We came. We ran. We didn’t trip and fall. We had a blast! We’re already looking at next year’s 23k cross! Yesterday we completed the Mont-Blanc 10km trail race which is part of the Mont Blanc race festival.
We left Geneva at 6am in order to reach Chamonix in time to get our bibs & shirts before the 8am start. We all received texts yesterday informing us that the start time had been moved forward from 9am to 8am due to the possibility of inclement weather. While that made for an earlier wake up time, we appreciated the gesture as trail running is far more fun in the sunshine than rain. We were amazed by our luck as the weather was stellar this morning. In fact, it was so clear we could see all the mountain ranges on our drive from Geneva to Chamonix!
We were able to easily park and make our way to the race village in just over an hour. The village featured a number of brand tents including Salomon, one of the key sponsors, and a larger tent where all the bibs were being given out to runners. This morning there were two races starting within 30 minutes of each other: 10k and cross. Therefore, the tent was jam packed with runners and there was no rhyme or reason to the lines. In fact, after standing in line for 10 minutes we realized it wasn’t moving and most other people were just walking up to the front. Hopefully, next year they’ll improve the line organization but otherwise everything went very smooth.
After finding bathrooms in a nearby hotel we headed over to the starting area to find Laura and her husband Alex. Renaud, who ran the vertical km race yesterday and is doing the marathon tomorrow came to greet us at the start as well.
Check out the portapotties they had at the race! I’ve never seen wooden portapotties before!
We had a great time chatting and catching up since it’s been 6 weeks since Emily and I ran the Geneva Half Marathon with Laura.
The race had a wave start system based on bib colors. Yellow bibs, the fastest group, went off at 8 then purple and green would follow after. While hanging out we decided that our plan was to enjoy the race and run as strong as possible while trying to stick together on the trail. Laura has been resting after a surfing injury so just showing up was epic. There was great music at the starting line and the crowd was pumped to run. People were dancing, stretching and just overall very excited to enjoy the trails with such spectacular weather. It was probably 70 degrees or so and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
Unfortunately, a few minutes before the start they announced that the first wave had taken a wrong turn and, therefore, was being brought back to the start. The poor souls had spent 30 minutes running the course backwards! This meant that our start time would be moved to 9am as there wasn’t space on the trail for both groups.
After lots of groans, we decided to walk around and head to the bathroom again before coming back to the start. When we returned at 9am we were definitely ready to get the show on the road. Clouds were starting to roll into the valley and the last thing we wanted was rain.
At 9:10 our group was off and heading for the trail. We didn’t know much about the 10k other than that it would be similar to the trail Renaud led us on two weeks ago and it included a pretty significant climb based on the elevation map they posted yesterday on the website for the first time.
Due to so many people starting at once the first mile was a complete cluster of people making it virtually impossible to run faster than the crowd. We tried to run on the outside, hoping to reach our “natural pace” but the loose rocks and the holes along the edge diverted us back to the packed trail.
As we moved into the second mile we started to meet a few short climbs during which my goal was to power up, passing people along the way. I pushed Emily to do the same and we found ourselves moving past people and focusing on proper form then recovering on the following flat sections. This portion of the trail was deep in the woods with a few brief views of the mountains. By this point, I regretted not grabbing my running visor as sweat was dripping in my eyes due in part to the effort and the high humidity. Even though, it was only 70 degrees the humidity was 90%.
Emily and I were feeling strong during these miles, recognizing the trail from our run with Renaud. We maintained around a 10:45 pace, pushing ahead of people while knowing in the back of our minds that the uphill would soon greet us. We were expecting the same uphill path Renaud guided us on which was a wide trail, but a 1/2 mile or so of incline before flattening out.
Instead, right past after my Garmin beeped signaling the end of mile 3 we veered right on the path, following the crowd to a switchback trail. As you can see from the pictures below, this trail was not only narrow but also rocky to the point that passing people was virtually impossible. Women and men alike were focusing on moving as quickly as possible but keeping single file lines while hiking up the trail. There were short bits where you could skip, hop and jog around people but for the most part we were hiking for almost a mile, elevating around 600 feet.
The trail flattened out around mile 4 but was pretty technical due to boulders, narrow paths and loose rocks. Emily and I pushed ahead of many people at this point, focusing on small quick steps as we jogged along the trail. I loved this mile because it proved that I’ve overcome my fear of falling while running and felt really strong mentally. My quads and calves were feeling the inclines and declines, but I pushed forward.
As soon as we reached the open trail again our legs were ready to run as fast as possible. We opened up our stride and hovered around a 9 minute pace while enjoying the gorgeous views and appreciating the spectators. There is no cuter site than a child ringing a cowbell that’s as big as they are and screaming “allez.”
A final sprint through the grass and crowds brought us into the finish line at 1:16:47, 14 minutes ahead of my goal to finish under 1:30. We quickly hopped into the crowd to cheer Laura and Alex through the finish who were running the final stretch hand in hand! They are such a cute couple and Alex was an awesome motivator for Laura yesterday, helping her push through the race.
I couldn’t stop smiling even an hour after finishing the race. I was so excited to have finished not only my first trail race but to have run the entire race with Emily, feeling strong both mentally and physically. My mental strength has lacked in years past, often holding me back more than my physical strength. Huge congrats to everyone who ran the race and especially to Laura and Emily for being such wonderful race partners and Bo and Katie who were fabulous cheerleaders yesterday!
If you’re looking for a great trail race series that can also be part of a long weekend in a beautiful destination, I highly recommend the Mt Blanc race series in Chamonix!
