Disclaimer: Always check the official rules of a race. These can change from year to year. Don't get caught out. #justice4Xavier Arrival and AccommodationWe were living in London at the time, and did not have a car yet, so this trip was fully done using public transport! So just to let you know, although having a car is always a better option in my honest opinion, it is possible using public transport. We got the train down to Worthing on Friday afternoon and walked down to an Airbnb we had booked (Laura was lovely! Click here for details). As the race was starting early on Saturday morning, we thought staying the night before would be the better option! Before dinner we went for a walk to the beach, and as you can tell it was a glorious British weather day (not!). We then had dinner at Blue Ocean Fish & Chips, and it was really yummy! Pre-race preparationI really like Centurion as a running company. They are a great company who put on some great races, the organisation is lovely and thoughtful for the runners, volunteers and supporters (I have been 2 out of 3 of these things, and Ed has been all 3!). They have very helpful details about where crews can help, parking information and tips (see below), and their registration run pretty smoothly and uneventfully. Here are the following race preparations I did however, and, not having a car, it was definitely worth it!
It was also on this run that I bought my first every fold up chair for waiting on Ed. It cost me £3 from Mountain Warehouse on sale, was a small tripod stool, but it made a world of difference!! Finally, we were planning on leaving our overnight bag with the Centurion bag drop, so that I wouldn't have to lug about both of our things all day! Definitely worth it! RACE DAY!
Finish and Post-Race
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Disclaimer: Always check the official rules of a race. These can change from year to year. Don't get caught out. #justice4Xavier
Arrival and Accommodation
This was our first trip to Chamonix, and it soon became our happy place (disclaimer: I have once been there before, but in 1994). We flew from London, landing in Geneva and getting to Chamonix via the EasyBus (not recommended! no leg room - Haute Transfer are much better albeit more expensive). We stayed near the bus station (red circle on map below), and our AirBnB had an amazing view! These sets of buildings are at a great location, and you will be surrounded by runners there for the very same reasons.
Pre-race preparation
UTMB® are a great organisation. It does help when you speak french (hi! I'm bilingual), but I think we would have gotten by absolutely fine with just English (I am not sure for other languages, I'll keep an eye out next time).
Word of advice: Don't do the following...
RACE DAY!
If you're going to be crewing all day and through the night, I'd advise to get those precious hours of sleep. You also run the risk of getting stuck in Italy if there are any problems with the Mont Blanc tunnel (see UTMB® 2017), and missing your runner when they need you the most. Also, you might be able to avoid this....
There is a restaurant where you can get some food, but be ready for Swiss prices (1 espresso, 1 sparkling water, 8€ later...). I recommend using their water top up just outside - it's lovely cold mountain water! I was here for several hours, so whilst I think getting to places as fast as possible is always recommended, be ready for the wait. The runners are coming up a hill, so they will look haggard when they get here. Clap, loudly!!! There will be cowbells, lots of people, unless its hailing (hello UTMB® 2017 and eventual flu, blog post coming later). In 2015, it was especially hot. Don't decide to do a video to force your runner to run the last bit of the uphill like I did. They will not appreciate it ?
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There is a large tent, and you will be allowed to go in when your runner is here. There was only 1 person per runner allowed, and you can get food for them. Be mindful of other runners! This is a good time to regroup and talk positively! Make sure they have the necessary drinks and food in the tent, and also to go off again. Talk about the fun views you've seen. About how you're excited to see them the next time! And then set them off. Your hours of waiting will be worth it to the runner, even if you only see them for 10 minutes.
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Ed passed through here at 11.48pm. There is a descent into Vallorcine, it is in the dark, and it has probably been churned up by lots of runners. Although it's a downhill, they can be hurting. The volunteers here are very nice, I remember it being a party atmosphere, being so close to the end. You can prep before your runner comes in here, a bit before they are scheduled to come in (show them your texts - seen below). They will want hot food, and once again there is space to sit down and get them things. Remind them they are nearly there!!! The finish is palatable. Just one climb and one descent left!! Finish and Post-Race
At about 4.15am I clearly remember the system updating saying he only had about 10 minutes left, and sure enough, he finished at 4.26am with a time of 19h25min, and placed 287th out of 1470 runners who finished. It was an incredible result!!! I was so so proud of him. A nice touch is you're allowed to run across the line with your runner, so we crossed the line hand in hand. We were both understandably very tired by this point. We made the mistake of going to pick up his drop bag, which was the complete opposite direction of our AirBnB. Don't do this - it will still be there the following morning and you can go get it for them if you have their bib. We finally clambered back to the AirbnB, probably twice as slow as usual, and I helped Ed get into his pyjamas (you will get used to this), and we got to sleep at around 6/7am and slept for.... quite a while.
Wrap-up
Despite Ed feeling woefully underprepared for Alp running (we lived in London at the time, city of few hills), it was a great race. A few finishing points...
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