There are some week end that seem to last, last ...a life. Or rather different bits of life, so different that these are almost stranger to us. Metamorphosis, that is the definition that comes to my mind. Welcome aboard!
First of of all, the base camp at Bons en Chablais ( altitude 2400 ft ), at my charming host Didier and Violaine household, represents a good piece of advice. Not too close from Chamonix (1h by car) in order to avoid the frantic activity pre race buzz. I taste eagerly the invigorating air of this mountainous region, air so different from the Mediterranean sea I am used to. The sun followed me in this region as I was told the weather was dreadfully rainy and cold the weeks before. Thanks god, the weather is announced to be the most beautiful of all time for this 5th edition. The Mont Blanc is shining under the sun, decorated by the white fresh snow fallen these last days: a real jewel to look at without restraint. I will definitely watch on my left til a stiff neck occurs. Why on the left side? Ok I did not tell you but the simple plan is this:
http://www.ultratrailmb.com/accueil.php
Seven valleys, 71 glaciers, 400 summits, the Mont-Blanc massif fascinates.
"Doing
the tour of Mont-Blanc is discovering a matchless universe that of the
breathtaking and magic of the high mountains. It is sharing the eternal
dream of the pioneers ; it is also discovering the intimate geography
of the summits ; the rounded forms of Mont-Blanc, the ridge of
Bionnassay, the black of Peuterey, the Dent du Géant, the rock face of
the Grandes Jorasses. The south and north high peaks of l'Aiguille du
Tour, l'Aiguille Verte and the verticals of Les Drus.
The massif
is permanent show of rock, water, ice and light. From the Chamonix
valley to Courmayeur and from Val Ferret to Bovine along the French,
Italian and Swiss hillsides the path ventures itself through pastures,
glaciers and peaks getting over the various passes of Le Bonhomme, La
Seigne, Grand Ferret, La Balme Nature's astonishing way to put a big
show.
On the slopes going though endless forests of oak, beech, fir, spruce, pine trees, moss and lichen. "
Do
not worry, I chose to run the half tour (from Courmayeur to Chamonix,
86 km 13500 ft ), and for the moment I take a close look at my
rucksack. The rucksack must carry the mandatory stuff (survival
blanket, frontal headlamp, spare battery, bandage, waterproof coat
etc...) necessary to retrieve the number at Courmayeur
(Italy). Incidentally, the road book analysis (60 pages of
explanations, maps, planning...) is a challenge by itself and
underlines this amazing race. Ultra race by its length as well as its
majestic summits. The logistic, the continual comings and goings of the
protagonists during these four days (competitors, tourists, volunteers,
medias, VIP...) give a glance of this madness.
Before diving in this maelstrom, we take a deep breath of fresh air.
Here
we come to Chamonix, under a bright sun. An impressive queue is lining
up for the cable car to the Aiguille du midi. A sign meaning that the
week end will be crowded in this nice little town where I had a race
three years ago raid north face 2004.
The docteur Michel Paccard
statue reminds us that we are in the land of men and women that
dedicated their lives to the mountain exploration (he made the first
ascent of Mont Blanc the 8th of august 1786).
With great pleasure, I chit chat with Koline, Philippe, Emmanuel at the Ufo booth (magazine Ultrafondus).
Knowing my amateur photography passion, Yoyo put me through Phil to
obtain a precious press pass (working as a photograph for his
magazine). In short, it could not turn better , when I check in for the
accreditation , the organization gives some interesting perks like a
headlamp Petzl, a north face kit bag and many other gifts. I was like a
child opening his gifts during Christmas. Thanks Phil! 
At the bottom, Scott Jurek from the US (big top gun) discussing with Phil (maybe of his last Western States Endurance Run ? ).
At Courmayeur, little while before the start.
Violaine cautiously puts some solar cream on her neck.
On
the start line, obviously overcrowded (more thant 1500 racers), here
under Julien
(red cap), our best chance for the kikourou team (challenge Karleskind
in tribute to a guide fallen during his duty). He actually won his
first race TGV outdoor race beating the icon Daichhiri Dawa Sherpa .
