Thanks for the updates and North Face link. It's making more sense now. I'm amazed the organisers were able to mobilise so much transport and still organise a replacement race.
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Thanks for the updates and North Face link. It's making more sense now. I'm amazed the organisers were able to mobilise so much transport and still organise a replacement race.
Sounds like Jez, Lizzie and Kilian all managed to make something of the weekend then :cool: It must take some focus to finish one of, if not the, target race of the year three hours in then win the next day or the day after
Bryon Powell has just posted quite a detailed report at http://www.irunfar.com/2010/08/utmb-...nd-report.html. (I think the slightly different finishing times he gives are due to the race not starting at exactly 10am.)
But did you RUN while using them? And congratulations on having a quick walk, but I don't think it's because of your long legs. I have long legs and a very slow walk (one of the reasons I run).Quote:
Originally Posted by IainR
Me too. Here is a quote from the press conference after the event (with translation):Quote:
Originally Posted by BritNick
Catherine Poletti: "Si j'ai un sentiment aujourd'hui c'est que je suis bien avec ma conscience. On savait qu'il ne ferait pas beau, c'est pourquoi nous avons envoyé un SMS à tous les coureurs pour qu'ils prennent le départ de la course sans faire des économies de grammes. (...) Avant le départ nous avons estimé ne prendre aucun risque à lancer le départ et voir l'évolution jusqu'aux Contamines, pour voir ici si nous pouvions envoyer les coureurs dans la montagne. (...) Quand on a vu que les conditions ne s'amélioraient pas, nous avons décidé de tout arrêter (...). Il a ensuite fallu mettre en place les processus pour mettre les coureurs au sec et les rapatrier. (...) Nous avons évacué 2000 personnes à ce moment là et j'en suis fière. (...) puis il a fallu arrêter la CCC, c'est à dire rapatrier 900 personnes de Vallorcine et 400 de Trient (...) Pendant ce temps, nous avions des données précises nous indiquant que le temps se levait sur Courmayeur, avec des évolutions météo favorables. On s'est alors dit qu'il n'était pas possible de laisser bénévoles et coureurs voir ce beau temps sans tenter quelque chose. (...) Quand on a été sûr de pouvoir installer les ravitaillements, nous avons envoyé un SMS aux coureurs, à 1 h 26 du matin pour les avertir de l'organisation d'une nouvelle course."
Catherine Poletti: "What I feel most today is that my conscience is clear. We knew it wasn't going to be good weather, that's why we texted all the runners to tell them to start the race without economising on kit. Before the start we estimated there was no risk in launching the race and watching how things went as far as les Contamines, to see at that point if we could send the runners onto the mountain. When we saw the conditions were not improving, we decided to stop everything. As a result, we had to put measures in place to get the runners into the dry and get them home. WE EVACUATED 2000 RUNNERS (my capitals) at that moment and I'm proud of it. Then we had to stop the CCC, that is GET 900 PEOPLE BACK FROM VALLORCINE AND 400 FROM TRIENT. During that period, we had precise information that the weather was lifting at Courmayeur, with an improving forecast. We thought we absolutely couldn't let the volunteers and runners see this good weather without trying to do something. When we were sure we could get the refreshments in place, we texted the runners at 1.26am to warn them that a new race was being organised."
It seems to me it was an absolute nightmare for the organisers ande the participants, out of which came a good deal of heroism as well as much miserable frustration.
Alexandra
i'm not going to say publicly how i feel about Catherine Poletti, but suffice to say while standing in a queue to receive my 20€ deposit back for the chip, a queue that stated i had abandoned the race i heard Mrs Poletti state over a tannoy in place de l'amitie that those complaining and had not bothered to get to the start line of the new race were not in the spirit of ultra running. She has never run an ultra. Michel Poletti however, i do feel sorry for. I won't even go into the farce over the race finishers gillets. But read some of the posts on the utmb forum site.
Yes, I finished in 29 hrs..not sure that's possible without a fair it of running..Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexandra
and amazed that they were busying themselves organising another race when they hadn't cleared up the mess caused by the abandonment of 3 other races.Quote:
Originally Posted by BritNick
when you say you took it easy in the initial stages of race, what was your position before col du bonhomme?Quote:
Originally Posted by IainR
I was amazed at the pace out of cham and up the first col. Will never know now but would be nice to think all those nutters running every hill would suffer later.
