The North Face Ultra Tour du Mont Blanc
The Triumph of Youth
04.09.2008
Despite yesterday’s various protests, race control announced that they did not dispute the level of obligatory equipment carried by Kilian. The Catalan used a waist-bag in place of a backpack, which enabled him to carry all the equipment needed within the regulations. At a press conference, the young Spaniard explained that his obsession with minimalism was simply an approach from the world of alpine-skiing.
At the same conference however, the organisers did state that tget are not keen to see such minimalism become the norm at The North Face Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, as it is not considered to be in keeping with the spirit of the event.
The only infringement of regulations made by Kilian was to be helped by his supporter outside the transition zone. For this he was penalised on the course at la Tête aux Vents by an obligatory halt of 15 minutes. This set back did not affect the pace of the winner and he crossed the finish line as winner after 20h56:59 and one hour ahead of Dawa Sherpa who took second place. The organisers stressed that during all checks carried out during or after the race, Kilian showed exemplary behaviour.
Last year’s race was won by 59-year–old Marco Olmo (ITA). This year however, experience gave way to youth, with 20-year-old Kilian taking first place, and 28-year-old Julien Chorier taking third.
Although the faster runners finished several hours earlier, Chamonix did not clear until the early hours of the morning. In fact crowds of supporters had come down from the mountains to cheer on their athlete, crowding around the Finish line, losing as much sleep as the athletes!
Supporters cheered and applauded all those finishing the race at the Place d’Amitié, although the strong heat did have an affect on the runners, many of them having to retire. By 8.30 on Sunday, 388 runners had finished the race, and 1,092 had retired out of the 2,377 starters. 250 had handed in their race number at Courmayeur, 200 at La Fouly, over one hundred at Arnuva and Champex.
The start of this second night’s racing was marked by the triumphal and exceptional arrival of England’s Elizabeth Hawker, first in the Ladies. Beating all her adversaries, the 100km world champion and record-holder of the Everest Base Camp to Kathmandu route completed the race yesterday evening, shortly before 8pm, with a time of 25h19:41. This was a faster time than last year’s winner, Nikki Kimball (USA) over a longer and steeper course, and Elizabeth came 14th overall. Nikki retired at Courmayeur, after which only Karine Herry of France seemed a challenge to Elizabeth’s victory.
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