Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc: CCC 100k Race Report

Race day.
I could not sleep the night before. I was so freaking excited. It was really hard to calm down and get some rest. In the morning I woke up and ate breakfast and drank my coffee, then made my way over to the square. For us, since we started in courmayeur, Italy we got a free ride through the tunnel from chamonix. My mom and grandma came along too and it was so cool to show them the first climb and to see courmayeur. I love that town. It's so small, very Italian, and just has a great vibe.

Everything laid out & ready!

Getting in the start corral was nerve racking. They were playing dramatic music and the French-Italian announcer was shouting into the mic as if he were announcing a soccer game! There were thousands of people all crowded into the street. Of course, Gina Lucrezi, new friend & badass US runner, and I had to go to the bathroom ten minutes before the start so instead of just peeing on the side of the road we opted to climb out and go right next to the bank in the trees in front of everybody. Hahaha my mom and grandma were appalled but such is ultra racing!

101km to go

My grandma, mom & I!

During the start and our run trough the town streets there were gopro drones flying all around and people were hanging out of every window, balcony and street corner cheering us on with cowbells and horns. I've never experienced anything like that and I couldn't help but grin and wave to the families.

After taking a tour of courmayeur, the race gets right down to business with a 10km climb to tête de la troche with ***m gain. We poured onto a single track trail and immediately started hiking. I pulled out my poles and followed the long train of runners up. It was pretty cool to look up and see a line of runners zig zag up the mountain and then below see the line trail off into the trees. Up at the top, everybody started running fast downhill to the first aid station, Bertone. Once there, I took a sip of coke and kept on my way. At this point I was running and at a very breezy pace. The trail rolled up and down with sweeping views of the glaciers and mountains. It was breathtaking. Before the race I had completely forgotten to sharpie the course profile and aid stations on my arm so I was kind of running blind as to where I was headed. I knew there was another big climb ahead, but I didn't know where and kept getting "faked out" by mini climbs that looked giant.

One of the Aid Station parties

I then pulled down my pants for all to see. #chafingsucks

Two really important questions I learned to ask were "c'est loin la refuge?" (Is The refuge far?) & "combien kilomètre jusqu'à la refuge?" (How many kilometers to the refuge?). At the bottom of the first downhill I came to the first big aid station, Arnuva. People were lining the course on the way cheering and yelling your name. "Allez Kelsie allez!" "Tres beau!" At that aid station I had some coke, coffee, filled my water flasks, and drank some soup. The soup and coffee were amazing and quickly became the aid station staple. They also had giant platters of fruit- dried and fresh, salami, dried sausage, chocolate, tea, and I'm sure other things. I tried not to linger and just went on my way. At the aid stations and major checkpoints, they had volunteers out there scanning our bibs, which was pretty legit and cool.

Soon we started climbing again up to the col du ferret. It was another long monstrous climb, but the views were again insane and I actually enjoyed it! The wildflowers on the hill were every type and color imaginable and the light shining through the clouds hit the grass in such a way as to illuminate each hill and cascade of rock. At the top I stopped to put my poles back in my pack as I had 20km of downhill. Kim Gaylord had told me earlier before Europe that the downhill and valley part was super runnable so I was looking forward to banking some time. This was not the case. I was having issues not being able to go to the bathroom and my stomach cramped the whole way down. It was painful and I was very slow. It was also very steep and painful. The downhill and rolling gravel road alongside the river to La Fouly. La fouly was a giant aid station and once I scanned in, the announcer shouted to the crowd "Kelsie Clausen arrive à la fouly! Elle est américain et la pommier espoir femme!" (Kelsie arrived at la fouly! She is American and the first espoir female- Which is my age group). At this station I drank my coffee & coke, ate bananas wrapped in salami (go down faster) and drank my noodle soup. I was confused about the course and thought champex, the halfway mark, was much closer. I was surprised la fouly was so big because I thought champex was just down the road maybe 5km... Thankfully I had eaten (thinking I could breeze through champex) because when I asked how far to champex, a man replied "quatorze kilomètre". 14 kilometers. Fml. I started running, weaving through the woods along the river. I was having a really rough low point and was super discouraged that champex was far. I was already about 7-8 hours in and feeling very crappy. I walked-jogged along, and just kind of sulked. I was so far deep in the pain cave at that point and was kind of falling apart. Then we got to go a little uphill and weave through a forest trail. On my shuffle, a song I really liked came on so I started singing along. I started moving faster, passing people on the uphill while actually running. I was bringing myself out of that dark place. I don't think all the men I passed liked that some young American girl singing Taylor swift or some Disney song was flying past. Eventually we got to a small town and we weaved through it. Champex was taking forever to get to, but at least all the families and townspeople were out waving and cheering. Small children crowded the roadside and held out their hands for high fives. I felt like a super star whenever this happened.

Not my finest moments

We came out of the town and started climbing up this giant hill with no town in sight. I asked around but nobody spoke English. A man pulled out a map of the profile and showed me that we had a big climb to get up to champex. Again, the course threw a curveball that I had forgotten about. Ugh. I got back into my dark hole as it was too steep and hard to sing and the miles were catching up to me.

