One race, ten passes, 145 kilometres - all on foot

3:45 a.m., Courmayeur (Italy) ....... Olivier and I, head torches on, wait nervously for the start of the UTMB TDS race. Eight months of talking about it and picturing this race with a certain amount of apprehension. Now we are finally here!

Two years ago, taking part in a UTMB race seemed like sheer madness to me.... more than 145km and 9,000m of climbing, the TDS, the wildest and most technical ultra-trail of the UTMB …impossible! But trail fever takes hold of you quickly, and the mountains call louder and louder!

4 a.m., the start through the streets of Courmayeur, accompanied by “1492, Conquest of Paradise” by Vangelis. We set off right at the back, with the plan of starting slowly and saving something for the end. A strategic mistake! Because there are 1,600 of us on the start line! The first 50 km go by very slowly and with very few chances to overtake, because the mountain paths are steep and very narrow!

First climb: 1,300 metres of ascent.... a parade of little lights dancing in the darkness of the clear night. Later, early in the morning, the sun rises slowly behind Mont Blanc. The surrounding peaks are wrapped in a pink veil. The scenery is simply breathtaking!

The passes follow one after another (ten along the whole route). Mountain lakes, glaciers, green valleys, steep sections, descents into the valleys of Bourg Saint Maurice, Beaufort and Les Contamines Montjoie. In places the descents are so steep that ropes have been fixed for safety. In those sections you can tell which runners have experience of steep mountain trails and which do not… because you can read the nationalities on the race numbers on their backs. The runners come from all over the world. Some countries are definitely flat and their people are not used to steep, rocky paths! At one of the passes we had to wait almost an hour in the cold wind until the runners ahead of us had finally got through the tricky bit!

Gut and stomach trouble sets in as early as the fiftieth kilometre... At moments like that, eating or drinking becomes a torture, but that is exactly when eating regularly matters most! I force myself to eat something every 30 minutes and to drink very regularly. Bit by bit the problems ease off during the afternoon and I can finally enjoy this race and the extraordinary atmosphere along the whole route to the full. On top of that, the runners spread out more and more, so we can finally run at our own pace.

A long, hard night in the mountains

Night falls.... the runners are strung out along the trail, conversations become rare and once again the little lights of the head torches dance in the distance, but this time they are only small bright specks scattered here and there on the horizon. The mountain silhouettes stand out against the dark night; everything is quiet. We spend this moment on one of the most beautiful sections of the route, the Priest's Passage, a narrow path along a wonderful gorge! A shame that we cannot see much of it at night. We really have to come back!

In the middle of the night we reach the town of Beaufort, the only indoor checkpoint. A lot of runners drop out here (two out of every five abandoned, a record this year!) There are still 55 kilometres to go and some have already used up all their strength. There we get a drop bag with our fresh clothes and can change. A good snack, a short break, and off we go into the cool night in good shape.

The early morning is harder; the lack of sleep makes itself felt; for an hour or two we fight against tiredness. After a good 20-minute break at a checkpoint, the tiredness lifts. The encouragement from the hundreds of cheerful and helpful volunteers really has to be mentioned! Without their commitment this race would be impossible! We feel fit again, ready to take on the remaining 3,000 metres of climbing and 40 kilometres to the finish.

Chamonix draws closer

Bellevue, the last pass… it means “beautiful view” in French… and what a view! Mont Blanc shows itself in front of us again in all its glory! Now we know that we are going to make it; there are only 15 km of descent left! Our legs are heavy and our knees hurt, but the joy and the endorphins mask every ache and make it disappear!

The edge of Chamonix: 2 km through the pedestrian zone to the finish; the atmosphere is extraordinary, passers-by and the people on the restaurant terraces cheer and encourage every runner. We pick up the pace automatically, without noticing, carried along by the festive mood.

Finally, overjoyed, we reach the finish line after 39 hours and 12 minutes and complete this magnificent race!