I thought I was around the top 300 or so and picked through from there. Not sure though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fellmincer
No idea, tried to find my runner card but can't see it anywhere. It's fast, people go way way too fast early on. I'll have a go again some day and try a bit quicker early on. It's hard to know what is too quick though.
You pass many just getting and leaving Courmayeur where many stop for a long time.
Yeah people were passing me working way too hard and then flying past on the run into St Gervais. And then there they were sat down having soup and bread. Spoke to Brian Melia and he said he did something similar to you in 2009 and finished strong also. Maybe next year though quite fancy the Grand Raid Pyrenee.
So Iain R and Fellmincer, I'm interested in this, what actually occurred? It sounds like you both ran the reduced course? Was it a controversial decision to call off the offical start?
Anyway, hats off to the both of you.
I did it in 2009, not this year.
Fellmincer, yeah the RdP is appealing, smaller field, new area. I ran with Brian out of Courmayear, he'd taken it easy too and we were both feeling good climbing out.
These races do cost a lot though, last year, after flights, transfers, entry fees, food accommodation, I reckon we spent well over a k.
If work calms down and I can get fit then I'll try to do another big ultra, felt a bit goal-less after the 100k this year
I started the utmb along with 2300 others at 1830 friday night. At about 16 miles in we heard from runners around us that the race had been pulled due to an avalanche at Col de la Seigne. We carried on to Les Contamines, the next check point to be marked as "safe". There had and never was an avalanche/rockfall/landslide at Col de la Seigne. It was all about the weather conditions over the cols.Quote:
Originally Posted by ZootHornRollo
You will also read about some route markers that were apparently stolen from the col du Bonhomme. This never occured. The group responsible for flagging the route struggled to reach and mark a difficult traverse on the course due to serious weather conditions. The security party responsible for checking the markings were in place saw this section was unmarked (at 10pm friday) and could not see the flagging party. Messages then relayed by radio were picked up by third parties and misinterpreted. The cancellation of the utmb was due to weather, but looking at the time line, when the radio messages were picked up at around 10-1030pm friday, it was the exact time the race was cancelled. The organisers had no choice. Kilian Jornet has written a piece on his blog in French. He does state that entrants in the UTMB are generally trail runners and don't neccessarily have the skills for mountain travel. The entry points system he states is lacking in this respect. The organisers know this and cancelled, i think rightly.
This cancellation then affected the start of another race, the TDS. As the coaches that were needed to take the runners to start line of the TDS in Italy were needed to get 2000 plus UTMB runners back to Chamonix. The organisers rightly or wrongly decided to put on a shorter race starting in Courmayeur for all the UTMB and TDS runners. Text messages were sent at 0126 saturday morning to everyone involved, stating the start would be at 10am. Many received this too late or not at all. Then at 0300am saturday morning the organisers had to pull another race the CCC due to weather. So coaches that were meant to take all the UTMB lot to Italy at 0630 had to then recover 1000 plus runners from Vallorcine and Trient. So another text was sent by the organisers at 0430 saying that spaces to the start line of the new race were limited to 1000.
There were no heroics as stated by other posters on this thread. You were either on the bus to Courmayeur or you weren't. You either got the texts or you didn't.
Michel Poletti (race organiser) states on the UTMB forum that from the insurance aspect it would have been better to cancel the race before the start. But they didn't, they allowed it to continue as far as Les Contamines. The conditions which are no longer available to view on the website did state that in the case of the race being abandoned no refund will be given if the front runners reach... Wait for it... Les Contamines! Looking back at it and now with a clearer head i think they did the right thing to let it go as far as Les Contamines in the hope that the weather report would change.
I didn't do the replacement race in the end.
As some-one watching and not running - it was surprising to see the route to the Croix du Bonhomme was very well marked -by 11 am on Firday, but from there on there were no markings we could see even on the route up to col de le Seigne (by 6pm on Friday, and at this point we had had a dry middle of the day)- so if the runners had gone through it would have been interesting route choice (esp as the instructions said if you can not find a marker retrace your steps to the last one).
Having also seen the rock slides coming off the cliffs above the track on to the Bonhomme I can see why they cancelled.
Despite the organisers requested re kit, there were plenty who would have been going up to 2,300 in hard, heavy rain in the dark without full body waterproofs
ta for the precis fellmincer
mate was there too - he's not a texter so not heard from him yet
Back in sunny Ilkley from a cold and damp Chamonix; Sunday night it snowed down to 1,800 metres and was forecast to so the same last night. The summer weather is in a pickle.......
