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.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.
Last edited by Fellmincer; 31-08-2010 at 08:21 AM. Reason: Le fromage
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
Last edited by MorganW; 31-08-2010 at 04:33 PM.
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.
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.
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