Ok – it was just the ‘short’(er) Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix race for me this year, but with 98km and 5500m of climb to go at, still plenty of time for suffering…

The final result: 3rd, in 12hr 33min – which really was a surprise, as I’d basically blown it by getting cramp in the first hour and all the rest of the way round – so dropped down into ‘shuffle and survive’ mode in order to try and finish.  Quite a few other folk were having trouble with the heat too though, so there were one or two drop outs - then I necked a gel up the last hill and somehow managed to pull back three guys in the dark on the last leg over and down into Chamonix – ie totally unexpected!

Congrats also to Jules and Nina, who finished 7th and 10th women respectively in the CCC.  In the long race, big news was the young Catalan prodigy Killian Jornet winning in an impressive 20hr 56min - a full hour ahead of Dawa Sherpa in 2nd.  At only 20 years old, a truly amazing achievement – but not unexpected from the man who broke the vertical kilometer world record at just 17, and became the youngest ever winner of the legendary Pierra Menta ski mountaineering race this year too.

Lewis and Jane Grundy who I spent two weeks climbing with earlier in the summer (see reports end Jul – early Aug) were also braving the heat in the long race – Jane getting as far as Courmayeur and Lewis battling on to finish in 35hrs - a top effort given the conditions, which led to numerous of the top competitors dropping out.

Thanks to everyone who’s sent texts, emails and photos in the past few days and to everyone who turned out at all times of day and night on the course – all very much appreciated!  I just need to find a partner for the OMM now…

0km – Al + Jules Tregaskis looking relaxed at the start…

98km - Half man half zombie at the finish line… – Pic David Best.

A good prep run today for the Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix race at the end of August: the Terra Modana race covers 50k with 2600m of ascent around the Frejus Valley, visiting half a dozen forts in the area en route (including one section running through the dungeons!)

With a bit of a cold and a lot of climb in the legs (12000m of ascent for the week..) I was pretty pleased with 4th place in 5hr 11min – relying mostly on pushing like hell with the poles, coz my legs certainly weren’t working too well after a week like that!

Mountain running French stylee – shades, batons + water bottles

This was an interesting one! – I’ve got the Terra Modana race coming up in France next month, so asked the organisers at Ennerdale if it would be Ok to run round with a new pair of nordic walking poles I’ve just bought, in order to get some race training in for the summer. 

They were cool about it & we had a quite a bit of discussion going on about whether they would actually help in a British race or not – so I decided to leg it up the first hill & then use them on as many different types of terrain as possible on the way round, just to see what they were like on a typical rough Lakeland course.

As you’d expect, they were definitely useful on the first climb up Great Borne – ie small paths + grassy slopes – but of limited use overall on all the rough terrain/traverses/scree etc round the rest of the course – ie you’d sometimes make a small gain part of a climb, but then immediately lose most of it due to slowing down to put the poles away at the start of the next descent etc.

Anyway – it was a good day out & I finished in 13th in 4hr 16min with suitably knackered arms as well as legs, so mission accomplished.

Or so I thought – until I got an email off my brother on Tuesday night that is.  Apparently, this had set off a huge debate on the Fell Running forums about whether walking poles were allowed/banned/any use at all etc in British races – so I ended up signing up to the forum to explain what it was all about.  Good to see these fell running forums are active though & not too many Mr Angry type ranters for a change too.

As for using poles for other things in the UK, they might be worth it for the longer 24 hr challenges and races primarily on paths and trails, or smoother ground.  At the finish at Ennerdale I pretty much persuaded someone who’d definitley be a contender to get a pair for the Lakes 100 mile race this summer, though whether he will after all that online debate remains to be seen – we’ll see what happens!

We had a good quality field up on the Chevin last night – with Andy Peace coming in first and Pudsey and Bramley taking the team prize.  I  was down in 19th and Shane (Green) now back from a year in the States, took the 1st local trophy back as expected - so that’s one less thing on the Mantelpiece.  Sorry I didn’t say hi to my sister watching at the top of the steps – I wasn’t capable of speech by that stage!

White House Steps – the Chevin race come straight up….arrgghh

It was a bit of a hot day in the Lakes yesterday for a 20ml fell race, but over 200 people turned out for Duddon - with Simon Bailey taking the mens honours and Janet McIvor smashing the womens record and finishing 11th overall – a truly amazing performance.  Somewhat further down the field… I enjoyed a sociable run round, catching up with several old friends and came in 30th – nowhere near up to speed yet, but that should sort things out for Ennerdale in a couple of weeks time.

Jon Deegan (Ambleside) - coming 8th at Duddon this Saturday

 

Well it’s good to see that two weeks of dry weather have done nothing to dry out the bogs of Ilkley Moor.  I did the Jack Bloor Races tonight as my first fell race of the season – the arctic diet plan seemed to have worked a treat as I felt pretty good despite having done no running for months – this is a fast 5 miler, so I was very happy with 16th place at the finish.