There
is an electric mood, the competitors do not clap their hands but raise
their poles like swords at the brink of a war campaign.
However if the excitement is real, I feel around a kind of humbleness
in front of the 86 km and 13.500 ft that await us. Here under the
Bulot, focused, chin on his poles seems to address a silent prayer.
Message
here below from the Bulot to the Kikourou community (that can follow
the race in live thanks to the tracking rfid device on our wrist).
The
long awaited start is finally happening 30 minutes late. I am with the
top runners thanks to the Bulot that allowed me to stick to him among
the elite just beneath the banderole. I play the card of the official
Photograph to take pictures in front of the crowd. The start is
violent, the pace is too high, my polar heart monitor reaches the 160
pulsation/min while I should be keeping it below 145.... Alas anyone
know that the traffic jam is waiting for us at the town limit, just
before the ascent to Bertone. The track in Courmayeur streets is nice
but hot, I keep an eye on the heart monitor, I take some pictures and
cool off the machine. While I was shooting a pic to the rear, I turn
around and hit ...a wall. What a joke! more surprised than wounded, I
laugh at myself, DNF at 2km/h !
During
the climb of Bertone, the pace is a bit too high, I believe I am under
control if I keep my heartbeats under 155 puls/min and 3000 ft/h.
However I have to admit that despite my placing (250th) I was overtaken
by many competitors. Paradoxically, I am still ok with the 15 hours
target (that is to say a ranking 130th in 2006) thanks to the Rémi Software pacing caculator.
Rémi
software algorithm is more theoretical whilst Thierry software is based
on statistical approach (2006 results). You only have to bear in mind
that the runners end up at 40% of the initial pace ! In this respect no
need to be S.Hawking to guess that an optimized pace is the most even
pace on the long run. Therefore I plan 15 hours total duration,
including one hour of resting / eating..., and a final speed at 70%
initial speed. Printing the excel sheet, put some plastic overlay on
it, and here is a valuable document where I can have all the split time
and even the ascent speed to the peaks !
Unfortunately the software does not take account of the weather, I am literally boiling in this climb.
The
chopper is following us in our progression, its blades are deafening
despite the distance. Some hikers feel the blow and their belonging are
scattered all over the place. As a result, the ecological mantra of the
race is a little bit ruined as I saw much more scraps spread out here
than during the entire race.
Arnuva (km 17, 1796m, 280th), I run into Patrice (manager and tireless speaker of the fabulous trail GR73)
Grand
col Ferret, the Tour highest point (2537 m),
I think I have eaten quite too much raw ham at Arnuva. Slightly
nauseous...If the "internal close" attention mode is valuable
(according to our UFO mental preparation expert François Castell ), in addition the "extern large" attention mode is better for taking pictures.
The
climbing is very slow perhaps even most tiring, I got no breathing
issue (my polar exhibits a safe heartbeat zone 150 pulsation/min), but
my thighs are kind of numbs. I think that is the payback of my lack of
training this past two months due to severals minor injuries. These
injuries forced me to decline my participation to the Ventoux, Canigou and 6000D
events. I compensated by swimming and biking until the very last moment
to keep my aerobic capacity high enough. I am very pleased that the
pain in my right foot is manageable and seems to be stabilized, I do
not think I could quit for that matter.
.Talking about
quiting, 300 meters from the summit (yellow tent), a runner sits down
and start to puke... I check him out but ha can barely speak, too bad
so close to the goal. I guess the altitude defeats his stomach...I
reach the Grand col ferret summit (km 21, 322th 10 minutes late on the
progression), and I begin the very long steep slop (17 km) that will
lead me to La Peule, La fouly and Praz de fort checkpoints.
As
many intermediary points that make me realized an on-going slowing
pace. I am loosing ground (both ranking and time on the 15h objective).
