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Whist in Chamonix last year we saw all these runners hobbling into
\ntown to the most amazing reception from the crowds. On further
\ninspection we discovered they were finishing the Tour du Mont-Blanc
\nUltra-Trail race. 158km, 8500m and passing through France, Italy and
\nSwitzerland. Just seeing the atmosphere at the finish, Karen and I
\nwere inspired to enter for next years. More by luck then any planning
\nwe got an entry- apparently they were full within days.
\n![](\"https:\/\/www.dpfr.org.uk\/uploads\/news\/TDMB1.jpg\"\")
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So a year later saw us battling with 2500 others to cross the start
\nline. Not the place to start worrying about how much or little
\ntraining we had done. How do you train for 158km with a wee bit of up
\nand down? Everyone had there advice and theories. In the end I think
\nneither did that much specific training \u2013 just did what we enjoy
\nmost and ran as much as possible. Although I do long adventure races
\nI had never run continuously for more than 48 mile before. Karen\u2019s
\nlongest race was 25 miles. <\/p>\n
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As we ran down the main street of Chamonix the trick was to avoid
\nbeing stabbed by walking poles. The streets were lined with people \u2013
\nthe atmosphere was excellent and carried you along. We started at
\n7.00pm at night so for the first half all the villages were out
\npartying as the runners passed through. They had huge cow bells and
\n\u2018high- fived\u2019 everyone as they passed. It was amazing and made
\nyou feel part of something special.
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So we ran on into the night with head torches out. It was a lovely
\nstarry night with the mountains glowing red as the sun set. As I
\ndescended into Italy the sun was rising behind the mountains, glowing
\nyellow this time. The sunrise re-energised you and kept the sprits
\nup. <\/p>\n
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Surprisingly
\nmy legs were feeling fine and my feet were thankfully blister free.
\nHowever my stomach was not so happy. From about 8 hours in I was
\nstruggling to keep any food down and was losing energy rapidly. At
\npoints I just felt like giving up and if I was at a checkpoint at the
\ntime would have quite happily crawled into the retirement bus back to
\nChamonix. My lowest point was coming into Arnuva at 88km. As I
\nentered the checkpoint to my surprise Hilary and Phil \u2013 friends who
\nhad just come to watch the race- were there waiting for me. They were
\nfantastic and picked up my sprits no end. They would not let me give
\nin – up to that point I was obsessed with completing the event in a
\ncertain time- but they made me realise the challenge was to cross the
\nfinish line regardless of the time. <\/p>\n
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So it was a case of putting one foot in front of the other and trying
\nto get any food in to get some energy. Although there are 2500
\ncompetitors in the race- it can be quite lonely at times: everyone
\nspeaks a different language and sign language is difficult when all
\nyour energy is taken with slogging over the next col. <\/p>\n
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At 8.00pm I reached Champex 117km- only a marathon to go- nearly
\nthere! I decided to have a massage. Since the start I had a slight
\npain in my calf- so I asked them to be careful of it. \u201cI\u2019ll get a
\ndoctor to look at that.\u201d The doctor prodded and poked it and told
\nme I must retire as I have a stress fracture. I knew I hadn\u2019t and
\nat that stage nothing would make me retire- I was going to make that
\nfinish line even if I was crawling. So the doctor got a second doctor
\nwho promptly fetched a physio. The physio fetched the head physio- so
\nthere they all stood prodding and poking my leg. In the end they
\nconcluded I had inflammation of the muscle round the bone. \u201cIt will
\ntake months to recover and you won\u2019t be able to run\u201d. Quite
\namazingly after that it gave me very little problem-think I just
\nblanked it from my mind.
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The second night was long and I was moving slowly. It has started to
\nrain quite heavily. Hilary and Phil continued to meet me a
\ncheckpoints and looked after me so well. The finish was getting
\ncloser and closer and more a reality. <\/p>\n
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Chamonix
\nwas suddenly within reach- although the last 5km were cruel the route
\ndescended down to the river and then rose you up and up back on the
\nside of the valley. Every time you thought you had done the final
\nclimb another small slope appeared. But eventually you could hear the
\ncrowds and cheering. Phil met me on the edge of Chamonix- and we
\nsprinted -well it felt like it- into the finish. Hilary was there and
\nit was quite an emotionally moment. I was so proud to have crossed
\nthe finish line. 8.08am- 37hours later. <\/p>\n
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Karen was
\nrunning far faster than me and as I struggled into checkpoints I got
\nreport Karen had skipped through. She was in 4th place a
\nlot of the way. At 117km her old knee and joint injuries prevented
\nher from continuing.
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