UTMB etc 2011

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Originally Posted by BritNick

Well said Mark. I agree. I normally wear less than anyone else but I was surprised at the spray on shorts / capri tights / T-shirt brigade when I was wearing windproof longs and top for warmth and comfort.
You may or may not be pleased to hear that you got an honorary mention in my long-awaited report. :w00t: Well done for your well-deserved finish.

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Nick - cheers for the mention....i've just had a read of your report.......as detailed and accurate as ever. 5mins of fame for me......I'll go hunting for my other 10 at some point..... ;-)

i'm not sure when entrants can declare an interest for the 2012 event but holiday days permitting (i.e will i have enough of them) i'd love to go go back and have another crack. I'm sure 2012 will be your year for sure also. Here's hoping all who enter get a place!

See you on Sat at the HP40 maybe? Hope the recovery is going in the right direction.

cheers - mark.....

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Originally Posted by markdalton99

i'm not sure when entrants can declare an interest for the 2012 event but holiday days permitting (i.e will i have enough of them) i'd love to go go back and have another crack. I'm sure 2012 will be your year for sure also. Here's hoping all who enter get a place!

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Mark,
Pre registration is between December, 16th 2011 to January, 9th 2012 and can be done online only. I'll be putting my name in the hat as well so here's hoping I'll get in, although I think it will be even more over subscribed than ever.

Well done again on finishing and see you in Buxton on Saturday

I think you could be right about 2012 being badly oversubscribed. It’s the 10 year anniversary for the UTMB. Also, I watched the Eurosport programme on sky today, Killian pretty much described it as the best Ultra in the world. Other top runners are pretty much saying this too. This will make for an overly busy subscription year. I think I will wait for 2013, and let some others less lucky than myself have a go next year.
In advance, good luck to you all on getting in.

Yet more reports emerging on UTMB DNFs:

http://www.doingbigandscary.com/#/an...UTMB-DNF/67217

http://ajc-runninglate.blogspot.com/...utmb-2011.html

And a 5 year review from Scott Jurek here:

http://www.scottjurek.com/blog/2011/...-year-history/

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Originally Posted by Fly

Mark,
Pre registration is between December, 16th 2011 to January, 9th 2012 and can be done online only. I'll be putting my name in the hat as well so here's hoping I'll get in, although I think it will be even more over subscribed than ever.

Well done again on finishing and see you in Buxton on Saturday

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Hi Simon - You'll love it........I'm hooked for sure........let's hope we all get a place!

See you up at Buxton.......Looking forward to that one.

cheers - Mark.....

Hi some great blogs and accounts of the UTMB this year. It's reassuring to see that i was not the only one having a the oaccasional neagtive thought. I really struggled during the second night running on my own looking for reflective tape to follow, really hard on the old psyche.
I have pasted below a link to a write up i did for my running club.

http://www.elvet-striders.org.uk/#utmb.26-280811

I would love to know what my splits were for the race. is there a site where i can see my performance over the whole event? I would have loved a 30hour time but alas it was not to be. Got to say now i'm really chuffed to have completed.

Tom

Results with checkpoint times are here

live tracker is here
go to FICHES COUREURS and put your race number or name in
You can see your position at each CP during the race

Cheers
Simon

QUOTE=Tom R;433217]I would love to know what my splits were for the race. is there a site where i can see my performance over the whole event?

Tom[/QUOTE]

Tom

If you go via the results page and key in your surname, hit the "eye" icon and you should get a full set of times at the checkpoints:

http://www.ultratrailmb.com/page/107/Résultats.html

Cheers guys.

Tom

A short note from the organisers:


We are becoming almost used to… Becoming used to seeing you in such large numbers, as we approach of the The North Face ® Ultra-Trail of Mont Blanc ®'s 10th birthday … Becoming used to encountering difficult weather conditions … Becoming used to being stunned by the beaming smiles of the runners and those not only on the finishing line, but at all points throughout the race … Becoming used to receiving so many testimonies of friendship and, it must be said, of satisfaction, from our institutional and private partners … Becoming used to appreciating the fabulous work of our, about 1800, volunteers … After this 9th year, we want to simply, and without further ado, thank, congratulate, applaud and celebrate, the totality of positive energy that you all bring to this event, which, we shall not stop remembering, encompasses all the superlatives. No, of course we do not become used to these perpetual delights, which are the essence of our motivation which always makes sure that the end of August is exceptional, everything around Mont Blanc. Bravo everybody, thank you all very much, come back next year to celebrate the first decade, and enter in to the adolescence of the The North Face® Ultra-Trail® du Mont-Blanc®.