Besides, my polar watch shows me that my heartbeats are dwindling
inevitably , 145, 140 then 135 for a same perceived effort. I lost my
"modjo" and the pleasure as well. As soon as the climb or even flat
paths show up, I walk and try to hydrate and eat my foot reserve. I
have the feeling that my feared syndrome (heat + 4hour race = meltdown)
is occurring again (it happened twice this year in the same
conditions). Close to the Champex base camp (km45, 1477m), I am not
walking very straight, my head, my chest are aching. If the ghost of
"giving up" had existed, it would actually be dancing around my tired
body. Nevertheless I have never thought to give up, I was too dumb at
this very moment, although I was asking myself how the heck could I
manage to get to the finish line. You see the fine draw distinction ?
Shazaam! The transformation occurs again, the photographer reflex : I shoot the arrival to Champex base camp and the joyous atmosphere here thanks to the audience.
Tounik
(a kikoureur) was already there and shot me (although I had no
memories of this) Case in point, I was really tired physically as well
as mentally.
Champex The "life base" deserves its name. First thing I know is that I lay down on the ground for a few minutes, then I recap: 15 hours duration forget it, heart rate monitor forget it (I put it back in my rucksack), the short 15 minutes pause forget it (it was almost 40 minutes), Courmayeur meeting point with my friends at 7 am tomorrow is now irrelevant. To sum up I have to mentally reboot my objectives in order to freed my mind of the past constraint and accept the new situation... hungry, thirsty, basic needs seem to ignite my will to move on and overcome my foggy state of mind. I run into a lot of kikoureurs, among them Tounik who tells me that Albanais is somewhere in the base camp and should be up to start in no time. I still have not the strength to search him in this overcrowded place. I stick to my plate of pasta, this meal was really an extraordinary comfort to me. I am back physically and morally, geee was it only a matter of nutrition? I leave Champex Base with a light heart (position rank 398th, however I do not give a shit anymore) and ready to face the scary climb of Bovine (+ 700m height for 4.8 km),if you shall be judged by one climb during the race, this is it! How do I manage regarding my look ;-) in front of Champex lake?
I
walk cautiously, digesting wisely my meal. It appears that Bovine climb
shows quickly its defense, roots, rocks on the path form quite huge
steps that disturb competitor's pace. I am stuck at 500-600 m/h whereas
my usual climbing speed should be rather 800-1000m/h, at this moment
that is no more than mere parameter to take in account in the equation.
Bunches of racer pass me during this episode, I step out of the way to
let them, few thanks from the gesture, easy to understand as everyone
is focused on the pain. After 10 hours, politeness is a scarce resource
shared, at this point, only by the most physically shaped. My altimeter
would be here a precious ally in this hell of a climb, I cut in pieces
of 100m height this terrible obstacle, rewarding myself with a rest and
food (chestnut cream, cashew nut) and occasionally taking pictures of
runners. This self congratulations work just fine, and like a string of
small victories protecting me of bad moral, I keep a good moral during
this fight. A good cup of tea at the supply at the summit is just fine
(position rank 418th, 10h30).
I see myself as a Masai fighter draw by a drunken Hugo Pratt to place me here instead of the African savanna. Consequently, I run, transfigured, without thinking, only being here, just being.
I arrive at Trient base intact, I even succeed to make the pretty volunteers laugh.
Light,
heat, color... a return to civilization bring me back from my self
hypnosis. I am back in the game. I ask for some news at the leaders,
listen to my reaction !
The
superb victory of Julien doped me. I run into a couple kissing, even in
the dark it seems that this kiss enlighten briefly the path. In a
"Doisneau moment", I shoot a picture of the lovers.
The
"short race" Courmayeur - Chamonix" appears to be less prestigious than
its sibling, however the pattern are similar: I can notice around me
that the competitor is not alone, case in point it is almost a common
project where a friend, husband or wife act as a central part in our
soul and mind. A brilliant and warm star in our mental universe, made
of feelings and pictures that man can activate when the body aches and
moral is fading away.
I feel more confident as I
reach the Tseppes, a volunteer confessed that the climb is more regular
than the rough Bovine. WTF, the first minutes confirm that my climbing
ability is always near zero, I am stuck! Again I activate the routine
"100 meters and a pause to celebrate the small victory". All the
runners passed a while ago leave me speechless. I tell them that I will
be back in the descent. At last, the summit at Catogne the black magic
operates one more time, abracadabra, you know the trick...Normally I am
rather a climber, yet I still do not know what was going on. As if my
danger sensor was numb, everything seems amusing, my feet slip and I
almost fell down. Not important, my four or five next moves restore my
unsteady balance. My arms have their own life and dance around me like
will-o-the-wisp.
