Written by Carmine De Grandis - www.runanywhere.co.uk
Many people have congratulated me for being a finisher at the Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc 2015: a journey in the Alps, 170 km long with 10000 metres of climbing and descending through beautiful trails with technical, rocky or exposed sections. When did this memorable experience begin? Why did I find myself miles from home ready to take part in possibly the most famous Ultra Trail Race in the world?
I am not one for crying, but at the start of my race I cried while I ran! A deep emotion moved me. The atmosphere, the nervous energy, the shouts of support from a crowd of which I had only ever seen at the London Marathon. In reality I cried because I was missing my family and my children. I knew my children were supporting me from far away, but I could not see them... I knew the job I needed to do: finish the journey and get back to Chamonix in less than 46 hours. A great friend and runner, Kim Collinson, had given me one of the clues on how to do this. He had reminded me that I had finished 5 other 100+ miles races before. This was not going to be different. I used this thought to keep me going; I reminded myself of this when I felt I could not go on; I made myself run hard on the final descent because “I knew how to finish a 100 mile race”. As I write I realise that the self doubt which had dominated the weeks that had passed since my previous big race, The Ultra Trail of the Lake District, had been overturned by “trust”. I could not trust myself, but I trusted Kim, I trusted my family, I trusted the many friends who were encouraging me in Chamonix or virtually. Other people saw what I could not see... all I needed was to believe them and trust I could do this.
My journey started 4 years earlier when quite drunk on new years day (3a.m.) I entered the CCC, the shortest UTMB race at the time. As I sobered up, I hoped that I would not be successful in the ballot. I was! I trained hard and since I have made many trips to the mountains in the UK, in Italy, in France and in Switzerland. In 2012 I completed the CCC in extreme weather. It was so cold that the organisers made it compulsory to have 4-5 layers along the way in our race packs. The following year I completed the TDS. This is a much more technical race: Longer and with more vertical gain. I enjoyed the TDS. By now I was part of a Skyrunning Team, Salomon Agisko, and felt stronger. I loved going around with my friend Madoc Batters. We finished well and I am still proud of that. However, I wanted to complete the UTMB, the original Mont Blanc trail. I was unsuccessful in gaining a place in 2014, but using a double coefficient in the ballot I received a confirmation email saying I would be part of the great journey in 2015.
As I received my email I knew that my race plans for the year needed to be re-drawn. Out went training for a sub 3:00 London Marathon and in went mountain/fell/trail/ultra races. I must say that I have enjoyed these races and as usual enjoyed making new friends with the same passion for running off-road. I chose to be competitive in some of the races while running to complete and train for my target 3 x 100 miles races. I discovered that being part of Runfurther.com motivated me and offered a great mix of distances and terrains which should be ideal to train. From the beginning of January I ran 1983 miles in 375 hours of training, climbing and descending 60715 metres. Preparing for my 100 miles challenges I completed 11 ultramarathon races and enjoyed them thoroughly. Looking back I realise that my decision to focus on the mountain ultras was right. It is important to listen to one’s heart and see were it takes you – no matter the sacrifices that may be involved -.
Let me take you to a place where everything stopped: it was 5.50pm on Friday, 28 August. A Golden Eagle flew over 2563 athletes ready to embark on an epic journey in Mont Blanc country. I had been waiting for four years to be part of this event and finally I had the chance to be one of the finishers. From the start we were reminded that the conditions would be quite difficult. With the beautiful sunshine temperatures were going to be in the thirties. Even though I am Italian, the years I have spent in the UK have changed my levels of tolerance for extreme heat. The race started slowly and getting to Saint Gervais took longer than I wanted. However, I soaked in the atmosphere and enjoyed the incredible support along the route. As we got further along the route and into the night I started seeing signs of fatigue in a number of runners. I also took the chance to get to know people and learn a little about the course from athletes who had finished the UTMB in previous years.
Going over Col du Bonhomme, Col de la Seigne and Arrete du Mont-Favre gave me the feeling that the UTMB was going to be a memorable experience. I was loving the moonlit night and the starry sky. As daylight came I realised that I was going strong downhill. I decided to run stronger during the downhill sections and get to Courmayeur (77km) by 9 am. The incredibly steep descent to Courmayeur almost crippled me, reminding me that Norfolk is not the best training ground for technical downhills. I felt really proud when I arrived in Courmayeur on schedule and saw Rachel, Graham and some other familiar faces. I was 15 hours into the race and I was still feeling strong.
I took 33 minutes in Courmyeur and I took some big decisions: No change of shoes. I trusted my SCOTT Kinabalu Supertrac and did not want to risk blisters by changing shoes. I planned to keep using my antichafing crème Nok regularly as this was working. I decided to stick to my nutrition plan which consisted of TORQ gels, Overstim Salts with additional S-Caps salt tablets as well as some solid food at the various aid stations. I also chose to go as hard as I could with the hope of finishing in 36 to 38 hours.
