This year, Les skieurs du Mont-Aiguille have organised the first ever Trail du Dégel, and since it was based in Chichilianne, which is pretty local by my standards, I signed up. Trail du Dégel – the run of the melting snow, thaw trail – however you want to translate it I was looking forward to my first race of 2015. For the past…
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Race Report: Trail de Céüse
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…
Race Report: 1er Trail des Cimes du Buech
The first edition of the Trail des Cimes du Buech took place on Sunday, and so I went along since at 17km and 950m +/- it was short and steep enough for me to feel like I could properly ‘race’ it, rather than just try to complete the distance. Since it took place in La Faurie, a village just 20…
Race Report: 1er Trail Blanc de Dévoluy
It’s the depth of winter here in the French Alps and the snow is deep and for most people the race calendar is fairly empty as most people turn to skiing and snowboarding to pass their leisure time. The nearest big ski resort to me however, Super Dévoluy, was hosting a 10km trail race on the local cross country ski…
Race Report: Ultra Trail du Vercors
On Saturday 7th September I ran the 86km Ultra Trail du Vercors – with 4000m of elevation, and some stunning scenery it was my longest run to date. I’m pleased to say I completed the course (280 out of 610 starters abandoned the race) in just over 16 hours. This was the second time I’d attempted the event, the first…
Pointe Feuillette Training Run
On Saturday I went for a long run, but took a new route for the first time and discovered a great trail that despite being on my doorstep, I had never ran. The panorama above shows the view from Pointe Feuillette, the high point of the run. It was a hot and sunny day, so as usual I ran 8km…
Pic de l’Aigle 360°
Pic de l’Aigle (the Eagle’s Peak) is a mountain that I can see right from my living room window. It’s my go-to climb whenever I want to go for a tougher than usual run, as a door-to-door loop takes just under two hours, is 13km and climbs about 650m. I ran it on Sunday, with a quick ‘warm up session’…
Race Report – Les Drayes du Vercors
On Saturday I ran my first ultra marathon since 2011. Les Drayes du Vercors is ‘only’ 62km, but represented the first big test of the year, and a baking hot mid-June day, and 3,800m of vertical meant it was a tough old day on the trail. The day before we drove from my home to the fabulous Auberge Collet which…
Winter Again
After a week of beautiful weather where I was lounging around in shorts and flip flops, I awoke this morning to 20cm of snow and wintry winds. Running the snow-shoe trail was quite appropriate Eric crossing the river using the rocks as stepping stones Just like February again
Long Run – Then Tapering
With just a few weeks to go until the Paris Marathon, I needed to do my ‘long run’, the traditional 20 miler that is the bedrock of all marathon training plans. I considered running it in Milan, where I was on business and the terrain was flat, as I also had a few hours spare one morning before meetings. However…