Vallorcine, I am still in good shape, my new downhiller profile is a blessing as there is no major climbing and that my legs don't hurt so bad.Now on, my ranking is improving regularly. I do not run when the steep is even smooth , however I can still run on flat ground and descent. everything seems easy, till Chamonix I will pass more than 40 trailers. Le Bulot, had his legs on fire, and was the only one to overtake.
Talking about Chamonix, it was rather quiet around 5:00 am. I had a hell of a finish (17h01, 343th), nevertheless I did not show an excessive display of emotions on the contrary to others. I know that the day is only to begin ! The Akuna Masai vanishes with the dawn and Akuna numericus reporter shows up for a busy day !
The food pit stop is almost skipped, I need to retrieve my bags, take new clothes and be back on the long race (UTMB) as soon as possible. Oh, that's right, did not tell you but the Ufo reporter programm has an live coverage from Courmayeur this saturday 7:00 am. Too late, I realize I will not make it for courmayeur, due to these 2 terrible hours spent form km 30 and km 45.
The good news is that the brain seems to work fine, I run hmmmm no I limp to the massage room in order to take my computer in a locker. Now it is time to improvise as I need to plug my PC, Mobile phone, PDA, GPS antenna, pace mker (I am kidding) somewhere. Finally, I find an adaptor near the dormitary room. I would like to thanks all the volunteers who were kind not to say that I was crazy to look for electricity instead of a shower or a nap.
Once my electronic gizmo at the supply, I allow myself some rest and new clothes. Less than 90 minutes to wait the full load. The doorlobby is opened, some cold air force me to snug in some corner, in fetal position, pretty unconfortable you bet! Weird to be chilled now...
It is almost 7:00 am, what should I do? Go to Courmayeur around 9 am and team up with the kikous / Ufos on the rest of the tour. Even if I finished in goood shape the Half tour, my meltdown before Champex cooled down my ambition to reload again Courmayeur-Champex. On top of that, I already have covered (from a photographic point of view) this part. Alast I decide to step in directly at Champex and follow the elite trailer during the Bovine climb (really sorry for those who were waiting my venue in Courmayeur). I put back my things in the locker and head to the shuttle for Champex.
While waiting for the shuttle, I discuss
with Jerome Debize (86th, 14h13) a famous member of our online runner
community, he is eager to commit for the complete tour next year. Ok we
will come back on that later on. (reminder I bonked at the km 30, and
committing to 160 km is not an option at this precise moment...).
The road leading to Champex is long and tortuous, I still managed to have micro-naps in between two hairpin bends. Almost 2h30 of small roads to reach the Champex base camp. I clearly display my press badge, sign of my last metamorphosis, however my trailer-like clothing trigger off undeserved applause from the crowd (the leaders are not even here). I insist on the fact that I am only a photographer, they still applause, ok then you know what you even get use to it !
10:30 am, the
leaders are in sight of Champex, I did some recon downhill to take some
good shot. I recognize the famous racers as Dawa Sherpa, Olmo,
Jacquerod, but I confess that many faces in the top 15 were unknown to
me. It was a pity, only later I could match face to popular names like
Millet, Guillon etc.
Daichhiri
Sherpa in 4th position, seemed to be easy, Sam (Bonaudo, we knew each
other, I did some pics for his trail in provence) asked me when did
Sherpa pass me, 12'. Sam spoke out loud "Rhaaa, go on ! you lost some
ground, com on Sam". In a nutshell, he hung on tight and finally took
the 4th position to Sherpa.
I saw a little while ago the leader Mermoud ahead of Marco Olmo (the youngster..58 years old), Marco had a funny glance in his eyes. Kind of knowing that he will overcome all the field. Case in point, he definitely reclaim the lead during the transition at Champex. I discuss with the press people here and there, some are filming, later on they will share a common video pool where medias pick up the right stuff. Quite interesting to see the backstage indeed. Shortly after Nikki Kimball arrived, I decide to head to Bovine.
