Philippe gathered us for a brief chat and then we were off:
We ran along the streets of Les Houches until we came to the base of a ski lift. It was interesting to see "UT" markings from the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc race the week before, rather faded but still visible. The combination UT/GTA markings led us up a steep set of stairs and onto a road heading up the mountain.
I was still reining in my legs and lungs, waiting until I made it up the first 600 meters of the day to be sure I wouldn't repeat the "exhausted sit down on the road" episode from 2006. The road started out friendly and I started to wonder what all my fuss was about. Then I looked up to see a field I recognized and the trail turned straight upward. That's the steep stuff I remember.
I shortened my steps and worked the trekking poles. One more rise, one more turn, one more steep climb. Then there it was - the Col de Voza, the site of my recovery in 2006, and the spot where I could proclaim success on Goal #1. No exhaustion today! OK legs, it's all you.
The main course change from 2006 is that this wasn't actually the top of the first climb. Instead we turned left and followed the tram tracks further up toward the Nid d'Aigle. Then at the next tram station we headed into the woods and traversed around to the base of the Bionnassay glacier. Cyril had departed early this morning to provide route markings for us, since we were no longer following the GR5 in this section.
I cheerfully followed the markings and my map, stopping occasionally for a cookie or a bathroom break. I didn't see a single person for the longest time, save for a guy driving a truck on our road by the tram. The traverse turned into a really nice run, although I did almost drop a pole down the side of a steep hill. I determined I better be real careful about that, since I didn't have wrist loops. Then I almost tripped a couple times. My mantra became "footing and poles, footing and poles."
Cyril's markings led across a small trail and down to a passerelle bridge. I was wondering how we would cross, since the last time we were here John had posed for this photo:
But Philippe had received some good beta, because the floor of the bridge is now in place. Yay! Several folks stopped for pictures:
The climb up toward the Col de Tricot was very nice. I enjoyed the new scenery and the calm morning. My legs felt great and I let them churn up the hill at whatever pace felt comfortable. A couple SOMFY runners passed me first, I believe, moving quite well.
I reached the top of the col to a blast of south wind. Hold on to the hat! The Miage valley is very beautiful, especially from the up-high vantage point I had never had before.
I ran into a herd of sheep as I was working my way down the steep trail. Several of them didn't want to get out of the way. Allez moutons, allez! I did glance around for sheep dogs before yelling this, of course. A couple waves of the trekking poles did the trick, although the sheep almost ended up on a switchback below me but finally cleared out of the way completely.
I spotted a speedy runner in orange bombing down the hill above me, and I speculated that it might be Laurent. It didn't take long before that was confirmed. Good morning, sir!
Not far behind was a figure in red - mon mari! John ran down the mountain without quite the same "bomb" factor as Laurent, but still much faster than I was going. We had a nice little reunion at the bottom. John told me he had passed Sylvie and Gilles a ways back, and they asked him to relay "Bonjour!" and "A bientot!" (see you soon) again. Hmph, I thought, maybe not quite so soon today.
Along the road I mixed and drank a SPIZ, admiring the view of the glaciers above us, while watching the orange and red figures zooming up the next hill.
I started up the hill myself, enjoying the climbing more and more this morning. The view back to the Col de Tricot wasn't so bad either:
A runner in black that I didn't recognize passed me next. He turned out to be a third SOMFY runner. He said something about being amazed at how far the rest of us were running. We're just getting started, actually!
A short haul brought me to an area called le Truc, which I believe translates to "The Thing." That makes me laugh, like someone couldn't remember what it was named, so they said "You know, that thing over there" and it stuck. The views all around were just as memorable as the name:
Starting down the hill toward les Contamines and the ravito, I watched the signs carefully since this was a new section of trail for me. Along with excellent markings (including GTA flagging further down) I found Cyril taking photos. Plus a huge group of hikers. Then a bunch of faster runners passing me down a steep jeep road. Manu-the-Serious sped by, barely reacting to my "Bonjour." I caught up with Antoine and Nathalie who had started with Cyril earlier that morning.
We all came rushing in to the ravito, some of us in more of a hurry than others. Jacques, who had stopped running due to blisters, was very helpful, along with the masseur Xavier and masseuse Fanelly. At other ravitos we were also assisted by the nurse Marie-Claude and the computer guru Jean-Patrick. A wonderful support team!
I continued down the hill toward town and then up the long, barely uphill trail along the Bon Nant Torrent (river). I alternated running with a bit of speed walking, making good time. I caught a glimpse of the picturesque church of Notre Dame de la Gorge through the trees. Jean-Paul L apparently went over to get a good photo of it:
Now back to the real climbing. The trail turned sharply uphill, and as I was speed-hiking steadily along I noticed that the trail was made from many large, flat rocks. It turns out that this was an old Roman road - I had not noticed that before, very cool. I spotted Maria and Toni up ahead and I was apparently catching up to them. Time for my next German counting lesson: "funf" - OK, that's a pretty funny one.
