Thought that this non-Olympic event deserved a mention here. It’s not one I’ll ever be doing (too long and too far away) but it has captured my imagination over the last few days.
The
Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc is only 6 years old but it has fast become
the mecca of ultra trail running and is attracting the very cream of the ultra and mountain running fraternity. In brief, it consists of over 150kms off-road and 8500m total elevation gain in one leg. The route follows basically the Tour Mont Blanc hiking path, that is usually completed in 7 to 9 days by walkers. See Wikipedia for more details of
the circuit and the passes it will cross. It starts and finishes in Chamonix and it skirts the mountainous fringes of France, Italy and Switzerland.
So, who’s going?
There’s a field of more than 2000 and the elite athletes all have their sights on keeping up with the winner of the last two years, a 59 year old Italian vegetarian named Marco Olmo. That is worth repeating,
the twice winner of the world’s most prestigous ultra mountain challenge is a 59 year old vegetarian.
His rivals this year are a varied bunch, every bit as dedicated as the Olympic athletes of Peking. Probably more.
Choose your winner from amongst:
Marco Olmo: Skinny 59 year old vegetarian (worth mentioning 3 times). Photo below.
Scott Jurek: the top American who was so pissed off at being beaten by the 58 year old vegetarian last year that he accused him of cutting corners and has spent most of Summer training in the Alps in order to beat old Marco once and for all.
Dean Karnazes: Famous American. Ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. But he still hasn’t beaten Super- Mario.
Dewa Sherpa: Nepali runner. Winner in 2003 with the fastest time recorded (20 hours 5 minutes).
Kilian Jornet: Catalan. 20 year old boy wonder who is the current FSA Sky-Running world champion. Cross country/ mountain skiing champ as well. Lives all year round in a ski station in the Pyrenees.
Lizzy Hawker: British lady who may yet prove innate female physiological superiority in the ultra events (something to do with child-birth I’m told..)
Salvador Calvo: “The bald saviour” is a familiar face in the hills of Bierzo and León. He had already won in Picos and was tucking into his lunch well before I was even half way round and had packed it in!
Other favourites include;
Karl Meltzer (USA)
Jaquerod (Switzerland)
Delebarre (France)
Jens Lukas (Germany)
Nemeth (Hungary)
Chambry (Reunion Isles).
The race starts on Friday afternoon. I’ll try and follow it
on the net 
