UTMB week - Petite Trotte a Leon tonight

The first of the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc races sets off tonight. The Petite Trotte à Léon is a long-distance event for teams of 3 people. The course measures 240km (Petite Trotte?!) and covers about 18000m of altitude change. The teams must be inseparable the whole way round (as in they must run together, not as in extreme 3-legged race) and at least 1 of them must be a past UTMB finisher.

The race sets off at 10pm tonight from the Place du Triangle de l'Amitié (the square in front of the Tourist Office) and the last runners are expected to come in on Sunday by 4.30pm. Yes, that's right, 5 days later. As if that wasn't hard enough the course is autonomous, meaning that you are responsible for your own rest and refreshment. There are refuges along the way where you can grab some sleep and refuel, but you must manage the arrangements of this yourself. There will be no neon-bibbed marshals handing out orange segments, the course is not signposted all of the way and runners must carry a large amount of equipment, supplies and first aid kit to see them through. But you do get dinner and a free T-shirt when you get back to Chamonix, so its not all bad.

The race is in its third year and there will be 74 teams of 198 runners setting off this evening, bon courage!

The UTMB, CCC (Courmayeur, Champex & Chamonix) and TDS (Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie) all set off on Friday; the Ultra from Chamonix at 6.30pm and the others from Courmayeur at 10pm and midnight respectively. Click on the website link below for details of all races.