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Report and thoughts on the UTMB 2016

End of last year I was very lucky to win a start number in the lottery for the 170km UTMB, the most prestigious long-distance mountain run in the world. As you know, you first need to collect the qualification points. Normally 2 mountains runs longer than 100km and a 60km run will do. But in addition you need some luck in the lottery, where 2600 participants out of more than 6.000 applicants are drawn.

So needless to say I integrated that run in my 2016 schedule and my main events in 2016 were the following:

May: Cape Wrath Ultra 400km/8days June: Zermatt Ultra 45km July: Iceland Ultra 55km August: Irontrail 128km August: UTMB 170km

As of my sabbatical in April/May I was not able to prepare thoroughly for these events, so I had a slow start and was very far from my best times in Zermatt and Iceland. But at the 128km Irontrail in August I performed already quite well, finishing 17th out of 93 runners. And I felt that I could be made for the longer runs above 150km.

The start of the UTMB was very special and the atmosphere in Chamonix was more than outstanding. I would say the enthusiasm was comparable with the mountain stages of the Tour de France. For about 2-3km it felt like being in a stadium with many flags, cowbells and other instruments. But also later in the smaller villages there were some great, emotional moments. Once there was a large group, that sang some nice french songs. Then other people cheered with cowbells. Very often I heard "Allez, Frank!" and "Bravo, Frank!" Even very little childs applauded and often reached for "high fives".

Compared to the Irontrail the route was technically rather easy and only for about 5-10km you needed to navigate to very irregular terrain as there were loose scree slopes. The weather was much too hot, reaching temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. But on Saturday evening there was a heavy thunderstorm with lots of lightning and heavy rainfall. Then the trails went muddy and were totally under water. As you might know I am not a fan of these hot days and often I struggle in these temperatures. Apart from this the route was marked exemplary and I never had any problems with route-finding.

As always I started such a long run in a comfortable, slow pace. The uphills I consequently walked and on the downhills I ran very cautiously. As a result there was not the slightest fall or imbalance during the whole event. But I was very surprised how fast 99% of the other runners went on the downhills. As though they didn't fear any consequences, like soar legs on the final hills. To me it looked as though all of them were in a competition with a prize money of a million.

The start was on Friday evening at 18:00 and temperatures through the night were quite pleasant around 15 degrees Celsius. So here I got into a rhythm and I was able to progress about 5-6km per hour. Also I made sure to save some energy for the later stages and hills. Later around midnight it got very windy on a higher ridge and I put on warmer gear!

Saturday was as hot as expected and hiking up the hills was very exhausting. My main goal for this event was to finish the UTMB by all means. But it turned out that with this goal in my mind, I was missing some competitiveness and motivation. On many occasions I just hiked in a comfortable pace and let many slow runners pass. But later I changed my attitude and went for a fast pace and I was doing very fine. Especially the last 10 hours out of the overall 38h were very strong and I was able to overtake more than 300 runners in this period.

Running-wise in 2016 I was never in my best form, so I went for other tricks like having very short breaks at the food-stations. When other runners spend 20-30 minutes for a refreshment stop, I only took 2-5 minutes. On two occasions I had no break at all, which meant that I overtook 20-50 runners in one move. Very often it were the same runners then that overtook me again and again. And they were always wondering how again and again I managed to get in front of them! ;-)

Interestingly during this race I met some known faces, mostly runners from this year's 400km Cape Wrath Ultra in Scotland: Stephen Dixon and also the swedish team Ted Kristensson and Par Bjelkmar. They always look so strong and I would assume that they never ever give up in a race. Last but not least Des Rhule from London came as a spectator and gave me some hints and running advice. (Thank you,Des, for being my sherpa post-race and carrying my heavy bag!) And funnily there are also runners from Germany that know me from Facebook but I don't know them. Usually I am approached with words like "Hi Frank, I know you and your pictures from Facebook.."

The last seven hours I managed to climb from position 650 to 399, which was great fun! Mainly I could choose how to pass other runners. Either taking a short or no break at the food stations or pushing hard on the uphills. And should even this not work then I went for a very breakneck downhill. This was one of my strengths in my youth and on former trail runs. Of course, this meant highest concentration especially during night with my headlamp.

