If you apply this year and are not successfull you will have a guaranteed place for 2013 as long as you can gain the 5 points from no more than 2 races.If you apply this year you will maybe have 1 in 6 chance of not getting in.l
Printable View
If you apply this year and are not successfull you will have a guaranteed place for 2013 as long as you can gain the 5 points from no more than 2 races.If you apply this year you will maybe have 1 in 6 chance of not getting in.l
So, the taper begins (I like a long taper, it's my age!)
My last 4 weeks of training have been hampered by a rib injury, but I think I've made the best of things.
I have had to switch from front-loaded bottles to a more traditional bladder, and change my sac to accommodate this, but I think all will be well.
Travelling out to Cham on the 23rd, and hope to have a couple of days up high to get the lungs somewhat adjusted to 2,000 metres plus.
Hope to see a few of you there.
I'll be travelling over on the 23rd too. Might see you around Morgan. I like the idea of spending some time up high. Which ski lifts would you recommend to get me to the best places? (It's a serious question as I won't be wearing myself out doing any unneccessary climbing at that late stage.)
NickQuote:
Originally Posted by BritNick
I am planning a levelish run from Plan de L'Aiguille across to the Montenvers station (consistent at about 2,000 m) on Wednesday morning. Then the rest of the day atop Le Brevent at 2,500 m. I'll try and spend most of Thursday up there too. There are usually a supply of deck chairs and I'll have a good book and the iPod. It wasn't too manic up there last year, but plenty of through traffic inevitably.
So I will get a 2 day lift ticket early Wednesday which will cover all these ups and downs in lifts and trains.
The lift to Brevent is a short walk uphill from the town centre on the north side, telecabine to Plan Praz followed by telepherique up to Le Brevent.
I reckon a trip up the Midi to 13,000 feet plus would be counter-productive and it will be bloody busy!
Thanks Morgan. I'll get myself along to the tourist info centre on Wednesday to ask about these options. It'll probably be closer to midday as I won't be arriving at Les Houches until around midnight.
Have you seen how hot it is over there at the moment? Fingers crossed for cooler ( but not too cool!) weather for the end of next week.
Yes, its warm.Quote:
Originally Posted by andyhartley
And of course we've had such great weather here to prepare us for the heat. :rolleyes:
Here's a link to see the latest forecast:
http://www.chamonix.net/english/weather/forecast.htm
2009 ladies winner Krissy Moehl gets some time in on the trail:
http://web.mac.com/krissymoehl/Kriss...y_tour....html
I'm very jealous!
Weather shaping up not too bad; but could be a bit messy for those out Friday evening:
http://chamonix-meteo.com/bul/metPreEveEn.php
Suggests cooler and more stable Saturday and Sunday for the UTMBers.
Bonjour from a hot and sunny Chamonix.
Final run this morning, about 50 mins at the 2,000 metre level, nice and steady.
Thunderstorms threatened this evening and the forecast still suggests Friday evening and night could be very interesting:
http://chamonix-meteo.com/bul/metPreMatEn.php
Bad weather forecast yet again - the CCC has set off on time, but route has been amended. The UTMB will set off 5 hours later than planned at 11.30pm. Route unchanged apart from Vallorcine along the valley bottom to Chamonix, leaving out La Flegere...
Good luck to everyone, got a client running this and am wishing her all the very best of luck. Hope the delayed start doesn't cause any issues and hope weather improves.
Yes, the CCC copped the bad weather again. It rained hard and strong for much of the night with attendant lightning and thunder. Between about 10.00 pm and 4.00 pm it was grim; shades of last year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Britta
The amended route wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but at least they made the call just in time. The text arrived about half an hour before the start.
It snowed down to around 1,800 metres because of a significant drop in temperature in the early hours. This suggests that the delyed start for UTMB was a good call.
I'll post a brief report later today.
Latest bulletin at 17.55 (16.55 our time) Jornet may get in under 20 hours - or he may blow up.
Elle est surprenante, cette course... Quatre hommes semblent beaucoup plus forts que le reste du peloton, ce qui n'était encore jamais arrivé depuis la création de l'UTMB. A tel point qu'on sentait possible une remise en cause de la domination de Kilian Jornet. Seulement le jeune espagnol a l'air relativement frais et a fait exploser le quatuor de tete dans la descente de Trient. Il est arrivé à Trient à 17 h 03, devançant de 2 mn son compatriote Karrera et de 6 mn Sébastien Chaigneau. L'accélération apparemment assez franche de Kilian Jornet lui permettra peut-être de réaliser l'exploit de passer sous les 20 heures... mais elle peut aussi lui brûler les ailes.
