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Racing Around Mont Blanc

Dave Smith / 10.09.2007

British racer Dave Smith travelled to the Alps to attempt this years TNF Ultratrail, a non-stop foot race which circles the Mont Blanc Massiff and this is his account of a race which took him to new heights of endurance.

The North Face Utratrail Tour du Mont Blanc (UTMB) is a daunting prospect. Billed as 163km and 8900m of ascent, it certainly is intended to frighten the non-elite folks like myself. Entry is a race in itself as the event is limited to 2200 and I believe it was full within the first day or so of opening.

So having obtained an entry to the race it really is something that you want to fulfil as your next chance may be … well, a long way off.

The race is entirely on foot and is intended to follow the TMB (Tour du Mont Blanc) which is a route that circumnavigates the Mont Blanc massif. It loosely fluctuates between 1500m to 2500m altitude. Personally speaking my training had not gone well, training events had ended in injury and really I was on the start line with a ‘just want to finish’ mentality, hoping that deluding myself regarding an ability to ‘tough it out’ would shore up my lack of adequate preparation. The impact of altitude is a factor for most Brits. The people I spoke to didn’t really highlight it much but I certainly felt I benefited from going out there a few weeks early and breathing in the thin air.

I came across a few familiar faces from UK AR racing, Keith Byrne and Anthony Emmett from The North Face, Mick Kenyon and Caroline Court. Apart from Keith, who had prepared well by running the course a few weeks prior to the event, everyone else seemed equally unsure of what they were taking on. So, there we were on a start line I would equate to a city marathon. 2200 people squeezed into a small square. We were burbled to in various languages for an hour or so before an enthusiastic starter finally got us under way.

Everyone was clearly glad to escape the little square in Chamonix as the first 5-6 km of flat trails seemed to fly by at a pace that was not really indicative of the rest of the race. At the first checkpoint, Les Houches, the route turned uphill on a long 800m climb, crossing the world cup ski piste towards La Charme. The sun was setting, the mountains were inspiring, the mood excited, the support was everywhere, cowbells ringing and spectators cheering; “allez, allez, allez�.

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