The Great Escape 2017

I'm pretty sure this has been an experience which will stay close to me the rest of my life. So before I start my report, let's get the most important thing out of the way: a huge thanks to everybody who made this possible. The fellow runners, the volunteers at the CP's, the medics, the RD's, the chefs, the bartenders, the grill-meister, the drivers who jumped in to replace the missing bus driver, people at home cheering me on or I knew where thinking of me, my girlfriend for putting encouraging notes in my drop bags... I also knew at least one person beforehand at each aid-station, which proved an incredible mental boost. So Roland, Martijn, Raymond, Kris, Imran, Alexia, Frank, everyone who I'm forgetting or whose name I didn't know, thank you!

A while ago, I read following advice for 100-miler rookies in a blogpost on Sportiva.com "Find a race or route that really inspires and motivates you [...] And likewise, find people to run and train with who also inspire and motivate you. Run with curiosity, humility and passion!” So upon registering for the Great Escape, I felt I made the right choice. Probably not the easiest event possible, it does check al other criteria. An inspiring route which I had fun with discovering in advance amongst a great bunch of people and amazing athletes.

Upon arriving Friday evening, although it is only the second event of LT in which I participate, it already had a strong home-coming feeling. After pitching my tent at the campsite nearby I was just in time to get some pasta at the race HQ, and went to bed early to get a few hours sleep. Actual sleep was limited to half an hour, but at least I got some rest. The plan was to get on the bus at 2am Saturday morning in Maboge to head to Ettelbruck, so after the alarm woke me at 1am we went back to HQ. The bus still hadn't arrived at 3:30 and as the driver even didn't seem to respond, arrangements were made to drive to the start by cars (thx pa Bührs for the ride!).

And at 5:30, instead of 4:00, we were good to go.

The start at Ettelbruck

A foggy morning

The first aid station at 27k

The first 53k of the course follow the Lee trail, which is named after the slate that dominates the landscape, as for example on Molberlee.

Molberlee

I ran the first 100k mostly by myself, already passing some great aidstations with delicious food. The checkpoint at Clervaux (77k) included an in and out route of a few k through the city-center to the other side of town, a nice addition to the trail.

I got to Troisvierges (around 90k) right after nightfall. I didn't prepare my own food this time, but at Troisvierges I got a veg wrap anyway from Kris, hooray!

I'm not sure why, but the simple fact of continuing after nightfall feels very liberating, as if the dichotomy day/night disappears, imaginary limits are lifted and you can do whatever you want how long you want. That said, it was a long night, with around 12h darkness. Although we both like running solo, when Ingo caught up with me a few hours later, we stuck together for the rest of the race. If I recall correctly, the roughest part of the night was between 4 and 5, when we were both struggling with our lack of sleep after being almost constantly awake for 48 hours. The headlight in combination with the fog was so tiring on the eyes, like driving a car in the rain, I actually started experimenting with running a few seconds with my eyes closed, to give them at least some rest. Looking back, that might not have been the best idea I've ever had, and a short nap in one of the aidstations might have made more sense.

Sunset between Clervaux and Troisvierges

Alone in the forest

Ingo in Houffalize, 125k done

And slowly the light returns

Around 6:30, the light returned, and after getting the best cup of coffe that has ever been made at aid station 8 (after 144k), both Ingo and me felt alive and kicking again, right in time to start the last 20k. This last stretch doesn't follow the Escapardenne trail anymore but was designed by LT, resulting in the toughest part of the course, with some more technical parts and rarely any flat bits.

Ingo descending

Ingo in the morninglight

More fog at Bérismenil

Finishing a long race and my first 100 miler is an incredible rewarding feeling, so the RD's made sure we got the full experience by providing the 100 mile participants with two finishes. The last checkpoint is at race HQ, so when arriving there, you get the hugs, cheers, coke and crisps, after which the RD kicks you back out on the trail for a victory loop of 4k. After almost 31 hours Ingo and me arrived back at HQ, right in time for the BBQ.

Writing this now, I almost feel sorry the race was finished so quickly. A truly rich experience amongst friends.

Bedankt!

Legends Trails: http://www.legendstrails.com/
Escapardenne: http://blog.escapardenne.eu/

Trail des Fantômes 2017

My running goal for 2017 is the Great Escape, which will be my first 100-miler. Organized by Legends Trail, following the Eisleck and Lee Trails for 160k and 7000 meters elevation from Ettelbrück (Lux) to Maboge (BE)… Sounds pretty good!