Here are a few observations, based on my experience on Friday and Saturday:
1. The race organisation is generally excellent.
2. Their recovery plan in particular was brilliant. To get 2,300 UTMB runners and 1,300 CCC runners back to home base in the time frame they did was quite amazing.
3. The re-started UTMB was over 88 kms. That explains the difference between Jez's time and the time for the CCC winner which I recall was 11.57. Incredible in the conditions.
4. The CCC started in a thunderstorm. It rained heavily and hard for the first 2 hours of the race.
5. I think the numbers in the races are too high. The human congestion towards the rear of the CCC field was shocking. It took me 2 1/4 hours to get to Refugio Bertone.
6. The West wind was helpful over the first part of the CCC course; it was blowing us over the Grand Col Ferret towards La Fouly.
7. The shocking weather started for me at La Fouly at about 7.00 pm. A huge cloudburst erupted over the aid station tent. it was like a curtain of water falling across the doors of the tent.
8. The volumes of water which fell on the course after then were massive. To an English fell runner, the weather itself wasn't the problem; it was what the weather was doing to the ground we were trying to run over.
9. The descents from Bovine to Trient and Catogne to Vallorcine were amongst the most difficult hours I have ever spent running in the mountains (except I was walking.) The ground was receiving huge amounts of water, the ground was literally running off the mountains and the effect of the feet of the front runners had been to turn the trail to deep, sloppy mud. Locating the feet safely was a lottery. Poles helped greatly, but you had no clue what you feet were landing on; deep mud, viciously slippy rock or tree root. The drop-offs make a fall on this ground a hugely unappealing prospect. The risk of mud slides and/or rock avalanches in the conditions was obvious.
10. I can understand the decision to call a halt to the races. I didn't like the call; with 6 and a half hours to get from Vallo to Cham, I knew I could finish the CCC. But the organisers have to look at the position of the least experienced competitors and use them as the primary source for the decision-making. That wasn't me. It was a bunch of people who were well behind me and who were pulled out at Trient. Being reponsible for the safety of 5,000 runners of varied abilties racing over 3 separate high mountain routes is not a job many of us would undertake. Avalanches and slides had occurred on other parts of the course. I respect the decision they made.
Maybe some more emotional stuff later.
Morgan
I can understand that. I was thinking what I would do and I don't know. I see Jez originally said he wasn't on for the re-run. You've done 20 odd miles, already quite tired, wet, you've got yourself up for the race, disappointment etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fellmincer
Very poor comment by the female organiser was it? and a comment that does suggest she hadn't done much running. You find that with ultra running more than most forms for some reason, lots of advice floating around with sod all substance and experience to back it up. My favourite, I love hearing this, really perks you up.. 'when you think you are finished you always have 10% left..'so you enquire how many times they've ran into a second night out...how many 20+ hour days out... :-)
TBH I think I'd have just gone back and gone out for a few days in the alps. Hard to know though. Either way its very poor to criticise those who opt that they'd had enough, especially with all the different stories/outcomes which seemed to be bouncing around.
There were certainly quite a few people up on the hills on Sunday who were wearing 2010 t shirts
This would of been my fourth UTMB. Great Race, I think they did well with the evacuation from St Gervais. BUT... I never received a text about the new race..and so did a lot of Americans.. This upset me..I beleive they started the new race so their would be no comebacks with refunds, race carry overs etc.. dont get me wrong, its a great race.. but I got a text about the weather the day before from them, but no text about the replacement race. I collected my drop bag on that same night, no mention.
I wont be going back, L100 and Hardmoors for me next year.
On a lighter note, I hear Jon Steele the Hardmooors 110 race director is giving £10 off entry fee for this years race for any UTMB runner who didnt run, or ran the replacement race.:D
I was spectating / doing a bit of hill running this year, and on Saturday morning as I climbed through the mist to La Flagere (on my way to L'index, Col De La Gliere, Planpraz, Le Brevent and back to Cham) there was a lot of Runners coming down through the woods on the descent line to Chamonix. Making the most of it I suppose. On a run on Sunday I met an English guy who never got the text in time and missed out on the chance to do the re-hashed race. It was his first attempt at the race as well I feel really sorry for those guys, for which it was there first go at the race. They should definitely be offered a guaranteed place in the 2011 race (maybe all of them should). I am still undecided as to whether to enter next year, but if I couldn’t get a place because the race was full from this years unlucky participants, I would understand. Same goes for the CCC and TDS.Quote:
Originally Posted by saz
It was probably the right call to cancel the race. My only criticism is that when they did so they should have been aware of an improving weather forecast, and on that basis said that they would review a possibility of a race re-start in 12 (or however many) hours time.( Even if it wasn’t looking good they could have still done this and then formally cancelled it after a specified time ) If the competitors were told this at the CPs it would have got rid of speculation and given everyone an idea that their was a possible race re-start, communication would have been much easier when you have them all at the CPs rahter than sending texts to people that may be in the pub or asleep not expecting a re-start.