Compared to my youth I nowadays play it more safely, which means funning the downhills rather controlled and slow. With this I significantly reduce the risk of falls and feet injuries.

On Sunday morning at around 8:13am I finished this tough race at rank 399 in 38h13min, running two complete nights and a day! I never felt tired, so I needed no sleep at all. Before that race I was not so sure on this, but it seems that my body was in a kind of "alarm status". Besides I was concentrating the whole time on the trail. There was not even time for getting tired then. Going forward I would never think again of having some sleep or a short power naps in similar events.

Would I do this UTMB again? The clear answer is "No!". This race is too tough, too crowded and also offers only little nature feeling. The food was OK, but could be improved a lot. I would have liked potatoes and also non-alcoholic beer. On one occasion I bought a beer in a swiss mountain hut, but I made also sure to not drink it in a single gulp. Yes, this run also went through Italy and Switzerland. But as expected I didn't need to show my passport! On the other hand the atmosphere was simply overwhelming and that is hard to ignore. Here I would say that especially French and Spanish people are very enthusiastic on trail-running, especially in the Alps and Pyrenees. You would not experience this atmosphere in Germany and Switzerland.

So overall it was a great experience with many interesting impressions. There were several moments where I would have liked having a camera with me. Next time I will take at least a small camera! Very often during the night I could see a chain of lights from other runners. On Friday there were many of them, on early Sunday there were already much less. Obviously nearly half of the runners dropped out! On one occasion there was fog below us, with a peak emerging from that fog. Then there was a thunderstorm with heavy rainfall, that I even enjoyed over the hot, sunny weather. It makes running a bit more complicated, as mud and water puddles develop. But I like these challenges and usually I don't afford any mistake. So no false step, but highest concentration without being distracted.

Next year I will likely reduce my running pensum, which means I will only go for my favorite runs and then maybe a special event. On the other hand I plan to prepare thoroughly which should then translate to faster times:

Stockholm Marathon I would like to run below 3 hours again. Last time I failed on this. And also my 9th Laugavegur Ultra should be faster, maybe around 5h30 again and a top 10 ranking. Finally I might apply for the ultimate run, the Irontrail 201km race. This run is much more difficult than the UTMB and with 200 participants has a total different character! I like the landscapes in Graubünden as well!

So here my report on the UTMB ends and I hope you found some interesting aspects.

Interesting links and results

To get a feeling how dramatic a trailrun could develop, I recommend you to read this very well-written summary report:

REPORT UTMB 2016 (http://franktschoepe.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=32d7440e232676313d2323df1&id=fa45436878&e=3330066c6a)

Men's race: Many favorites dropped out, Zach Miller was leading nearly the whole race. But then finally got passed by 5 runners. One of them, France's Ludivic Pommeret celebrated his biggest victory in life. Remarkably he was only 50th in an early stage, but managed to get stronger and stronger till the finish.

Women's race: Here it was a very close duel of France's Caroline Chaverot and Switzerland's Andrea Huser. Maybe these are currently the best european women in long-distance mountain runs. You find them in the top 10 of the ITRA ranking:

ITRA ranking (http://franktschoepe.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=32d7440e232676313d2323df1&id=7c4ab0d393&e=3330066c6a)

At least I also find my profile there, but of course I am ranked much lower with an overall of around 500 points: Profile Frank Tschöpe (http://franktschoepe.us8.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=32d7440e232676313d2323df1&id=05687a9916&e=3330066c6a)

Last but not least you find all the results here:

RESULTS UTMB 2016 (http://franktschoepe.us8.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=32d7440e232676313d2323df1&id=6d2351a6c6&e=3330066c6a)

First select "UTMB" and then you can browse through all the runners. I recommend you to click on the number of a runner and then you will discover some nice features, like how the runner developed over time. You can also compare different runners. If you want to see my performance then just put in my start number 908.

I finished in 38h13min on 399th rank and was very happy with this result. Out of an overall of 2600 runners only about 1468 finished.

Sporty greetings and all the best

Frank Tschöpe

www.franktschoepe.com You are bored? You need some inspiration or ideas for your own travels? Then please have a look here:

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