Just Wow. I still feel like I'm having an out of body experience. Like I've found an alternate universe where it's just normal to be an ultra-distance mountain runner. Where being outdoors more than indoors is just part of daily life. Chamonix is such a fun playground. Everywhere you look, there are runners, hikers, climbers, backpackers, paragliders, mountain bikers, etc. It's mountain culture at its purest. Not surprising really, considering how inspiring it is being surrounded by these massive mountains, covered in glaciers and with their peaks that call out to you.
I've been wanting to check out Chamonix for a long time. I thought I might come to spectate during UTMB week. I was so lucky to get a chance to run the OCC. Coming in, I felt under-prepared. My training grounds don't include mountains. I treadmill hiked and ran up and down the longest hills I could find. Still, it wasn't enough. I finished the race, but just barely. My power-hiking game has gotten really strong, but I just couldn't run quickly enough on long, technical descents. Still, the experience is something I will never forget. And things really didn't start falling apart until mile 30, so I guess I did something right during this training block.
The required gear for OCC is legit. It's more than I've ever carried. I was surprised that it all fit and didn't really bother me during the race.
Somehow, it all fit.
My first challenge upon finding my Airbnb was figuring out the best way to get into town. I stayed at the top of a very steep hill and it took me a day to figure out the bus system. However, it didn't occur to me the volume of people who would be in Chamonix during race week. Buses started coming by and passing by bus stops completely full. Thankfully, I discovered the train as well and that was full, but I managed to get on each time. Unfortunately, race morning was going to be an issue since the bus and train didn't start until 5AM and I needed to catch a shuttle about 2 miles away from my Airbnb at 5AM. So, I had no choice, but to run commute to the shuttle that would take me to Osieres in Switzerland for the start of the OCC.
The bus ride to Osieres was on a twisty road and the driver just couldn't get the temperature on the bus right. Two riders complained about the heat, but it stayed very warm and the combination of the heat and switchbacks resulted in some motion sickness. By the time we pulled into town, I really needed to get off of that bus and find coffee. Thankfully, there was a cafe right by the start line, so I got a coffee and settled in for a 2+ hour wait until my start time.
As I was looking for my start place, I caught a glimpse of Billy Yang and wished him good luck. I assumed he would be leaving with the first wave. When it finally came time for my wave, I was definitely ready to move. The sun started to hit us at that point, so it felt good to remove all of my layers that I'd had on all morning, trying to stay warm. There was so much excitement in the air. Probably about 500 runners in my wave and I was stood near the front.
The start!
When we finally set off, a runner immediately tripped in front of me- thankfully, he wasn't hurt. We ran through the streets of Orsieres to the cheers of locals and family spectators. It was very sweet to see lines of school children high-fiving runners as we approached the first big climb into the woods. It was hilarious to see the size of real cow bells that the locals were using to cheer us all on.
Heading into the woods from Orsieres
I had memorized the race course well, but unfortunately, my GPS was way off the entire race. I kept thinking that an aid station was right around the corner, but my GPS was off by almost 2 miles. I entered the first aid station in good shape, regardless. I had kept up with getting in liquid calories from Roctane and took a gel before entering the station. I arrived about 30 minutes prior to the cutoff time, so felt good at that point. Aid stations in general were surprising. There were no potato chips, which I tend to rely on during ultras. Instead, there was a lot of cheese and meats and some fruit and crackers and bread. I always bring my own gels, but I was surprised that they didn't provide any gels either. The first aid station at Champex-Lac was just a liquid fueling stop with a bathroom. I almost left my poles at the aid station while I was re-filling my water bottles. That would've resulted in a DNF for me. I was surprised how many runners were doing the race without poles. The race was basically, hike up for several miles and then try to run down on trashed quads without falling.
The course. About 55K and 3500 meters of vertical gain. Eek.
I left the first aid station with two bottles of Roctane and third bottle of water and I’m sure glad that I did because it started to get hot and it was about 10 miles until the next aid station. I did pretty well on the 4ish mile ascent to La Giete, but just couldn’t move well on the descent. I think my biggest mistake going into this race was not practicing descending technical trail with poles. A lot of the time, my poles would get in the way and I think I was too scared to just run down for fear of falling and hitting a rock, so I was way too cautious. Back home, I love downhills, but these downhills were just so steep and so long. My quads and feet just couldn’t take it. Dropping into the 2nd aid station at Trient, I was pretty happy to see some food. I was disappointed that there were no bananas, but I did partake in some charcuterie and filled up all of my water bottles. Prior to the aid station, I had eaten a Clif Z Bar as well.