i received the text at 0230 saturday morning. I had slept a little already and knew i had no dry kit ( that was all in Courmayeur i assume in my spares bag) then got another text at 0430 stating the race was only limited to 1000 places from Cham. Pretty much knew there would be no space left. Still had nothing from the organisers no email. My partner went into Chamonix yesterday to ask about a refund for the buses. Ended up going to the tourist info office and the lady stated they have had hundreds of enquiries but the organisers are uncontactable. They've grabbed the cash and legged it. How Catherine Poletti can say her conscience is clear i don't know. Likewise i don't know if i want to try again with this race, which is a shame as my partner was born here, her family are Chamoniards and obviously support the event they just cannot stand Mrs Poletti.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin
Just received an email from the UTMB organisers as follows:
Hello to you all,
The 2010 Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® will remain engraved in our memories for a long time.
Indeed, we had, very suddenly, particularly difficult weather conditions which forced us to make essential decisions to avoid the worst possible outcome.
The disappointment, frustration and a lot of questions were the logical results of a weekend, anticipated for so long and which was so disrupted. We wish, at first, to remind you that the organisation of this event is above all a passion, not only for the steering committee but for all the volunteers and all the Communes. We are all bitter that the weather conditions brought months of preparation and hope to an abrupt end. At the same time we are very happy that the outcome was not a grave accident to be regretted later.
All the urgent decisions which were taken during this complicated night were concerning the respect of the runner’s and the volunteer’s safety on the ground, while also at the same time trying to ensure the possibility of your participation in a race.
In such a crisis situation, in the middle of the night and with a very fast evolution of information, communication is extremely difficult to organise. We are aware that many runners and volunteers lacked information, and we would like to apologise for this.
We receive very numerous testimonies of support, but we also know that your expectations are great.
You will understand that it is not possible for us to answer completely as soon as the end of the event. The passage «at the wrong moment« of this large disturbance is also a clear reminder, that nobody can guarantee that an event, in the mountains, can take place as expected. When registering for it, one also has to accept there is a risk that it might not take place.
However, we can already announce that the runners of the CCC® forced to stop their race at Vallorcine or Triente will nevertheless receive qualification points: 3 for those stopped at Vallorcine, 2 for those who were stopped in Triente. The finishers of the UTMB® which restarted in Courmayeur have acquired 3 points.
Concerning requests for refunds which have been formulated, all the expenses have to be taken in to account, so it will only be possible for us to answer when we have all the necessary elements. Questions have also been posed concerning registration for 2011; these will also be answered as soon as possible.
Thank you for your comprehension and we will be in touch soon.
For the Comité Directeur de l’Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc
Catherine Poletti, course director
Attachment 3944
Just in case anyone hasn't seen the great photo of Jez. I don't know where it originated, I blagged it off Facebook.
what's that pack he's got on? TNF obviously, but not seen one before - looks quite nifty.Quote:
Originally Posted by runningfool
You're not the first one to notice, ZHR. Check out the comments on Jez' blog, where you'll find the Q&A.
Hi Guys
Becareful with the pic as its tnf property and Jez can get in a bit of trouble about it, please do not take this the wrong way and any offense, I would of done the same, but he did mention something to me about it being TNF's property ( I dont give a flying f... about TNF, just dont want Jez to get in trouble if hes pasted it somewhere) His pack is I think is the Tnf Enduro Boa, looks good but like all TNF packs still heavy compared to say an omm/Go-lite/Terra Nova/Salomon etc bag, but more durable then the mentioned. Cheers
Things to remember for next time. 1 Mobile phones only work if they are turned on. 2 learn the French for" Could you please tell me whats going on". 3 Remember there is a reason why my" Mac in aSac"cost only £10. 4 No matter how disasterous your trip away has been Dont expect your landrover defender 90 to still be in the airport carpark when you return . 5 Dont expect Liverpool airport to care........And finally sometimes the weather in Keswick is better than that of Chamonix.