The trail leveled out a bit going across a field toward a refuge. What a lovely day! I stopped at the refuge to fill and drink a SPIZ, and then continued on to recommence the steeper climbing.
I was feeling good now. I expected Sylvie to catch up to me eventually, but I figured I could try to hold her off a bit longer today. I felt I was doing pretty good, compared to the runners I saw around me. The fastest were ahead already, but the middle group wasn't disappearing like during the previous days.
Higher and higher we climbed, well above tree line now, aiming toward the Col du Bonhomme at 2329 meters, easily our highest point so far. I knew about how far it was to the top, and this helped me gauge energy output. Someone commented that we were almost there, and I had to remark that actually not so much, we can't see the actual col yet.
I was keeping up with other runners now, including, I believe, Henri, Maria, Toni, and even Christian who was typically the fastest of our group. In 2006 here is where I found my stride, so I channeled my former self and walked with strong purpose. I would stay in front of several of the group 2 runners today, including Ignace:
We reached the first col and started the rocky traverse towards the second one, the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme. I glanced over to the ridge on our right, glad that this part of the 2006 route had been removed from today's course, partially making up for the additional Miage mileage.
I moved ahead of everyone I'd been traveling with, keeping pace with Sylvain from John's group.
This was fun, knowing that the climbs and the stage were pretty much completed and still feeling great. As Sylvain and I approached a group of backpackers, he accelerated to try to pass them quickly. Not wanting the hikers to have to move twice, I ran after him and we zoomed around them as politely as possible. Phew, that was a bit of work!
We worked together to figure out a couple minor questions about the route amid the rocks, including how to skip the highpoint and head directly to the next refuge (it was marked red and white, so I don't think it was a shortcut). Other runners went to the huge cairn on top for photos:
Sylvain and I ran down to the refuge where we helped each other pour 2 cups of Coke (this was a special treat!). Then I let him go, since I knew I still needed to hold back on the steep downhills. Plus Sylvain is too fast for me on the downhills under normal circumstances.
I caught sight of Erwin and Bram ahead of me. It seemed that Bram's ankle (I think) was bothering him a bit, or maybe Erwin was taking it slow on the rocky trail. In any case, they were fine, they just weren't going downhill as fast as I was at the moment. That was a good reminder to take it easy and use the poles to slow myself down a tad. Don't forget Goal #2.
This section was so obviously part of the UTMB course. 3000 runners annually tore it up pretty badly, resulting in multiple lanes and cowpath-like routes. Even the UTMB spray markings pretty much indicated "switchbacks, direct lines, wherever you like!" Only the rocky stream crossing appeared unaffected by the stampede.
Lower down I passed huge group of hikers. Listening for a minute, I determined they were English-speaking, so I changed from "merci!" to "thank you so much!" This allowed for bits of conversation with a couple of them as I flew by. I even met a couple Texans, too funny.
One last little drop down to les Chapieux, and there was the finish line. John jumped up and yelled "Marcy!" It was lots of fun to be greeted as the surprise fast finisher of the day. We hung around near our dorm cabin and cheered the rest of the runners. It got rather suspenseful around 30 minutes later, but then Philippe announced I was the fastest woman of stage 4. Cool! Three minutes later Sylvie came running in, asking "ou est Marcy??" Apparently she had been looking for me all day. Again, cool! Well, that was fun, I'm sure it won't last. Anyway, I'm not racing, and I'm still well behind Sylvie and Maria in the overall standings, so whatever :)
John finished second behind Laurent and well in front of the rest of the field. His 15-second lead was gone, but he wasn't too concerned. He knew Laurent was the faster runner, and the more important goal was to get through all 14 days. Finishing second overall to Laurent would be plenty to be proud of.
Rodolphe and David stopped running for a couple days to recuperate from muscle or knee issues. Both would continue on the course later, which impressed me.
The evening was interesting. We were crammed into a small (I should say "cozy") bunkhouse and it rained buckets for quite a while. Delicious polenta and some strange meat (I think I understood "pork jowls") for dinner. And our briefing was held in a really weird warehouse. But all in all, better accommodations than the refuge at Plan de la Lai last time, so we weren't complaining. Good night!
Results:
John = 5:19:52 / 2nd among full-course runners (overall placing = 2nd)
Marcy = 7:22:59 / 14th among full-course runners (overall placing = 19th)