early to be thinking this as it turned out). In the early stages there were again lots of people lining the course, ringing bells and calling out our names.<\/p>\n

\"Photos<\/a>

Photos from UTMB FB page, credit Franck Oddoux \u2013 as you can see it was a touch wet on Fri night<\/p><\/div>\n

\"rain2\"<\/a>Eventually I came to a long steady climb up through a valley, and because it was so dark I couldn\u2019t really see the mountains that surrounded us. What I could make out were hundreds of headtorches in a big zig zag pattern in front of me. They got smaller and smaller the higher up they got. Then if I really squinted I could make out a couple of insy winsy dots up in the sky. I honestly thought that they were so high up that they must be stars, or a plane, maybe a UFO, just please tell me they are not runners. Of course a couple of hours later when I thought I had reached the summit I realised that these were more headlamps still climbing up to the heavens. All up there is just short of 2,000 metres in elevation gain in this section, pretty much all\u00a0in this one long ascent. For comparison purposes this is three times as much vertical gain as the climb up Mount Solitary, albeit it wasn’t quite as steep.<\/p>\n

When I felt like this climb was never going to end (which was often), I turned around and looked back down into the valley. There were hundreds of lights stretched out behind me, and it gave me reassurance that I was probably doing ok if there were people that still looked like they were down in the flattish section of the valley. I didn\u2019t realise it at the time but I now know a lot of those runners would not have made the next cut off. When I looked at the stats post race, already 275 people had dropped from the race by this 49km checkpoint, although it doesn\u2019t separate out who was timed out vs injured etc.<\/p>\n

\"Source<\/a>

Source unknown<\/p><\/div>\n

\"copy<\/a>Overall I only gained 19 places through this section, but was now 1hr 13 mins ahead of the cut off when I arrived at Les Chapieux. I did find it slow getting through the checkpoints, and was here for 21 mins according to the results sheet. In the North Face 100 I am usually great at getting myself in and out of checkpoints quickly (2-5 mins, with about 10mins at CP4), but I was incredibly slow throughout this whole race. I put this down to three things:<\/p>\n