Latest email from the UTMB organisers makes it clear that there will be refunds for those UTMB and TDS runners who didn't chose to run in the Saturday 10.00 am 88km replacement race. 100 Euros and 80 Euros respectively.
There will be no priority entry in 2011 for anyone as a result of the cancellations/stoppages in 2010.
Morgan
New information received from the UTMB organisers (we get a partial refund from 147€, but no priority entry to 2011 race).
Greetings everybody,
At the beginning of September we gave you only some answers to the questions that you had asked. We needed to collate all the information to answer correctly
We can now give you the decisions that have been taken in order to close the subject of the 2010 Ultra-Trail of Mont Blanc®. The runners of the UTMB® and the TDS, who did not participate in the restarted UTMB® on the Saturday, will be reimbursed with the sum of 100€ for the UTMB® and 80€ for the TDS.
Those runners concerned may, as from October 15th 2010 and before November 15th 2010, consult their personal page (runner’s file) at www.ultratrailmb.com. They can then study the reimbursement conditions before filling in the internet form requesting reimbursement.(*)
We consider that the cancellation, or the interruption of a race, on safety grounds, does not create a reason for modifying the registration regulations. This means that we shall not give any compensatory priority registration and that the conditions of registration, in the terms of qualification points, remain unchanged.
We would like to thank you for your patience and understanding.
For the director committee of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc®,
Catherine POLETTI
please accept my apologies if this has already been covered numerous times. I'm new to the forum.
as the subject imlpies i'm looking for a training schedule to get round the UTMB in under 35 hours.
Cheers
Tom
Hi Tom,
There's already a wealth of useful information from MorganW on the UTMB 2011 thread. My own thoughts are regular long trail/fell runs at the weekends, the steeper the better, backed up by pushing the pace on the bike during the week to aid the quad-strengthening. A handful of longer ultras (50 - 100 miles) will get you accustomed to the time on your feet. Then it's down to good tapering, good fuelling on the event and reigning yourself back on the event. In 2009 I miscalculated the fuelling and the reigning-back and crashed out at Champex-Lac at 77 miles. I'm planning on doing better this year.
Nick.
Cheers for that i will have a look through that thread again. I'm planning on running the hardmoors 55 next month so that should give me a good idea of where i am fitness wise
T
I'm running that too, Tom. I'll see you there. It's one of the many events that will be good for building the endurance.
Will see you both there - Hardmoors and UTMB.
Nick - Mark had a theory that the Hardmoors paths might be similar in quality, hardness etc to the sort of thing out there on UTMB. E.g. If you think of the bits Osmotherley Phoenix covers of the Hardmoors 55 route. More of a hard-packed surface than the muddy grass paths of Dales or rockiness in Lakes. Anything in that? or is it just a bit of all sorts.
Certainly Hardmoors is very runnable compared to Fellsman, UTLD and the like and its not all down to the kinder hill profile.
Run lots, do lots of climbing, main thing is be prepared for a long day out.
I'll buck the trend and say avoid a big taper. get out there early and walk the route, get up high, work hard in the heat and altitude.
I did that in 2009 and got around in 29 hrs and felt great for 90 miles and even the last 15 was never in that much trouble.
Superb event.
I wouldn't get too caught up on the flat stuff either, lots of big rises and falls, 3000ers, Beddgel Bounds, anything like that. Terrain is great under foot but its all about walking up hill for hours and running down hill for an hour at a time.
Cheers lads some great advice. Looks like i'm going to get out for some long days in the lakes district!
T
Tom
Nick has suggested you have a look at the general UTMB thread where I have shared some of my experineces from last year.
I'm not much of a one for structure in my training so I'm not the best person to deliver a fully worked suggestion.
But you will get a flavour from my comments about last year's CCC.
My view is anything that applies to CCC training will suit UTMB also.
I trained a lot in the 3 Peaks area; wide trails, decent ascents and decents and reasonably similar underfoot.
Ladies and Gents
What is the opinion on the best shoes for this. I am doing the TDS this year and have done the CCC in trail shoes (montrail efforts) and UTMB in road shoes (asics) and didn't think much of either. I have a pair of roclite 313's which I ran the Long tour of Bradwell in and thought were quite good. Anyone got any good beta??
Thanks
I wore wave harriers for UTMB, wife wore roclites for TDS. both were fine.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gibbo