While
I was walking, the runers often asked me If I was OK or If I need any
help. Even the elite racer have the good manners. It is very
encouraging. Someone insist on taking a picture of myself, case in
point the hungarian runner up Oliver Lorincz (he finished just shortly
after Val, only 7 minutes!).
I
ran into Valery while I was pianoting my PDA (I need to reset the
coordinates for my GPS antenna). The track would allow me later to add the GPS position to the pictures (in Jpeg format). The objective is to work things out on some online geoweb soft like google earth.
Try this file in google earth, you should have the pics precisely put on the map.
A
herd of Ufo passed me during the climb and crossing of a river. It was
Yoyo (i.e. Yoyo) , Dur Dur (i.e. tough tough), Coureur solitaire
(i.e.lonely runner). They walk fast and quiet as a squad. United as you
could be in this demanding challenge.
Here
under the kind of step you have to face during the climb. Beyond the
combat zone, the landscape are gorgeous. Karine has kept her smile
despite the fact that she faced an important gap behind the italiancontender and even more against Nikki.
The pit stop at Bovine in broad daylight, I had a good chat with the volunteers for the second time of the day...By chance I ran into two young ladies (Muriel and Desiree) hiking to the Forclaz pass. As you could imagine, I was a little tired, my legs were not too happy to the idea of returning down to Champex. I seize the opportunity to ask them if they were watching for a competitor. Actually, Muriel is Coureur solitaire's wife.
That's perfect, I could then piggy back their strategy to follow the race, sometimes walking, another times carpooling from pit stop to pit stop. Thanx Muriel !
At Vallorcine station, Valery, quite alert, even if he said not to be in good shape, impressed a lot as well. 
I
was also impressed by the iron will of some trailer, despite their
injuries or handicap, who were adamant to finish no matter what. This
englishman, with his stunning twisted back, consequence of a rare food
nutriment deficiency, succeed to reach Chamonix.
However the the best is yet to come with the Ufo herd (+ Clerziou) crossing the finish line, still united as one.
I
met as well L'Dingo (a kikourou). Something is wrong with that but I
was too stone to figure it out (He was DNF). I happily chat with Cyril,
a friend that was helping and running with the Ufos group on the last
difficulties..
After the adrenalin peak of the finish line and the satisfaction that most of the job was well done. I only had one thought (ok maybe two) shower and rest. L'Dingo tells me that he bonked half way, you the kind of one you can go along ? well, it was the other kind. Even the doctor couldnot help on this. But, standing right next to me, he seemed so alert and even not tired at all ??!? I guess he got so frustrated, and he could put all his heart in his support to the kikourou runners. He also borrow my camera at 3 am to greet Agnes crossing thefinish line, he tried to wake me up me while I was sleeping, I guess my only answer was "mmrmrggrfff".
here under Steve and L'Dingo
With real delightment I could watch the pics at full scale, Sandrine and the sanglier (i.e. the boar).
At dawn, L'dingo grab me firmly to see the finish of Phil, Mathias and
Souris (i.e. mouse). I use my press badge to access the arrival area
and put myself a last time in the Akuna reporter mode. I have no more
fingerprint on my index due to the numerous pics I took...
Phil and Runstephane hand in hand finish...They are filled up with emotions and were able to put on paper their feelings here and there (in french). They deserve some darjeeling tea indeed !
The souris and Mathias are finishing either.
The
usual finisher heartbreaking gimmicks give an unreal atmosphere as we
go through the day. I remember a runner crossing proudly and surely the
line, then he start to shiver and cry without a sound during a moment
that kept us all silent. Even the speaker was speechless in front of
this pure emotionnal instant. So a grand mass empathy happening, proving again that this event is of the greatest of its kind.
This year proves to be an excellent vintage for the runners, the weather was exceptionnally warm and sunny.
Leading to more than 60% of finishers.
The pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/akunamatata/sets/72157601768003150/
the slideshow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/akunamatata/sets/72157601768003150/show/
Akuna
