Page 3

I head from Bovine towards Trient, another 850 metres of vertical drop over a distance of 5km (that feels like 10km). As before, I am gingerly picking my way down using my walking poles as brakes whilst seemingly hundreds of runners stream by. At this point the fatigue sets in again. Thinking that the CP must be close at hand I start to imagine signs of it in almost everything, my whole mind becomes focused on the checkpoint: at one point I become convinced that a strangely curved tree is the checkpoint, at another that a sheep shelter must surely be the feed station. I tell myself to pull myself together and after a seeming eternity I enter the village of Trient for a 6am breakfast of fruit cake, energy gel, mushroom soup and more tea. My time cushion is again slightly eroded but I tell myself that the race has only another 10 hours to run and so long as I can maintain the uphill pace then I should be able to hang-on during the downhill sections.

As with the previous day the advent of morning brings with it a distinct improvement in mood, everything is possible in the morning, you can see where you are going, you can appreciate the views, the support is greater, but most significantly you can make the morale boosting calls home and receive texts as loved ones awake and check on your progress through the website.
 
Whatever happens now there will at least be no more nights in the open to suffer and the end is, if not in sight, much closer than it seemed before Bovine. I race up the next 750 metre climb knowing that I will need to buy time for the ensuing descent. Before long the mind is again wandering and I feel myself falling asleep for small stretches and although this stretch is not dangerous I promise myself 20 minutes of sleep in the next CP if I feel no better. We are soon back into France and descending towards the village of Vallorcine which is entered with an again slightly reduced time buffer.
 
Vallorcine represents the last proper village before the end and although the last stage is about the longest there is still a tangibly 'end of term' atmosphere in the CP. The knowledge that this is now the final push brings with it renewed energy and a rush of adrenaline such that I abandon any designs I had on 20 minutes of sleep and bound off for the first 3km of an 18km stage which starts off flat but becomes increasingly troublesome.
 
Although this should feel like the home stretch, that thought is soon forgotten when we start on an interminable climb of around 900 metres towards La Tete aux Vents. Countless summits are sighted only for them to turn-out to be false as another comes into view further ahead. The sun is now beaming down through a cloudless sky on the competitors and I can feel my arms burning where yesterday's application of sun cream has worn off.

We reach the final checkpoint of La Flegere with more than enough time in-hand, even at my speed of descent. A carnival atmosphere develops around me on the route down into Chamonix but I can only really concentrate on experimenting with different ways of going downhill that achieve the best balance between speed and pain. As we near Chamonix the support gradually builds-up and as I am travelling so slowly I am able to appreciate this more than most. The last 7km seem to me to be more like 20km and as I near the town and onlooker helpfully tells me "only 2km to go". When one is expecting only around 500 metres to go, being told that you have 2km left is somehow very difficult to bear.
 
Slowly the trees give way to chalets and then to more substantial buildings, the crowds have now built-up and many of them are attempting to walk or run with the competitors. A lady falls into conversation with me and asks why I chose to do the event and what I will feel like when I finish. It is at this point when I realise that we are about to reach the finish of an epic event and the continuous effort of the past 2 days will come to an end I start to feel the emotions stirring and realise that conversation is not an option.

I start to build my walk into a trot and follow the route towards the centre of town. The crowds are giving the runners a terrific reception and the noise is building up. The music becomes audible and those runners with children present are joined by them on the final stretch. We all salute the support that has been so important from start to finish and turn a corner into the finishing straight. I can barely keep my emotions in check as build-up my speed for the final few steps to the line. I cross the line and pass through the administrative checks and am at last alone and with no more running or walking to do.