Adventurous: New snow and snowfall at 1300m, Trail Vallée de Joux, 19.5.2013

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Hey, any season was available during the race.  What a great one. But honestly, it was most of the times quite cold, but there has been rain, sun, snow and snowfall during the race. Most of the wintertime’s had been at the beginning during the first and second climb upon 1500m. But as said, you should have been prepared. Otherwise it could become quite cold in the mountains.

As said the race started at 6:15 right at vallorbe DCIM100GOPROand finished at the sports hall in Le Sentier. From there you have to go back to vallorbe by train on you own costs. There is no lift from the organization and the train ticket is not included in the starts fee. You could have you luggage transported from the start to the finish or you can take the train in the morning from the finish to the start. Anyway, you should take that into account. DCIM100GOPRO

There had been wind and snow and fog from 1300m to 1500 m.

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Great weather changed into snow and vica versa. Very nice landscape and an easy and not very technical race. You could chose between 18, 33 and 56 km. The 56 had been shortend about 1,5 km because of weather condistions.

Altough the track was not difficult, it was sometimes very muddy and slippery because of the rain during the race and before. Temperates have been between -2 and 9 degrees.

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In the mountains there had been a lot of snow.

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Every finisher got a slate slap with cheese and sausages on it.

 

Here is the slat slap.

DCIM100GOPRO

 

Thats the finish line.

DCIM100GOPRO

 

Trail Vallée de Joux

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Here is my grading. Any comments appreciated.

  • grading overall: 8 pts
  • difficulty: 3 pts
  • markings: 8 pts
  • organization: 8 pts
  • food: 8 pts
  • costs: 6 pts
  • fun: 7 pts
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Trail Challenge des Seigneurs, 13+14.4.2013

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Two runs in two days for three UTMB points. First on saturday there is the “Défi des Seigneurs” with 74 km, starting a 7 o’clock in the morning.

Start

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On the next day at 10 o’clock you can start for another 25 km called “MAC6”

 

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And if you have registered for both races, then you’r doing the “Challenge des Seigneurs” and will get 3 points for the UTMB.

http://www.lesvosgirunners.com

Since my french is not that good, i had some difficulties getting that right. But anyway. It had been a nice race. Adrian Brennwald had taken the first race and also was the first one at the finish.

Winner Défi des Seigneurs 2013

I like the nice atmosphere and the friendly staff. Everything took place at the sports stadium in Niederbronn and as for the first day, there had been about 200 runners, for the MAC6 there have been about 600 runners altogether. It was kind of a family event on Sunday. There have been also other distances with about 50 and 10 km. so everyone could find the best distance for his skills or which distance seems most preferably.

After registration you have been given three presents. Two mustard’s and a really nice local beer.

Gifts

The has been really delicious local food and pasta.

Niederbronn and the surrounding mountains are part of the Vosges mountains. They go up to 1400mD, but the race was ranging between 200 and 550 (Grand Wintersberg). On the Sunday at the Grand Wintersberg, they have been playing the alpenhorn, what reminded me a bit of Switzerland. 🙂

Vosges

Here is my grading. Any comments appreciated.

  • grading overall: 7 pts
  • difficulty: 3 pts
  • markings: 10 pts
  • organization: 8 pts
  • food: 8 pts
  • costs: 7 pts
  • fun: 7 pts
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Ultrabericus, straight trail, 16.3.2013

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Nice run in a beautiful landscape with a perfect organization and very friendly and helpful supporters. IMAG1777

I arrived by car from the direction of Switzerland. You have to take account of the highway fees. Going to and going back had been about 30 euros altogether.IMAG1755

Also there might be a lot of traffic from and to Italy around Mailand (Milano). The hotel with three stars has been just fine and very good.

The weather was in between 5 and 10 degrees. The sun had glimpsed sometimes through and sent some warm beams to all runners.

The race started at the great Piazza dei Signori in Vicenza, in the middle of the town at 10 o’clock in the morning.IMAG1787a This has been quite a reasonable time. Since many races start very early. The last could finish until 23:30 in the night. There had been about 700 registrations. 600 managed to get into the finish.

About every 10 – 15 km, there had been a checkpoint, with all what you wanted: orange, banana, figs, water, iso drinks, salted nuts, cheese, cake, biscuits and so on.

The race was also open for twin teams. They run both one half of the race. The winner was about 6 hours. It was a not very technical race, with some single trails and not difficult gradients.

Every finisher got a medal and a small light bag.

 

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  • grading overall: 7 pts
  • difficulty: 3 pts
  • markings: 10 pts
  • organization: 9 pts
  • food: 9 pts
  • costs: 7 pts
  • fun: 8 pts
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UTMB bib race ship

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Got my number. After donating i got the last of 50 numbers for this years utmb. Will get my number next week. Great. So i’m registered for the utmb this year. I will write more later. Hiphip huray. 🙂

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Registered for two runs. Happy running. :-)

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Registered today for two runs.

and the

07.30 a.m. Grosse Scheidegg
10.40 a.m. First (second time through)
12.10 p.m. Oberläger Bussalp
16.00 p.m. Schynige Platte
18.30 p.m. Burglauenen
21.00 p.m. Wengen
23.30 p.m. Männlichen
05.00 a.m. Alpiglen

On the Eiger trail there are already 240 male and 40 female runners registered and only 400 are allowed. Seems like, that this race will be booked out before the start.
So you should hurry to become registered. Looking forward for this race. It starts on the 20.7. at 5 o’clock in the morning.
And the finish for the last one to be in time is on the 21.7.13 at 9 o’clock in the morning.