To get ready for this, I wanted to do a few races around 100k to know I can get at least that far. The remaining 60k will be uncharted territory until then. In July I participated in the Eiger Trail, 100k and 6700m elevation with great mountain views. In August, there was Trail des Fantômes, organized by Sportevents. The route passes through the same region as the last part of the Great Escape. Luckily for me, this was the year the 100k also took place (which is only every three years), so the perfect opportunity to test everything I can.

The start of the race was scheduled at 4am on Saturday, so I went to campsite Benelux at La Roche Friday evening, where I met fellow runner Frank again. The campsite should have been quiet at 11pm, but so crowded and noisy I could only fall asleep at 1.30am. Just enough time to get the full 30min of sleep before crawling out of my sleeping bag, have some breakfast, pick up the race bib and get to the starting line.

At the same moment, there were 14.000 people participating in the Dodentocht-walk in Bornem, which is also 100k. But here, in La Roche-en-Ardenne, there were only 80. 

Start at 4am

Frank and me started about halfway in the crowd, but after 20k we discussed dropping the pace a bit. Good thing the next part was more technical, with lots of tree roots and short scrambles, so we needed to slow down anyway. The rain of the last few days and the constant drizzle made the trail pretty slippery, so I was glad I had my poles with me to prevent some falls. 

Frank climbing

Crossing the river

Taking shelter from the rain

With this amount of participants, and this distance, there were long stretches where we didn’t see other participants, so Frank and me kept each other company during the whole trail, discussing races, trail-food, socks, foot lotion and other interesting stuff. Whilst we're at the subject of food, at the aid stations every 20k the basics were covered with water, coke, oranges, bananas and salted crackers. There was no hot meal provided however, so I prepared some burritos (sweet potato, black beans, tomato, rice and red pepper), which turned out to be an excellent idea.

Burrito's!

Frank descending

After 16h20min along gorgeous trails and a course with plenty of variation and elevation of which I enjoyed every mile, we arrived back in La Roche, just in time for Chouffe and french fries before the bar was closed.

Am I ready for the Great Escape? I honestly don't know if I'll be able to finish it, as there are just so many things which can go wrong. But I do have the feeling I have prepared what I can.

Wild-swimming in France and trail-running in Switserland

Although it was only for ten days, this has been an awesome holiday! With my recent focus on ultra-running, a longer summer trek was of the schedule. Instead, my girlfriend and me went to the Cévennes in France for 5 days to relax, after which we went to Switzerland where I would be participating in the Eiger Ultra Trail.

Part I - Wild Swimming in France

With everything neatly packed in the rental VW Up!, we headed south to France. After some stressful moments on the périphérique at Paris and a too short night on a parking lot somewhere along the way, we arrived around 10am at our campsite at Camping Le Val des Cévennes, near Florac, where we rented the Canada Trek tent, complete with wooden platform, table etc, proper glamping! The campsite is located along the river Tarn, perfect for a refreshing swim after the long ride.

The following days we went discovering the region with the much recommended book Wild Swimming France (there are also editions covering Italy, Spain and UK). The idea is as simple as it sounds. Park the car somewhere along the road, follow the description towards the river and jump in (one place there actually was no other way to get in but to jump in). This has been the second holiday we use this book, and again it did not disappoint. In all, we went for eight swims in four days in the region, and although different in character, I wouldn't be able to give you my favourite. 

Part II - Eiger Ultra Trail E101

I actually managed to become completely relaxed in France, so much so we left our tent a day later than agreed with the campsite owner. Nice of him of not throwing our stuff out while we were away, but it was time to head to Grindelwald, Switzerland to run the Eiger Ultra Trail. Although the webpage states the campsite is never full, there were only two places left at Camping Eiger Nordwand. 

The day before a race is always a bit strange. There's not much you can do except picking up your race bib, make sure you packed all the mandatory gear, saying hi to other runners, eating and sleeping. The start was at 4:30 in the morning, so it was a good thing I managed to get a few hours of sleep as it was going to be a long day. 

As this was my first +100k race, with plenty of elevation (6700m), I was pretty nervous the weeks before, but in the end everything went great. I didn't eat enough during the first 30k, but the soup, bread and coke at the summit of Faulhorn got me through. Once the 50k runners where heading back towards Grindelwald at Burglauenen, the race became less crowded and even more enjoyable. Although I think I would prefer smaller races, there's no denying I enjoyed myself during this adventure which took me almost 20h, after which I received a piece of Eiger rock as medal.