This is part 1 in a 2 part series of posts on the 2012 Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc by Auckland Ultra Runner Penny Kirkwood
Entering
In 2011 I had the crazy idea to enter UTMB – Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc so I could run on trails that I had hiked 20 years ago when climbing Mt. Blanc and also meet up with my two brothers, sister-in-law & nephew in France who were long overdue a visit. The event site would open on the 16th December and I would be able to register on that day. I confirmed that I had the necessary 5 qualifying points needed from other ultra-marathons, those being Tarawera 100km and TNF Blue Mountains 100km (with Kepler as back up with 1 point). On the day I entered on line and my race results from my qualifying races pre-populated on the French website in milliseconds without me having to type them! I paid via credit card and that bit was done. Next was the medical certificate which meant my doctor (a mountaineer) had to sign off my form stating I was fit and healthy. With this scanned back to UTMB all I could do was wait. I was then informed by UTMB that there was less than a one in three chance of getting through a draw would take place on the 6th January 2012. I really did not think I would get into UMTB. Next I was informed by email of the draw result and that I was in. Delight and disbelief hit me as how would I afford this as a student? My brother said “you are a woman that can, you will find a way.” The rest is history.
Preparation
Physical prep for this course was through me pacing for thirty plus hours on the Northburn 100miler course in Cromwell in March 2012. Alongside that I had to purely rely on muscle memory from long gnarly runs prior to March due to my ridiculously intensive university course which was occupying all my time since March.
A Very Different Ultra – Crucial Info from Felix Rojas Alva
Thank goodness for Felix (and thank goodness for the introduction Mark Colthart). On popping into Macpac and talking to Felix, I got to learn that this was a very different event than any I had done before (thank you to Felix’s boss and Felix’s enthusiasm). My running mates will be very happy to hear that the aid stations on the course have heaps of food and you do not need to carry any. Meat, cheese and cake eaters are well catered for. After finding this out on top of the only one drop bag news, me the vegetarian, non dairy, non wheat racer (due to “runners gut” IBS) was prepping to carry extra weight on the course. Felix and I decided it was going to have to be a race of two halves with a total fuel re-stock at Courmayer. Ok that was it was how it was going to be so I ordered in and packed up Gu Chomps and Cliff bars and was happy to fly.
Altitude Training
My base was right in Chamonix itself with access to trails right out the back door. I hit the hills for altitude training doing two approx 6hr days of approx 25km distance up hill in sun and on what turned out to be part of the actual course that I would see later in the week on race day in rain, snow, wind and fog. So glad I got to see it in sun and daylight. The temperatures were in the high 30’s.
All Change On The Weather Front During Race Week
Monday 27th Aug – 10pm went and saw start of PTL the “crazy week long” guys who get to do a crazy long course using the huts and they are not actually racing as such. That night I got to see just how packed the streets get at race start and how hard it is to move once the race starts!
Tuesday 28th Aug – Great training day on the hill, then received text at 7:15pm from organisers “TDS, CCC, UTMB Attention! Weather forecast: rain, snow at 2000m, wind, cold. Temperatures dropping below -5 C. Have winter clothing”.
Wednesday 29th Aug – Today I decided I was insane. Bag check in day today. You were given a check list printed out per person with tick list grid received once they had seen your passport and taken your 20 Euros for you timing chip. However once you got to gear check only a few items were requested to be checked – waterproof jacket, whistle, rucksack, bladder, warm hat & thermal long sleeve top (there are a lot more items on the compulsory check list). There was no waterproof glove check (which I bought specially). Then you were told to sign the form (with all the unticked boxes) and told it was your copy to keep. However the form was taken off you at the next check station which was odd. In total I received a drop bag with race number sticker for Courmayer (half way point), a race number with two electronic tags on the back, a rucksack electronic tag, 3 small rubbish bags (no littering), mesh & Velcro rubbish bag holder to attach to rucksack, UTMB North Face running top and UTMB wrist band. My race bib and by my name on the entry list was “Nouvelle” or “New” as “Nouvelle Zélande” was too long to fit! So I raced for the country “New”.
Next text from organisers arrived “TDS UTMB CCC: Conditions are expected to be very cold and difficult. 4 layers of clothing necessary. Read news on www.ultrtrail.com or on Facebook.
Everything was packed and all I had to do was to wait.
Thursday 30th Aug – The rain came and the cloud base came down to the ground. When the cloud briefly cleared you could see much lower fresh snow. Then the cloud came back to the ground. The rain never stopped.
I was expecting to start UTMB in rain and expecting to encounter snow, all conditions I knew how to cope with. TDS race had started at 7am.
Friday 31st Aug – Still raining heavily. Next text arrives from organisers at 11:40am “UTMB: Start around 7pm (normally 6:30pm). Weather conditions too difficult on the mountain pass. New course 100km France only. See www.ultrtrail.com”.
Holy crap! I assumed with this course shortening that there must be no drop bag now? I did not want to unnecessarily drop a bag that you normally cannot get back till a week’s time. I then had to hedge my bets on how long I would be out there on the new unknown course and how much fuel to take on the new 100km course. CCC race had started at 10am.
Next text arrives from organisers at 2:50pm – “CCC New Time Barriers!”
On checking I saw that the time points were shorter than normal and that a new one had been added before Chamonix in Argentiere. Now I knew the weather was bad as they were getting people off the course sooner! Still no new UTMB course posted.
When I checked the website or FB for messages they just said wait for the new route. I never received a text about the new route until we were well into the new course.
I re-packed my gear and decided to stick with 20hours food, having no idea about the course but just knowing it would be mean 100+ km! I checked the website one more time at about 5pm and there was the new route and a “no drop bag” statement, but we had not received a text at all. I wrote down the new time points, got dressed and got ready to head out and focused on being flexible. I assumed we would have a race brief at 6:30 ready for a 7pm start. Luckily I marched my brothers to the start early as there was no room left in the narrow streets later on. I had to say good bye to my brothers before race start as they were becoming part of the race themselves, so they had to move and I never got to see them again as I was surrounded by wall to wall tall men and back packs. Again we were told 4 layers of clothing. Everyone was in their waterproof jackets already, not me as I knew we’d get hot pretty soon. My head torch was on ready though. Lots of GoPro cameras being warn too. There was a big screen I could just about see but I could not understand the French as it was all too fast, as it had been all week. There had been very little English spoken all week by race officials and there was zero at the start too. Later Rick told me that he really thought I was doing the “full” UTMB as they directors described the new course as a “real” UTMB! We were all poised on hitting our watches at 7pm, however two CCC finishers arrived just prior to the start, so mass cheers went up for them. Then they played the video of all the 10 years of races and we were off just after 7pm. Then the famous UTMB music started!