Missed already a race in Vicenza (Italien), since have been to late. The http://ultrabericus.it has been already booked out since last month. So keep an eye on the race before.

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Attention “Boars are crossing” – Trail de cinghiale

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Trail of the Boar – Trail de cinghiale

60 km through the nice landscape of the province ravenna.
The trail is sometimes technical, with parts along unpaved roads.
Street sings saying that boars are crossing the road and that you should take care of. The name of the trail is named “trail of the boars (cinghiale)” .

We had been lucky, that is wasn’t raining the whole day.
But it was still slippery and muddy from the day before.
A week before the temperatures have been around 15 degrees, but short before race day they dropped to
6-9. So it was a very good weather for running. Maybe as an Italian i would not say that.

It was differently predicted though. The forecast a week ago, was saying that there could be snow. A few day before the race it changed to raining a lot. So i started with a rain coat, although it was not raining at all. Many have been wearing rain jackets. Funny enough, after an hour i was wet. But not because of the rain, because of the jacket i sweated a lot with and it’s not as transparent as all vendors try to tell you. In the end its a rain coat that is water proof and that will also let no water out. So my clothes have been wet for a long time of the run.

Food and supplies have been very good. Getting some Italian special sweets. Some nice warm cups of ice tea have been very helpful. Even a beer barrel has been available. Just i wonder who took a cup of and was able to finish in time. But who knows.
There has been check point for about every 7 km. Which is quite frequently. You do not have to refill you drinking backup every time.

It have been two rounds for the 60km trail. One round has been divided into two parts. There has been also a 42 km trail which covered only the first three parts. So after the first round you come back to the start, where you go for another 30 km. The markings have been very good. The second round i was running most of the time on my one but i had never a problem finding the path. The race started at 6 o’clock and i managed to get back during daylight.

Every finisher got a wooden plaque. The starter package was including a running jacket.
It possible to take a shower afterwards and a portion of pasta was also included.

I have lost my navigation device during the race, but luckily i recognized that quite quickly and after about 1 km
going back i found it on the path. Next time i have to think about another way of storing it inside my backpack.
Next time i will also run with the advanced skin 12 from Salomon. At my old backpack i had this pocket just right at the belt around the hips. but i forgot to close the zipper and i lost it very quickly.

Many people came there for the 2 UTMB points. Because it had been one of the last races before the 19.12. when the inscription for the UTMB will be available.
I met a guy from Sweden, that made all the way to Italy for this race.

So for now i have all 7 points together and wait for the registration become available.

Just 10 km before the finish i have seen a rote of boars just crossing my way 50m in front of me very quickly. So watch our for boars and the trail of the boars. You might miss one.

 

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  • grading overall: 7 pts
  • difficulty: 5 pts
  • markings: 10 pts
  • organisation: 10 pts
  • food: 8 pts
  • costs: 7 pts
  • fun: 9 pts
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The motto “courir pour le plaisir” at Olne-Spa-Olne is just right

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“courir pour le plaisir” (run for fun) is the motto for the trail in Belgium. It’s really a relaxed atmosphere.

Its a run for fun and it’s also a mud party. Tighten your shoes really well, i have seen several runners losing their shoes in the mud, cause the shoes got stuck firmly in the mud and the shoes could not follow the runner as fast as he wanted.

The waether was just fine during the day. It was also quite warm, with about 10-12 degrees. In the beginning it was raining a bit, but during the day even in the afternoon the sun came out.

 

 

In the morning i arrived at 7:15 and the registration was easy and quick. I had paid in advance but you can also pay at the registration desk just before the race. Little by little the sports hall filled up. Most runners are from Belgium, but there are also quite a lot from the Netherlands and from Germany, since boarders are quite close.

 

 

The start was on time at 10 past 8. Because of a hunting on the track during the day, the race was shortened about 2 km they told us before. Sunrise was just about that time, so if you are able to finish in less than nine hours, you do not need to take a lamp with you.

Every 16 kilometres there is a care point. Normally they have only water there, but at some stations there had been also iso drinks. But i suggest, to take some powder with you, if you depend on that. You could also get rice pudding, raisins, cookies at the first two stations. After 48 km there had been also a warm given to the runners. The last stop at kilometer 64 is really just very close to the finish.

During the race to are running through the beautiful landscape of Belgium. In Belgium the typical weather at that time of the year is cloudy, rainy, windy and also could. So when your running the small trails, they are, depending also on how many have been running in front of you, quite muddy and slippery.

 

The registration fee for the trail is just 10 euro. And i wonder, how you could organize a whole race and also it’s possible to get a t-shirt and also meal after the race.So that’s the shirt. Nice color, eh?

 

The meal was a stew (potatoes, beacon, cabbage) with a sausage and mustard. Maybe it look not as good as it tasted. So great race and great organized. Thank you very much.

 

Take care and have fun.

 

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  • grading overall: 8 pts
  • difficulty: 4 pts
  • markings: 9 pts
  • organisation: 8 pts
  • food: 6 pts
  • costs: 10 pts
  • fun: 9 pts
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60km/4300H, Trail del cinghiale, UTMB 2 points, 1.12.2012

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That the next one.

The Trail del cinghiale starts at 6 o’clock in the morning. It seems like the first race of that type and i will be in the beatiful area around ravenna in italy. For the 60 km you have to make two rounds and you will come back after the first round to the start, where you will go for the last part. The race will give 2 points for the UTMB.

In ravenna it is warmer then in switzerland currently and about 10-15 degrees.

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