Pudsey & Bramley had a good turn out too, so we won the team prize - though needless to say I wasn’t fast enough to count.  That’s what happens when you’re in a club full of Yorkshire whippets!

Still got pretty sore feet from running Elite on the OMM this weekend in the Southern Uplands with Jonny Morgan – it was all going pretty well on day one, till we unfortunately lost 35 mins & blew the race on a suspected mis placed control (of the leading teams, some found it, quite a few didn’t – but several noted it wasn’t where it should have been!  – Oops…)  This left us back in 9th at a stormy overnight camp, but we put in the 2nd fastest time on day 2 and picked up a couple of places to finish 7th overall.

Al and Jonny coming down the final hill to camp on day one.

Well deserved winners this year however were Sean and Brendan Bolland, who pulled away from the field and finished very strongly on both days – well done guys + great to see so many folk up there this weekend ‘enjoying’ the weather (numerous tents blew down or were flooded overnight – with stories of folk sleeping upright in the portaloos etc – all part of the great British Mountain Marathon experience….)

Jonnys girlfriend Karen and her partner Janet also completed the Elite, becoming the first all female team to do so for several years and the local Otley Massive were out in force too, with 5 of our local runners in 4 teams all finishing the Elite – so a great weekend all round.  Even my sister came in smiling, after her tent got flooded with 10cm of water at 2 in the morning… well done Soph!

The Lake District was the venue for the first ever running of the new Rab Mountain Marathon this weekend.  Following the standard 2 day format, the competition took the form of a score event – with solo runners or teams of 2,3 or 4 being allowed, so a very inclusive event.

This was my first long run since the ultratrail a few weeks back, so an interesting test of recovery against stiff competition in the form of an ’in form’ Jon Aylward (fellow clubmate + Otley resident!), who’s won both the Lowe Alpine and Saunders MM’s this year…

Day 1 went well & I came in a few minutes early with 390 points, well clear of the rest of the field. Jon however went for broke, taking in an extra control – but came in over time & lost the extra points in time penalties, finishing up with 385 - so it was all still to play for on day 2. 

This time it didn’t go so well & I finished way too early – but Mr Aylward timed things much better & pulled off a fine victory by taking in an extra climb to nail 10 more points on day 2 & win with 735 points to 730 (he’s got new baby arriving in Feb – that should slow him down a bit!)

Congratulations also to Catherine Brennan, who climbed with Rich on one of our BMC courses this summer & won the womens race this weekend with Keswick clubmate Joanne Moore.  So the OMM is coming up & it’s going to be a hard battle for sure – this year we’ve got a complete ’Guides’ team on the Elite, as my brother is ill so Jonny Morgan has stepped in with his new found fell running prowess.  Time to go on a diet + do some more hill reps I think….

THE RESULT: 8th place in 23hr 52min, for 102 miles and 8900m of ascent…Ouch! 

Right, well it’s finally over – 2200 starters and a record 1457 finishers.  At the moment, I think I actually enjoyed the training more than the event itself - but I’m sure that’ll change.. Very happy indeed with the result – I was aiming for top 10 or sub 24 and managed both – though I had to really leg it down from Argentiere to Chamonix!  The field this year was very strong indeed (see press release) with all the top Europeans and Americans too, plus Dawa Sherpa from Nepal and well known ultrarunners from Japan, Argentina, South Africa etc all coming across for the race.

Half an hour before the start – ‘Is this really a good idea?’

In terms of how it went – I definitely went off too fast, but realised in time and started ignoring other people and running at my own pace for the rest of the race - which worked well, as I’d slipped down to 13th but then started picking up again from Champex, as people ahead dropped out or began running out of steam in the latter stages.  I’d hurt my knee at work 10 days before, which was causing quite a few problems - but nothing a couple of Neurofen wouldn’t sort out for the final couple of descents..

After 96 miles, passing through Argentiere - Just 1hr to reach Chamonix

From the Col de Montets, it was obvious that a big effort was going to be required to go sub 24 - but I found a bit of energy left in the tanks and pushed on hard, catching the 9th and 8th placed runners on the way down to Chamonix and managing the fastest split time for this final leg of the race.  It certainly felt odd feeling so good and still running hard all the way into town after such a long way – but well worth it & great to see Sima and the kids looking excited at the finish line.  Many thanks to everyone out on the course supporting at all times of day and night & for all the texts and emails folk have sent too – very much appreciated indeed. Time now for a bit of eating and a few days holiday - we’re off bouldering and playing in the sand at Fontainbleau…

That didn’t hurt…much