We started on the streets of Samoens, in the same three groups. There were a couple group photos, then we were off to the races again. I was mentally prepared to take it as easy as possible today.
Our 7 a.m. group trotted along toward the river. I scanned the left side of the trail for the marking I had missed last time - there it is! I veered left and jumped in front of the group. Soon Christian and Henri were running along behind me. Most of our group stayed relatively close, and I was impressed that no one went careening off in strange directions like I had seen in the past in this area. Christian paid close attention to his map. Henri did the most bouncing around over the first week, but I never actually saw him depart from the route. He would always just show up later out of nowhere, like a magician.
My fellow runners seemed to be working together well, helping each other with questions about which way to go. We followed the river, heading upstream and eventually up a hill toward my favorite part of this section. The trail took us in between some giant rocks, making us scramble up ladders and look for handholds. Very cool.
Once we started down the technical trail on the other side, a couple of us wanted to hop and jump quickly down the trail, so other runners stepped aside to let us go. I saw a large range of technical trail ability, although I'm sure by the end of the race everyone had gained quite a bit of experience in that regard.
We ran along the river some more, getting spread out over time and distance. Maria, Toni, and Christian were ahead of me and everyone else was not far behind. I came out onto a short section of pavement to see the leading group trying to figure out where to go next to a bridge. I believe the highlighted route on our maps was wrong (especially compared to our 2006 maps), and I continued across the bridge and around the corner to the red/white GR marks. The other three runners came along and we started chatting as we went up the next climb. I learned my next German number ("vier") and Maria talked about how she and Toni had met.
After crossing a small creek we hiked up to a road and came upon one of the big waterfalls of the day - not as big as it had been last time, but still pretty:
My compatriots wanted to follow a trail going up near the waterfall. I told them I was staying on the road, as I was absolutely certain that was correct. They ended up following me. The trail crossed multiple road switchbacks, took us by a water fountain where I filled a SPIZ baggie, and ended up at a parking lot for hikers.
As we started climbing in earnest, a hiker recognized us from the previous evening's activities and said "Cole Porter!" which I thought was pretty funny.
The next target was the intersection with a trail heading higher into the hills. We needed to be sure to turn left to stay on the GR5. I believe the briefing sufficiently scared everyone into paying attention and no one went the wrong way here. Right next to the intersection is my favorite waterfall of the Alps, the Cascade de la Sauffaz:
I was wondering whether I would reach that spot before anyone passed me, and lo and behold, there were the Dutchmen, Bram and Erwin, right on time. Hi guys! Continuing on, we climbed along the side of a big ridge, with gorgeous scenery coming up all around. I passed around the north end of the ridge and wondered where I would see John.
All alone for now, I ran down into a little valley but looked up in time to catch my first glimpse of Mont Blanc. Awesome! Happy day!
I crossed a pretty creek on a bridge and looked back to see John flying down the hill toward me. More happy day! He told me that Sylvie and Gilles (from the second group, whom he had just passed) had sent messages ahead to me: "Bonjour Marcy!" and "A bientot!" Too funny. He also wondered where Laurent and Laurent were at - they were supposed to be ahead of him, but apparently had taken a wrong turn somewhere. I got a quick "good morning!" kiss and then he was bounding ahead.
I watched him pass a chalet and head up the next part of the climb. Soon I was following in his wake, as other runners started catching up to me. In the middle of a bunch of switchbacks, it seemed as though the entire field was on the side of the mountain all at the same time. Back and forth, climbing up the rocky trail. We were about to reach 2000 meters for the first time in the race.
A bunch of racers from the second and third groups came by me, all of them with pleasant greetings. Except Manu, who never really said much. Sylvie, on the other hand, yelled "Bonjour Marcy!" from a great distance away. We joked that she had a ton of energy, while it seemed Gilles and Rodolphe were working hard to keep up with her.
The trail reached another local maximum, leading us toward the Lac d'Anterne and more beautiful views.
I took my time running by the lake, admiring the amazing scenery and keeping my pace under control. One more climb to finish the first half of this day. It was relatively easy, including a pee break behind a rock, and some gawking at a huge herd of sheep. I saw a big white sheep dog, or patou, which initially had me worried, but there was a shepherd there so all was OK. According to John, he was training a couple patou puppies - now THAT I wish I had seen.
At the top of the Col d'Anterne we were rewarded with more stunning vistas. Everyone who had a camera made a stop here, and I can't resist including a bunch of the results:
Once over the top, a steep and rocky little trail brought me down to a refuge where the ravito was being held today. Henri showed up here from somewhere (?), we ate and drank and refilled water bottles. I decided to try filling a SPIZ baggie with 10 oz of water and putting it in my back mesh pocket for the next downhill, to see if that would work without making a mess. It did, and I started doing that at the mid-point ravitos to save mixing time.
Henri was curious where we were headed, so the refuge proprietor came over to point out the next col. "An easy climb," he said, to which I remarked "yeah right!" Only 800 meters at the end of a long, hard day. Only 800 meters that kicked me in the pants last time.