The next section, however, was not going to go as I planned. A much more direct ascent to Rifugio Bertone meant that I had the taste of the vertical climbs which were to follow. The extreme heat started to take its toll and I felt that I was not progressing as I wanted. I kept dipping my hat in water any time I had a chance and still I felt I was burning. I knew that climbing Grand Col Ferret was to be a real test of character. I reached the top roughly 100km form the start in 21h 23m. I know this now and I also know that I was improving my ranking considerably. At the time I started feeling the exhaustion. I was about to have the hardest time in this race at a point were I should simply run a long downhill stretch of about 20 km. I suffered and was ready to quit by the time I reached Champeux-Lac in Switzerland.
All I had left was just a bit longer than a mountain marathon... yet all I wanted was to rest my legs. Due to a mix of going out too hard and extreme heat, my nutrition seemed to be unable to give me energy to move. Pain is something we accept, but my quad muscles felt so laden and heavy that I was convinced I would not be able to run again.
I sat at a table and considered not finishing... why should I continue if it was so hard! At this point I chose to reconsider my objective. Forget about times and forget about ranking, would there be enough time to finish this adventure without being disqualified? I forced down some pasta, slept for one hour and woke up as if I had been possessed. I had decided to finish what I had started: I will get to Chamonix a “UTMB Finisher”. As I left the tent I wanted to speak to my wife and let her know I was still going, but I had my doubts about finishing. This time she returned the “favour” I had dished out on her many other times. “Jenny! It has been too hot. I am struggling. I am not sure about what to do!” – I said close to tears. “You have got time... just make sure you finish the race. Then you can rest. Good night”... so I started on my way to the last three tough climbs and descents. It was 9 pm and I had been going for 26 hours.
I really started to enjoy the experience of my second night in the mountains as I decided to be less focused on going faster. I took the time to talk to more people while keeping a steady pace and desperately trying to make my heavy legs run every downhill possible. As I climbed towards “La Giete” I kept checking how quickly I was making progress. These three climbs had between 600 and 900 metres of climb in the space of very few kilometres. As I reached “Trient” in the middle of the night the welcome and encouragement were awesome. I stayed 25 minutes, but I left with a fresh challenge... “I will finish strong!” Would I? Could this be possible? Whatever would happen I left determined to get to Chamonix in less than 40 hours. It was 2:24 in the morning.
During the last section of the race I started to feel better and while climbing to Tete aux Vents I felt stronger. This is one of the most technical and hardest climbs, yet due to the uneven steps, my muscles seemed to unblock and flow again. It was morning and Mont Blanc was majestic. The more technical and rocky the trail became, the more I wanted to do my best in this final stretch. As I reached the Tete aux Vents, the trail started descending towards La Flegere and then Chamonix. There was still a chance I could cover the distance by 10 am (sub 40 hours target and completion target)... I shared a gel with a fellow “trailer” who was struggling, had one myself and told my legs they had a job to do. I remember running harder than before, inspired by the many supporters along the course. I reached La Flegere (8 km away) at 9am exactly... one hour to cover a steep, but pleasant downhill and achieve one of my objectives.
I was pleased I was running and keeping a good pace, but I was not able to increase it enough to leave myself a good margin to get there by 10am. I finally hit the tarmac (1.5 km from the finish line) and I was now running sub 7 min/mile... desperate to see the clock saying 39:59!
Unfortunately, it was not to be!
I finished in 40h01m00s ranking 719 (out of 1632 finishers and 2563 starters) and 286 (out of 679 who finished) Veteran 40-49! This is hardly a “winning” performance, yet I felt like I champion. I felt happier than I had ever been at the end of any other trail event. My race was made more special by the many familiar faces and friends who had come to see me finish! I was humbled by their presence and I would like to thank my club mates, Colin Stark and Andy Kett, who run the last section with me - thank you guys! I really appreciated you being there -; Kelly Jane Stark and the children who took care of me as I crossed the finish line when I was almost delirious – yet not lost for words! -; Andy Jackson, Rachel Platt, Darren Hunt, Clare Holdcroft and all the others who were there cheering. Carmine and Davide Masciangelo were also a great company and reminded me of the kind people of my region in Italy, Abruzzo. Grazie e bravissimo Carmine, anche tu, come me un “finisher”! I would have failed without feeling the presence of my family who could not be there – The rubber band bear “Lucky” came around with me and reminded me of their love and support -. I also appreciated all the messages of support on my facebook page and my “runanywhere” page. Virtual communities can become real and can lead to meeting some amazing and inspirational people. Finally, I would also like to thank my Italian Skyrunning Team, Bergteam, for all the support as well as all the volunteers who gave their time with incredible dedication so that we (the trailers) could complete our journey and fulfil our dream.
Before competing in the UTMB, I thought I only wanted to do it once. During the UTMB, I told myself over and over “never again!”. After finishing the UTMB 2015, I cannot wait for another opportunity to be part of this incredible journey of the body and the mind in nature together with trailers from 77 different nations! One day...!