Look for more updates HERE.
I am frustrated that I can find no news of the women.
This is a good source of info: http://www.irunfar.com/2011/08/live-...ont-blanc.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by Alexandra
Latest news is that Lizzy Hawker is way out in the lead for the women, running in 16th place overall.
Or you could just follow the live tracking on the UTMB website which updates everytime a runner goes through one of the check points
Finally found news of Lizzy Hawker's progress HERE.
Epic race, Kilian first, Iker Karrera just behind him, the Americans, Jurek, Roes, etc... all ended up retiring. Jez Bragg dropped out too.
Lizzie Hawker 14th and seems to be finishing strong.
Quick summary.
Ran 19 hours dead, top half of the field. Never expected that!
Too much road in the revised course, plus a shattering 1,200 m climb from what felt like sea level to the Col de la Forclaz.
Weather was grim overnight, freezing cold at Forclaz, so must have been much worse higher up.
Great effort from Andy Hartley. When I left him at Trient he looked dead and buried, white as a sheet. He made it through to Cham though. Well done mate!
The aid station at Bovine was destroyed in the storm on Friday night, hence the re-route of UTMB via Martigny and Forclaz.
No blisters, just 2 sore big toes and tender soles from too much road running. The S labs were top class even in the mud.
Lovely day here today, still a little cool but will warm up later to low 20s.
Watching the progress of clubmates Brian Melia and Nicky Jacquiery (who is running with Mark Townsend) and will be getting out on the course to encorage them on to the finish.
Bravo tous le monde.
Great photo of the victorious Lizzie Hawker HERE.
Great stuff Morgan, well done!
With that change and the change at the end what is the view on times compared to normal?Quote:
Originally Posted by MorganW
Was the valley route used at the end? not the route up La Flegere?
That must have cut out a good hour, but then how did the earlier change affect things?
Sounds like good organisation of the part of the organisers to cope with the weather and make a good route.
Well done everyone, great run by Alan Lucker, but also Chris Near was 28 something, must have been one the first Brits.
That's 10% of UTMB runners finished - and 35.25 hours since the start :w00t:
1193 abandoned the race out of 2370 starters (50.34% drop out rate so far!)
Some test of endurance in any conditions, let alone the weather they experienced through the first night!
yes the weather was rough. Over Voza it chucked it down and on the descent it was a muddy ski run in parts. On Bonhomme we had snow on the ground and neeedless to say it was cold; pretty though. On the way to Bonnhomme the sky was constasntly being lit up by lightning on the Italian side (luckily distant) It snowed on the ascent to Col De la Seigne but after that it was cold but o.k.
The route was 170km and 9,700m. Bits would be good for Killian; runnable ramps (out of Matigny) for him are power walks for most. So his and a few others times suggest an easier course. But for most i think it was tougher than the standard course. The descent route from Champex to Matigny was really rough and it had just got dark as I did it (one of the main reasons my big toe nails look like a trucks run them over). The 23:30 start time was tough too and in steady rain as well. The valley route was not exaclty easy. It is the same as the 2005 route that i did. It is really rough undulating ground and done at night tough. I asked what the route was like at Vallorcine so as to be mentally prepared, in broken English I was told Flat, boy did I curse him in my tired head.
Awesome result Alan. Well done
great video of the snow here
Commiserations to the Brits who didn't finish. Jez, Stuart Mills, Andy Mouncey, Brit Nick, Danny (drunkeneuphoria).
Special well done to Mark Dalton who dragged me around my first 100s (L100 and Housman 100) this year. He's just finished in just over 42 hours. gaining places at every checkpoint. Super strong effort Mark and great to watch on the tracker.
Also well done to the Ladies. Lizzy hawker's in another league. Helen Jackson and Wuthering Hike regular Helen Allison great results
Just back from a bite to eat at the Micro-Brasserie.
A Spanish lad was finishing at around 9.15 pm local time; the finish "cut off" was 9.30 pm, 46 hours after starting.
