Ultra Trail Torres del Paine
Winning the Inaugural 109km UTTP
Yassine Diboun / 24.10.2014
The Ultra Trail Torres del Paine 109k,as well as the Patagonian International Marathon, are the brainchild of race director Stjepan Pavicic, and both are held in one of the most unique places on earth. I was fortunate enough to participate in the 63km Ultra of the Patagonian International Marathon in 2013, and it was an experience that I will never forget. I knew I could not pass up the opportunity to return in 2014, especially after hearing that they were adding an ultra trail distance.
Running through Torres del Paine National Park in Southern Chile is surreal, and a dream destination for outdoor enthusiasts, but that is not the sole reason that this event is so uniquely special. It is the congregation of like-minded adventurers from all over the world running for a cause, and thoroughly enjoying their time together, before, during, and after the race weekend.
When I arrived, it didn’t take me long to recognize journalist Anne-Marie Dunhill from France in the airport in Santiago, and then reuniting with local Chilean Max Keith, among others. It felt good to know people and to be familiar with this far away place. It was also really nice to be sharing this experience with my business partner and good friend Willie McBride, who would also be toeing the line as a racer, but was also there as part of the media team.
Race morning came around very quickly for me after many hours of traveling. The reason I say this is because the 109k ultra trail started at 2 a.m. and our hotel was a good hours drive from the start line. That meant only a few short hours of sleep after dinner before the bumpy ride to the start. I knew it was going to be a shock to the system, and I predicted inclement weather, but I couldn’t have written the script for what actually went down in the inaugural UTTP 109km!
The cold wind was absolutely howling and the small group of runners remained hunkered down in Sprinter vans with the heat pumping, preparing the gear, calories, headlamps, etc. before heading out into the starlit night (or I should say morning). Willie and I both looked at each other in disbelief and before long Stjepan gave us a countdown to begin the journey.
The first 10km was a little quick as dirt roads and adrenaline made for fast leg turnover, but then I settled into a comfortable and sustainable pace. The wind was vicious and my eyes were the only part of my body exposed. It was now about 3 a.m. and I found myself running in tandem with a man from Argentina. We chatted a bit in broken Spanish and English and switched out the lead at times, drafting each other in the onslaught of gale force winds.
The first three hours of this race was hands-down the most powerful and extreme winds that I have ever experienced while running, it had to be in excess of 60 miles per hour at times ; a nonstop onslaught. I plugged along power-hiking the hills and pounding the downhills whenever possible trying to shake off the Argentinian. About two miles from the first aid station I looked back and didn’t see any headlamps behind me and thought that maybe I’d put a cushion on my lead as I approached the first aid station at about 34 kilometers into the long race. It didn’t surprise me to hear that runners dropped at this point, including my compadre Willie, who was coming off a stellar top ten performance at the Tahoe 200-miler, which I was there to witness firsthand. I thought about him and all of the inspiring Tahoe 200 runners from time to time during the race.
As I was in the warm cabin that served as the aid station, I was surprised to see second place come rolling in shortly after me while I was emptying trash and restocking my pack. Roaring flames danced in the fireplace and comfortable couches looked really inviting, but I knew I had to get in and out. After a quick bowl of soup I headed back out into the cold, looking for the trail. It took me a few minutes to find it and I was a little annoyed that I lost time trying to navigate through muddy farmland, but eventually got back on track. I was now following the orange-tipped stakes through thick forest.
The trails were narrow and hard to follow at times, and there were many water crossings. Amazingly, I was able to keep my feet relatively dry and I thought that this was an area that I could put more time on whoever was behind me. About an hour into these dense forests I looked ahead and just off to my right saw some eyes reflecting in my beam of light.
Just as it was getting light out I locked eyes with a young puma about 75 feet away. It checked me out for a few seconds and then jumped over a log and ran away. This was the first time I’ve seen a big cat in the wild and I even said out loud, “cool!” as his long tail whipped over the log and out of sight. At that moment I wasn’t scared at all, I felt wild, just like the cat and I got the sense he was just as impressed by me as I was of him.