I headed out along a path that soon turned wet and mucky. Oh yeah, I remember this now. I did a bit of rock-hopping but eventually ended up with at least one wet foot. The trail went down, down, toward a little bridge. Now it was time for the real test of my training.
I took a deep breath and started purposefully but carefully up. Initially it was steep, then it leveled out to simply being work. The poles helped, and I monitored my breathing. Several racers passed me, including Pascal and Christian P. At least it wasn't snowing and blowing this year, although I'm not sure I really wanted to see how far upwards I still had to go.
To cool down, I dipped my hat in a couple cold streams that wandered over the trail. I stopped for a cookie every 30 minutes. I admired the scenery across the valley. And I never got super tired, so I was thankful for that.
Finally I made it to the last set of switchbacks. I started talking to myself, realizing only later upon looking down that a couple of sunbathing hikers had probably heard me. I was reliving 2006, but in a good way. I watched a couple red-shirted runners way, way above me and decided to time myself to that spot. I think I was about 10 minutes back, not bad. Not that I was going to catch them since they had already passed me, but it was something to entertain myself with.
Then all of a sudden I was over the hardest part, and there was the top. Sweet! The trail turned really rocky and interesting, and I was looking forward to the next section across the crete (ridge).
Jean-Paul L and Pierre just before the col:
Christiane, Hans, and Helene at the Col du Brevant, with the Massif de Mont Blanc behind them:
Cyril at the start of the trail along the crete:
I was alone before I reached the col, but ran into a huge gaggle of hikers there. I needed a cookie break, so I ate fast while trying to start up the trail before the hikers ended up blocking the way. I partly succeeded, but still had to work my way around several people with huge packs that had already started walking. I knew this trail would not allow for passing in some spots, so I wanted to get ahead of everyone before we got there.
It took a bit of work, but I was finally truly alone when I got to the section of ladders. This is a neat experience, climbing up rocks and ladders on top of a high ridge. Next was a bit of road running up and down, in and around the big rocks. The weather was beautiful (although threatening to the south of us) and I enjoyed it tremendously.
Sylvie coming to the rocky sections:
Christian D, Rodolphe, and Gilles on the road:
I was plenty happy to be there, with spectacular views of Mont Blanc across the way and Chamonix down below, feeling good about being done with the day 3 climbs. I hopped down some rocks and made my way toward the last bit of ridge running. It was pretty rocky but fun to jump around on.
Toni and Maria:
The view down to Chamonix:
It really is a massive massif:
Well, that's it for the stunning photos for today! Time to run downhill.
It started steep and continued on and on, for a total of about 1400 meters downhill. Oomph. At least I knew this section of trail really well, having trained here with John. First, a couple spots where I need to be careful stepping down. A little traverse. Into the woods, over some roots, down some steps. Switchbacks, steps, corners. Finally I turned a corner and found the cabled section and drainage crossing.
Still way up high, the pink GTA markings started appearing - wow, someone took a walk with a spray paint can today! I believe that turned out to be Antoine's work.
Lots of running down trails through the woods, past the back of the Christ Roi statue, toward the sounds of traffic, while my ears popped several times. My poles were invaluable to me by now. I alternated leaning on them to step down, running with slight pole braking motions, and skimming down the trail while holding the poles at my sides.
I made it to the bottom at last, onto the streets of Les Houches, and on down to the gite where a crowd was waiting and cheering. That was fun!
The remaining runners arrived not too long later:
My time was over half an hour faster than in 2006 and I felt tons better. My heartrate was slightly elevated but nowhere near problematic. I was pretty sure I had accomplished Goal #1, but I decided to hold off until after the first climb of day 4 before proclaiming it to be so. However, I had already started focusing on the next target:
Goal #2 = Reach the end of day 6 without knee pain.
John's day 3 time was almost exactly the same as in 2006 and he also felt like he had been holding back on the downhills compared to last time. He finished the day second to Laurent B., and he had by now determined that Laurent had sandbagged the first two stages. John held the overall lead, but by only 15 seconds - that was pretty funny.
I finished 48 minutes back from Sylvie and 29 minutes behind Maria. This put me solidly in third place in the overall women standings, which was just fine with me because (say it with me now) I'M NOT RACING.
We ate some excellent couscous and then there was a mayoral reception with Antoine serving us more good food. This year we were treated to some delicious post-run meals each afternoon, a really nice improvement over 2006 when we were mostly on our own.
Before dinner we sat through the usual briefing about the following day. There would be a variant (nooooo! I'm not a fan of variants) and that always added a bunch of questions and attempts at explanations by at least 3 people. Christian captured this priceless shot and I couldn't help but include it:
Ignace Leclercq finally appeared to begin his run - we know him from the 2006 GTA and it was great to see him again. Nathalie Lamoureux also joined us, fresh from finishing the UTMB last weekend (wow!). She and Antoine would run together, and it was clear that Antoine was looking forward to that.
Another day done, another good dinner, another round of preparation for tomorrow...
Results:
John = 6:16:26 / 2nd among full-course runners (overall placing = 1st)
Marcy = 9:24:15 / 22nd among full-course runners (overall placing = 21st)