Patrick, a local guide, assisted with some suggestions, so we ended up running off the map but staying at lower elevations until the last portion along the GR52. I approved of the variant - it was easier than expected, and I imagine I wasn't the only one who could use an easier day.
Phew, let's get this thing rolling.
Dawa Sherpa, second-place finisher at the UTMB and guest runner, joined group 3:
We left town and almost immediately started climbing straight up the side of a hill. I was feeling pretty good, no foot problems, no ill effects from yesterday. But my legs politely requested that I dial it back a notch. No reason to overdo it. Bram and Erwin went out ahead as usual. I let Vincent and Rodolphe also pass me, and soon I was alone in the woods. The trail was well marked and quite pretty.
Bernard and Pascal coming up a narrow spur:
I heard a chainsaw above me, which was a strange sound in the middle of nowhere. But trails in France can go from seemingly remote places to civilization in just a few steps. In this case, the trail went from woods to a field with some buildings (and men doing construction) and back to woods a couple minutes later.
Dawa in the woods:
Continuing upward, I eventually emerged above treeline and started up switchbacks toward the high ridge. I greeted several group 1 runners, and we remarked at the beautiful views around us.
One of the SOMFY runners:
I passed Claude on the way up to the first part of the ridge. More switchbacks led up to another flat section, as we started a wonderful zigzag across, around, and over various features. We were going generally east, but that required many northerly and southerly turns along the way. And the whole time we were treated to fabulous views.
I was very excited to be here, finally! It had been disappointing to miss this section last time.
It was fun watching runners both ahead of and behind me. Vincent had taken off quickly, and I last saw he was starting a descent way off in the distance.
I turned a corner and was surprised to find Erwin just in front of me. The trail was somewhat rocky, requiring nimble footwork to keep any semblance of speed. I guess I've gotten used to this (Texas, Colorado, the humbling Long Trail in Vermont), but Erwin is from Amsterdam and still getting used to trail running. So I passed the 2 Dutchmen, aiming next for the figures of Rodolphe, David, and Christian J ahead of me.
John and Gilles making good time:
Nathalie and Antoine at one of the many saddles along the ridge:
I put in a good effort climbing toward the final pre-ravito highpoint, passing everyone ahead of me except Vincent who was long gone. Erwin reached the cross at the top a few minutes later:
Starting down the other side of the ridge, I took a brief cookie and shoe-tightening break. I expected runners to come barreling past me, but no one did. I ran toward the beginning of the steep descent down into the valley below. A couple hikers told me I was in third place, which confused me. I couldn't even try to explain about the 3 different groups and all that, but I also couldn't figure out who besides Vincent was in front. They must have seen Philippe who had been marking the trail earlier.
The 1000-meter steep drop to the ravito worried me quite a bit. Luckily the trail turned out to have lots of solid rocks and little drops instead of a smooth, steep slope. Plus it was the first descent of the day, which probably helped. In any case, I took it easy and didn't have any problems.
Nearing the bottom, I couldn't figure out why Laurent and John had not yet passed me. Then a figure in orange who turned out to be Dawa came running by, saying that a couple others were close behind. I had not known Dawa was with us today, so that was a nice surprise, although slightly confusing. John told me later that the front of group 3 had taken a long, unintentional detour at the start of the day, which was why it took them awhile to catch up to the rest of us.
I made it down to the ravito, yay! One more descent completed! David surprised me by being the next runner to show up while I was refilling bottles. Dawa hung out and talked with everyone - he was just running the first half of the stage, and he sure picked a good one.
I left and started carefully following the markings placed by Philippe and Patrick. The variant took us along a creek, by a farm, through some overgrown brush (?) and then up a dirt road. Laurent finally overtook me, looking smooth while running up the road. I prepared myself mentally for a long run in one direction and then another long run back along the other side of a giant spur. Not having a map of this section was slightly disconcerting.
It was a good time for some music, thank you little Nano. The long jog on road was uneventful and soon I was in the sunshine on the other side and back onto a trail. The trail weaved in and out of little drainages, and it appeared this would go on for quite some time. I looked ahead to try to figure out which col we would eventually climb.
John appeared behind me, yay John! We had a nice little chat and then he was on his way. I sang "Oh, baby, baby, Oops!... I did it again" (the Richard Thompson folk version) after him and we laughed.
Not long later I sped through a little ditch and popped up on the other side to a complete lack of visible markings. Talk about oops. I decided to continue on at the same level while trying to relocate the trail. It was a tense couple of minutes but I finally hiked upward to regain the route. Back on track.
I passed a huge group of hikers, more trees and rocks and things, and eventually met up with a dirt road I had been watching rise below me for quite some time. Back on the map!
It was a 300+ meter climb up to the Col de Raus, nothing too difficult. The hardest part actually was staying on the trail as it made wide, sweeping, seemingly not-so-necessary switchbacks. The shortcuts were really tempting, but I stayed with the flagged route. I expected to see Pascal anytime now.
At the top I found the GR52 trail heading toward Menton. It would follow a ridge quite a ways south, traversing below peaks and passing across saddles for many kilometers. We got a taste of that on day 13, with more coming tomorrow. Fun!
I saw Philippe and Patrick stopped ahead of me. There were talking about something, greeting me heartily as I climbed past. Patrick was going back home and eventually Philippe continued south to follow me toward the gite.
But I was on a mission now, running faster and pushing harder to get to the finish line. Everything felt good, everything was working, I was getting closer to the sea and I could feel it now. Plus it was fun showing Philippe how fast I could go. He didn't try to catch up, probably not all that concerned about his finish time.
I found the turn off of the GR52 toward the gite. One last 300-meter downhill, mostly nice and gentle.
I half expected Bram and Erwin to catch back up to me, but apparently my pace was faster than I knew. Flagging pointed over to a ski run, confusing me for a moment until I saw more markings at the bottom. Then there was the gite and I was done.
Amazingly, I ended up ahead of even Gilles and Christian D for the day. I guess the shorter days really agree with me. I also passed Jean-Paul L in the overall standings, putting me in 10th among full-course runners. If you had told me this before the race started, I would have fallen over in surprise.
John finished 20 minutes behind Laurent and was very satisfied with his second place standing. We had a lovely afternoon on the deck, chowing down, drinking a cafe au lait and soda, and cheering for everyone finishing. The shorter days made for enjoyable afternoons. And we really liked the gite - much better than the Refuge des Merveilles.
John, Dawa, and Laurent:
Philippe, Ignace, and Dawa discussing maps for the next day:
Later on there was a commotion as Antoine and Nathalie arrived. They were the last runners on the trail, and they had decided to collect all the GTA flagging. There was a lot of it!
We laughed hysterically as Antoine described how they would ask hikers, "Is anyone lost?" and how the patous would run away with wide eyes. What a character!
Dinner and breakfast were excellent, then it was time to do it again - just one more time!
Results:
John = 5:38:46 / 2nd among full-course runners (overall placing = 2nd)
Marcy = 6:55:15 / 6th among full-course runners (overall placing = 10th)