Waxing lyrical!

A couple of interesting articles dissecting the aspect which has given most cause for comment:

http://insidetrail.wordpress.com/201...anc-aftermath/

http://polyenios.blogspot.com/2011/0...52785151686596

A couple of months on, and I've been reflecting on the races, both from my own experience, and what I have read from others who were there.

From the written material, a few common themes emerge, to me at least:

1. Quite a few people had real difficulty adjusting to the revised UTMB start time.
2. A number of people were taken aback by the difficult weather in the early part of the UTMB. In retrospect, this seems odd. The local forecast made it clear early in the week exactly what was going to happen in terms of the storm followed by the cold front. The detail was refined over the last 2 to 3 days before the race, and by kick off time for the CCC on Friday morning, snow down to as low as 1,800 metres was forecast.
3. The course changes, mid-race, also had a significant effect on some.
4. At the top end of the field, the increasingly common perception of the race as the unofficial world championship has increased the pressure for great performances.
5. Some runners are not taking the "messages sent by phone" system seriously enough.

For what it's worth, my experience in 2010 of having the CCC pulled from underneath me after 80 kms made me very realistic going into this year's race. Having seen the destructive power of the weather, even in August, I was well aware it could happen all over again.

Seeing the forecast, and understanding that I was about to run right into the teeth of an alpine storm front meant that I was only too happy to whip out the phone whenever a message arrived in the run up to, and during, the race. It might have been a life saver.

The high DNF rate in the UTMB suggests something else to me. One of the key attributes needed for this type of event is adaptability, and some just don't seem to have been able to adapt to a sequence of challenges on the day. (Visualisation is fine, but when the reality is so far away from the visualisation, a negative frame of mind is just around the corner.)

So, for me, lots more lessons learned again this year, mostly from a race I didn't run in. Hopefully, I'll get the chance to return to Chamonix next year and apply these lessons in one of these 4 great races.

I think all long distance races/challenges require a huge amount of adaptability. On my Ramsay this year a support rendevous (2nd one and there are only 2!) failed to materialise. But a bit of improvisation and a thinking on the fly got me around. Hope to do the UTMB next year but I think it will be massively oversubscribed!

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Originally Posted by MorganW

Ouch! That's more than the entry fee.

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What is the entry fee, by the way?
As well as insurance, medical cert, travel and accomodation and kit, are there any other costs?

I had thought I would like to try the Marathon des Sables and wondered about trying to get an entry via one of these charities, but the fundraising looks horrendous - I don't fancy ruining my life for a year just to go on a running holiday with a load of playboys and executives.

I've seen quite a few vids of UTMB and it looks incredible - I might think about entering in 2013, depending on how much it'll cost.

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Originally Posted by MarkL

What is the entry fee, by the way?
As well as insurance, medical cert, travel and accomodation and kit, are there any other costs?

I had thought I would like to try the Marathon des Sables and wondered about trying to get an entry via one of these charities, but the fundraising looks horrendous - I don't fancy ruining my life for a year just to go on a running holiday with a load of playboys and executives.


I've seen quite a few vids of UTMB and it looks incredible - I might think about entering in 2013, depending on how much it'll cost.

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It was 150 eur this year, but by 2013 I suspect it will be more like 180 eur. The UTMB is a fantastic race, and I suspect a far superior challenge compared to the MDS.

Race DVD arrived at the weekend.

Brought back many happy memories.

Have to say the TDS course looks fabulous if a bit hot this year. :D

Some video footage from the Pearl iZUMi ultra running team from the 2011 race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ZTUz412Jep8

So its open to register tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Get in! Full monty (I hope) for me after a CCC jogette this year