The climb out of Trient was long, but it was also beautiful. It was about 6 miles long and we went through gorgeous open spaces, surrounded by mountains and cows grazing all around us. The cow bells were quite loud. We got up to what looked like a hikers' refuge and folks were having their omelettes and cheering us all on. It looked like a wonderful place to stay.
Some serious cow bell
During the traverse to Col de Balme, I caught up to another runner (Jalal) who I had met at the Billy Yang group run the day before. He told me that we were on a part of the course that was new to OCC and that this section was "spicy". I thought that was the perfect word to describe it. There were large boulders that we had to walk across and the terrain was very technical. I kept thinking that the next aid station should be closer, but again, my GPS was off, so it was at least 1.5-2 miles further than I had anticipated. As we neared Col de Balme, it got very windy and cold. I felt pretty good after the climb and actually arrived 30 minutes ahead of the cut-off once again. By the time we finally reached the aid station, I had to take out my Houdini jacket to stay warm while re-filling my bottles and making a pit stop at a very rudimentary porty-potty style bathroom. Trying to dump Roctane powder mix into my bottles with the high winds was definitely challenging and something I didn't anticipate. I somehow made it work. This section of the race was probably the most beautiful. It was just so open and the mountains seemed endless. We truly lucked out with the weather. It was blue skies all the way.
The climb out of Trient
No passing allowed on this ascent
Last bit of the climb to the Col de Balme aid station
Views of Col de Balme
Admiring the glacial melt
Losing light in the mountains
The next descent was very painful, but I was still able to manage it. My quads were hurting, but I also felt that my toes were being jammed into the fronts of my shoes. For some reason, my feet felt like they were slipping and sliding inside my shoe. I think I just wasn't used to the steepness. I tried to use my poles to slow myself down so I wouldn't fall, so that worked my upper body as well. When I finally managed the 7ish mile descent down to Argentieres, I was starting to feel pretty beat up, but my spirits were still good and I thought getting to the finish line was definitely doable.
Little did I know how grueling the next climb would be to La Flegere. First factor was that it had started getting dark, so I left the aid station with my headlamp on. We entered the woods again for a very steep hike up. The entire hike up was about 3 miles, but the last half was straight up a ski slope to a cable car station. Many runners at this point started feeling sick. We were up at about 6,800 ft and runners kept moving over to stop to get air or to get sick. Moving in the dark was a head trip. I kept seeing lights from the headlamps of runners ahead of me and the climb looked relentless. I again ran into Jalal and we talked about how brutal the climb was. By the time we finally reached the aid station, Jalal was laying down and there was a runner needing medical assistance. All I could smell was bananas and puke, so I needed to get out of the aid station and to keep moving. At that point, I couldn't stomach any more calories. As I was going down the hill, I finally had to pull over and get sick. I just told myself to puke and rally. Fortunately, it did make me feel a little better. I was still cramping in my abdomen though and my feet and legs were not cooperating. So began the very long 4ish mile descent into Chamonix. I passed around 60 runners on the hike up, but then got passed by about 40 runners coming down. I just couldn't psych myself up to run. Finally, I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was 11:19PM. I had less than 25 minutes to get across the finish line and the lights of Chamonix still looked so far away. Finally, I just decided to ignore the pain and started running. I finally made it out of the woods. I started to laugh when I saw that they had set up a staircase to get up and over the highway. Climbing and descending two flights of stairs seemed silly at that point. But after the stairs, I was running along the river. One of the race workers told me I had 18 minutes to make it to the finish line with 700 meters to go. At that point, I started running as fast as I could, but I was also so happy to finally be back in Chamonix that I was smiling while running. It was late at night, but there were still spectators out to cheer me on. I gave a bunch of high fives and followed in a fellow American through the finish line.
Sitting and enjoying the other side of the finish line
It was quite a journey, but one that I won't soon forget. Just to add on to the adventure, I realized as I was finishing that I would probably miss the bus back to my Airbnb. So began the very slow walk back to the Airbnb. I arrived at around 1AM. I had been up for nearly 24 hours, waking up at 3:15AM to run commute to the shuttle. Turns out, it was probably a blessing that I had puked up at La Flegere. I had tried to drink some Coca-Cola, but rejecting it meant that there wasn't any caffeine in my system. I remember laying down wondering if I would fall asleep and then passing out immediately. Most of time, after long races, I've had trouble sleeping because I drink Coke. This time, my body was just spent. It was great to sleep in the day after and have nothing to do but shop for presents for my kids and watch the start of the UTMB.
I was lucky enough to be able to stick around for a couple of days to recover and follow UTMB. I watched some of the leaders come in, including Kilian, Zach Miller and Katie Schide. I'm now on my way to meet up with my family. Can't wait to see them.
Chamonix, I will definitely be back to see you. You're amazing.
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