I’m deep into my training for the Amsterdam marathon in 6 weeks time and so I try to get my weekly long runs on the road and as flat as possible, which isn’t easy living in the Alps. Anyhow, I really miss proper trail running, and this Sunday saw there was a 32km trail race around the Massif de Céüse so I figured I would give that a go instead.
The event was run by Sigoyer Sport Aventure, cost only €10 to enter, and was just an hour’s drive away. My intention was to not race but take steady, since this was meant to be a long training run, but any thoughts I had of taking it easy went out the window right after the start as the race got steep very fast.
Overall there was only around 1600m of ascent, but most of it was very steep (with fixed ropes in some sections). These steep sections all came early on, meaning the legs went through a real softening up early on. We were soon rewarded with amazing views from the Céüse plateau from where you could see 70km in every direction.
The route was marked excellently, and with only a small field of around 40-odd runners doing the full 32km (there were another 100 or so doing a shorter 12km version) it was easy to find yourself on your own. However it was well marshalled and well signposted. The availability of food and water at the aid stations was not that generous (cups of water, but no refills of Camelbaks/bottles) but considering the difficult of getting supplies to many of the areas, and the low cost of the race this wasn’t a major fault.
I finished in 4:14:04 which brought me in with the middle of the pack. Definitely one to do again next year.
Some Photos…