Huge crowds turn out for Ultra Trail
For the second year running, Italian Marco Olmo sauntered home to win the 5th North Face Ultra Trail, well ahead of the rest of the field. The 59 year old completed the gruelling 163km course in an incredible 21hours, 31 minutes and 58 seconds; nearly an hour ahead of German, Jens Lukas, who came in second (22hrs, 24 mins). Frenchman Nicolas Mermoud, who had spent much of the race at the head of the pack finished third in a very respectable 22hours and 31 minutes.
In the women’s race, it was American Nikki Kimball that claimed the victory in 25 hours, 23 minutes and 45 seconds over Spaniard Monica Aguilera (27hrs 18 mins) and then last years winner, Karine Herry from France (29hrs 6 mins).
The competitors set off at 6.30pm on Friday evening to the deafening cheers of a packed Chamonix centre. Heading in the direction of Les Houches, Olmo was well placed from the beginning behind the American favourites, Scott Jurek and Karl Metzer, who set a hellish pace for the first few kilometres. After passing the first refreshment point in St Gervais (20km) at 8.30pm and then the last sign of civilisation in Les Contamines (33km) at 10.40pm, he left the Americans behind and was away in hot pursuit of the Frenchman, Mermoud. By 3.46am, they had almost reached the halfway point as they passed Courmayeur (76km); but behind them many competitors were already suffering badly and were taking full advantage of the beds en route for a revitalising massage of their tired limbs. As the first rays of sunshine hit Mont Blanc, the leaders were already at the Bonatti Refuge (89km) and the Swiss/Italian border, but it was in Champex (121km) at 11.30am that Olma took pole position. From here on in he extended his lead on the rest of the pack to over 50 minutes, arriving in Chamonix at 4.57pm to a hero’s welcome.
A novel addition to the race this year was made possible by Google Earth satellite visualisation. GPS beacons weighing 85 g were added to the bags of the first 10 men and the first 3 women at la Fouly (Swi), 56 km before the finish. Transmitting a signal every 5 minutes, it was possible for the final kilometres of the race to be followed live on the big screen in the Triangle de l’Amitié outside the Tourist Office!
Olmo has gained a reputation as a bit of a machine in ultra marathon circles, with numerous titles under his belt including: 3 times winner of the Marathon des Sables (6 day, 243km endurance race across the Sahara Desert), 4 victories in the Cro-Magnon Ultra Trail (103kms with 5200m ascent and 6200m descent) and now a second North Face Ultra Trail title to add to the collection. He certainly doesn’t appear to be slowing down at all as he approaches his 60th birthday!
The runners continued to arrive throughout Saturday night and as Sunday dawned, still they came. Whilst the crowd may have dwindled slightly in size from that welcoming in the winners, the cheers of support certainly didn’t until the very last man arrived at 4.30pm on Sunday in a time of 46hours and 8 minutes – 1437th out of 2319.
In total, the two races (Ultra Trail and CCC) attracted 3928 runners from 44 different countries, 425 of which were women. Huge congratulations to everyone that finished and you can see more pictures of the event in the gallery.
Photo credit: Actumontagne.com