The reception for him was fantastic, yet another reminder of why anyone wanting to run an ultra race in the mountains should find their way to this town in late August.
The volunteers and supporters make these races.
My strongest memory from this year's race is of the 4 or 5 families who came out of their homes in the pouring rain in the small hours of the morning on the ascent to Col de Forclaz to feed and water the runners. And this on sections of the course only announed 30 minutes before the start.
These people understand mountain running in a deep-seated way, and their kindness is enough to move you to tears.
IainQuote:
Originally Posted by IainR
Early on the organisers brought the cut offs in by around 2 hours, which maybe reflected their view of the changes.
During the race they put them back to the original times, and the full 46 hour timescale. I am guessing this was after they saw the times taken by the CCC runners for the revised sections.
Yes, the valley route was used from Col des Montets, but it looks like the view they took was that the overall balance of the race was not affected. And I would endorse Alan's comments; it was not an easy run for home from Argentiere, especially in the dark.
170 kms and 9,700 m D+ is some race, and Kilian was pushed almost all the way, hence the cracking time. Many were forecasting sub-21 hours on the normal route.
Well done to the finishers and comiserations to those who dropped out it's a toughy
Good video but Q, Does the path have to be strictly followed, there are a few zig zags, could you not straight line it?
The TMB RO have made a list of time penalties for various things, one of them is taking a short cut which is 15 minutes and taking a serious short cut is 1 hour. I think I saw a borderline case for this one whilst nearing in on Chapiuex. A couple of guys straight lined what was a very winding track. Another penalty that could have been given that I witnessed, was a guy running with a competitor holding a large bottle of what looked like lemonade. It annoyed me even more as I was running low on water and it was warm. Everyone nows these rules but some just ignore them.
MQuote:
Originally Posted by Fly
Massive well done to everyone completing, especially Helen Allison - awesome effort. Now there's a lady worth shaking hands with, well done girl. Well done.
Thanks. Everyone that finnished were deffinitley made to earn their finnishers Gillet, which as ever is a quality bit of kit. So well done to all that toughed it out.Quote:
Originally Posted by cyclops
Breath-taking helicopter shots of the snowy mountains, the 3 front runners and the many behind them. I've already watched this twice. Thanks!Quote:
Originally Posted by Fly
Brilliant footage, the scenery is amazing:thumbup:
AlanQuote:
Originally Posted by Alan Lucker
Brilliant run from you. Well done.
Morgan
Hi does anyone have a link to the final results? I made it round between 38 and 39 hours but dont have a clue on the exact time. Hi Nic if your rading the thread, i'm really sorry to hear you had to drop out. I hope you are well?
Also a couple of guys i ran with Richard and George i dont know if you are on this list but if you are thanks for the encouragement and companionship on a long and gruelling run.
Tom
TomQuote:
Originally Posted by Tom R
Here:
http://utmb.livetrail.net/classentete.php?course=utmb
Thanks Morgan
Tom
A wonderful and modest champion; truly a man of the mountains:
http://www.irunfar.com/2011/08/kilia...interview.html
There seems little doubt that sub 20 was a real possibility, but he spent the day running with his mates, occasionally stopping to let them catch up!
Just back from France. Loved the CCC. What an incredible experience. The mountains, the cameraderie, the spectators, the rhythm of the running, the highs ( grand col de ferret and the view of the glaciers, the start, the swiss high pastureland down to Issaert, the food tent at Champex, knowing I would make it upon arriving in Argentiere, the finish), the lows ( the quad busting descent to Arnuva, the disorientating trail along the river to Martingny, the hellish climb to Col Forclaz and my vomiting (twice), the freezing rain and the dark lonely descent to Vallorcine, the frustrating climb in the dark in the last 4k).
Morgan, thanks for the mention in one of your earlier posts. About a minute after you left me at Trient I threw up again ( the third time). A nice doctor picked me off my knees and led me to the doctors room and I had a tablet , a sit down for 20 minutes then got on with it. I couldn't run for a couple of hours because my stomach was so sore from vomiting. Your words " courage" stayed with me and I got through it and halfway to Argentiere I began to feel better and started to pick off a few and stuck with it till the end.
After feeling grim for a few hours after the finish I've been on a high ever since. All the training was worth it! Well done to everyone who took part and got through the night! What an event.