Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 124, November 2019 | Page 32

Ultimate Ultra-Trail T he Ultra-Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB) is one of seven races that take place over the length of a week in the town of Chamonix in France, on the border with Italy. It is the main event of the famous Festival of Ultra Running that takes place in the little Alpine town, and this is the biggest ultra-running trail event in the world. France, Italy and Switzerland. What that description doesn’t tell you, however, is that it is a non-stop suffer-fest of climbing and quad-destroying descents, with very few sections of nice ‘runnable’ trails – for me at least. Disregarding the distance of the race – the furthest run I had previously done was 108km – it is an extremely tough event! In facts and figures, the UTMB is a non-stop race that covers 171km, climbing and descending more than 10,000m, running around the highest peak in Europe, Mont Blanc. You also run through three countries: I had been working towards this Bucket List race for the last five years, ever since I first saw a video of the incredibly beautiful mountains and valleys, but I did not think it would ever be possible for a mortal like myself. I am not a natural runner, one of those that puts on a pair of takkies and leaps effortlessly like a gazelle from foot to foot. I’m one of those buffalos 32 ISSUE 124 NOVEMBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za who has to work for every kilometre, so the thought of myself one day running 100km, never mind 171km, seemed impossible... but it was something that I wanted, and started to work towards. One of a Kind Event The organisation of the event is honestly the best I have experienced, and involved thousands of volunteers. The registration, the medics (yes, I visited them twice), the checkpoints and food points were second to none! The race starts in Chamonix at 6pm, an unusually late start for me, and although I did try, I didn’t manage a nap before the race, so went into the race having been awake for 12 hours already. A lot of runners have said it is one of the few races where runners cry at the start instead of at the finish, and it is easy to understand why. Just to get to the start of the UTMB is a big achievement, because to complete enough South African Dale Biagio tackled the 171km Ultra-Trail Mont Blanc in France, and lived to tell the tale of blisters, aching legs, hallucinations and sleep-running, but also of the incredible scenery and support of this event.