Once the sun came up I clicked off my headlamp and kept rubbing my eyes. My vision seemed very blurry and foggy. I thought that this was perhaps because I was tired, and I even put saliva on my fingers many times and tried clearing them to no avail. The only way I can describe it is when you’re watching television or a movie and they are trying to portray someone having a dream : that glazed, clouded haze. It was starting to become a little bit of an issue for me, but at least the sun was out as I made my way towards the next aid station at Paine Grande. The wind was still just as relentless and at times I walked backwards into it, screaming out loud for mercy, barely able to hear my own voice!
When I finally reached Paine Grande aid station I hand-motioned for people (my Spanish is horrible) to ask if anyone had eye drops. They shook their heads no, and I drank a couple cups of hot coffee and restocked my pack feeling a bit disheveled. Then as I was getting ready to leave a woman came running back in with a bottle of eye drops in her hand! I quickly put as much as I could into my eyes and thanked them very much, looking like I was bawling my eyes out. Unfortunately, it did absolutely nothing to improve my vision and I headed back out into the race.
The weather was much nicer with blue skies and sun, but that wind was still really whipping at times. My vision was reduced to about 50% and putting on sunglasses actually made it more difficult to see. It was pretty ironic that I was in one of the most beautiful places, and I could hardly see 20 feet ahead of me! However, I was now on the “W” trail, which is a popular trekking route that I did with Krissy Moehl after last year’s race, so I was pretty familiar with where I was going.
At one point I wanted to see how long it was until the next aid station so I took out my map from my bag. Because of the wind I had to put it down on the ground, and because I couldn’t see I had to actually put my head and eyes literally down just inches from the map. Just as I was doing that a runner from a different distance race (Tegyn Angel, from Australia) tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I was okay. He later told me that when he came upon me he thought I was praying to Allah because of how I looked on the ground! I’m not a religious person but maybe I should have been praying!
The final 20 miles involved many stumbles along the way, but I felt confident that I could still take the win barring no major disasters. I saw my friend and talented photographer, Leandro Chavarria, on the course and told him about my vision problem. He assured me that it was a normal issue from the wind and cold, and that it was a temporary condition which gave me some peace of mind. I thought about many things along those last miles like my family, how much my life has changed, and how lucky I was to be in Patagonia for the second year in a row. I also thought about the other racers and how they might be dealing with the conditions and sending them out positive thoughts.
Eventually I made my way to the finish line area and I saw Willie running towards me. I wasn’t terribly surprised to see him, given the conditions and based on his recent racing. He congratulated me and snapped a photo, and I was very relieved to be at the festive finish line area.
I can’t say enough Thank You’s to all of the organizers and volunteers at this event. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to visit the beautiful country of Chile, and experience the culture for two years in a row now. If you are looking for a destination race I would recommend looking into Patagonia! I hear the race director Stjepan is scheming up a 100-miler through the fjords, and it’s likely to be another epic event from the bottom of the world!
Following the race Anne-Marie Dunhill, Willie McBride, Matt Flaherty and myself headed out for a fun adventure. Anne-Marie of Sleep Monsters wrote a nice article as well about our post-race adventures.
Big thanks to my SPONSORS : Inov-8 , Flora (Udo’s Oil), Trail Butter, Drymax Socks, Cheribundi, Rudy Project, Float Shoppe – your assistance helps me so much and I greatly appreciate you! I was immensely happy with the gear that I used for the Ultra Trail Torres del Paine. I definitely think that this quality gear gave me an edge over my competition, which on this particular day was also the elements and Mother Nature. My only regret is that I should have brought some of my Rudy Project clear lens glasses for the night running so I didn’t encounter the frozen corneas like I did.
Lastly, huge thanks to my loving wife, Erica, and daughter Farah, as well as family and friends who’ve supported me to do this for the second year in a row. I am truly grateful and blessed!
Editor’s note :
Official race times for the top five racers are as follows :
Yassine Diboun (USA) 14:41
Fabienne Nazarin (France ) 15:57
Fernando Luis Rivas (Argentina) 17:04
Leonardo Soresi (Italy) 17:08
Sebastian Olguin (Chile) 17:47
You can find out all about the Ultra Trail Torres Del Paine at http://www.ultratrailtorresdelpaine.com
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