Putting my head down leaving Champex. Primal Mode: <ON>

I finally got to champex and was welcomed by my aunt who ran with me into the aid station. I was so relieved to see them after 9 hours it was incredible the emotions I felt. My mom rushed around inside to get me some food and I sat down for a bit to eat it and prepare my pack with picky bars and gels for the next bit. My grandma and aunt watched from behind the wall as I sat sullenly looking at my feet and sipping my soup. I had no energy to do anything and just felt like crap. Everybody in the aid station also got to see me pull down my pants and put stuff all over my inner thighs for the chafing. I walked out of the aid station 12 mins later with my family for a bit. I told them how long it might take for the next climb and descent to trient and then I was on my way.

I ran along the lake and down a sort of fire road that was flat. Something must have just clicked because I started to feel better and just busted up the climb to bovine/ la Giete. Kim had said this was a really difficult climb to get a rhythm on and feel good, but I thought I was cruising up. I didn't think it was too bad. It had started to rain in champex so I had my rain jacket on and buff since it was cold. Up near the top there was a giant field full of the biggest cows I had ever seen. I had heard the cowbells and so I thought it was the top and people cheering. But my spirits were brightened as I really loved the beautiful sound the bells made. At the top it had gotten dark so I traded out my petzl rxp for the buff. The man said I had cinq 5 km to trient and I took off. I was running/flying downhill. I really owe a lot of it to the petzl. The light was so bright and the reactive setting helped when I would look ahead to see how much more downhill there was. I came into trient and was again greeted by my family. This stop was very efficient and I walked with them out again very quickly. I don't think I ever spent more than ten minutes at a station other than champex. My main goal was to keep moving towards the finish. I didn't want to stop for a while just because I knew I could stop at the finish and wanted it to be done faster.

Happy in Trient

The next climb up Catogne was harder in my opinion. There was lots of really rocky and scree-like sections or creek crossings. I had noticed two women I was yo yo-ing with all day and I got a little competitive. On the downhill to vallorcine I passed a woman and rushed to get out of sight so she couldn't chase me. But that downhill was a lot harder and it took me a while to get down. I felt like I was hiking downhill and I had to use my poles to support myself as my hamstrings were gone and my quads were beaten. I commiserated with an Aussie for a bit but then he took off. I got into vallorcine and it was just my mom there. I took a Tylenol pill and rushed out (I saw another woman there and wanted to get in front of her). My mom had told me I was around 13,14th at champex and so I was super excited that I might break into the top ten. Leaving vallorcine, I grabbed a dry pair of gloves and started running. It was rolling along the river and I finally knew this part of the trail. I knew what was coming and where to go. For the first time all day, I was completely alone. There were no headlamps in front of behind me and nobody along the course. It was just ten after midnight when I left so most of the little town was probably asleep! I ran past a bar and everybody was out blowing vuvuzelas and cheering and told me I was very fast and looked good. (In French of course). When people are out standing in the middle of the night to watch you struggle run by, you can't help but smile and shout back "merci beaucoup! Bon soir!!" From vallorcine I knew I had one more climb up col de montets to the tête aux vents then it was "all" downhill to flegere and chamonix. I had tunnel vision for the finish. Everybody had told me that the last climb was the worst and the slowest and the hardest.

Excited to be running through the night?

But I flew up to the Tête aux vents. I passed so many people on such rough terrain. I didn't feel any pain or soreness or fatigue. I was too excited. I could see why it would be so hard, because there were lots of big steps and parts where I actually had to use my hands to climb up rocks. At the top the officials told me I had dix 10km to go. I took off running thinking flegere was close and it was all downhill. It was not. It was super rocky, not runnable terrain, and rolling (mostly uphill) to flegere. The rocks were wet and slick with mud and the rain. A couple times I had to get on my butt and slide down for fear of tripping and falling. This part was discouraging. I retreated back into the dark corner of my pain cave and stayed there. My iPod died and I was left with silence and darkness all around me. The worst part was that I could see the lights of flegere (the last aid station at a ski lift) but it seemed I wasn't making any progress. There wasn't anybody around me and I realized it would take me maybe another hour to get to chamonix. My feet were tired and sore and I didn't have any more gels with me. (After 8 hours the picky bars got really old and I had to keep forcing them down. I abandoned eating them after 15 hours when I got to vallorcine). Finally I made it up the very pronounced hill to flegere but saw a woman just in front. I snuck my way past her and completely bypassed the aid station. I just wanted it all to be over as fast as possible. The downhill to chamonix was long and hard. It was steep and hurt a lot. I needed to use the poles and slowly made my way down. Once I hit the pavement road I started running. I knew the course weaves trough town so I was mentally prepared for the fake outs. I ran as fast as I could (probably jogging speed) through town. It was shocking to see so many people out and about cheering me on. It was 3:45 am after all!!

All smiles.

Rounding the final turn and seeing the grand arch is the best thing I had seen all day. I crossed the line amidst photographers flashing pics, families cheering and an official shouting like the man at the start. I immediately sat down and started bawling. All the emotion I didn't have to energy to feel pent up for almost 19 hours came pouring out. I didn't know how to react after finishing the hardest thing I had ever done. I had run 101km (63mi), climbed/descended 6110+m (20,000') in 18:53 minutes. I was 275th overall, 21st female and won my age group as the youngest finisher (ever?). My family was there to congratulate me and share the amazing moment.

No words.

I really can't describe the finish in words or even expressions. It felt so good and so deeply affected me that this is pretty much all I can say about it.

After the race, I went back to my moms hotel and tried to sleep. My legs were in so much pain that all I could do was lie there. In the morning I got up and did some more walking around which really helped. I felt better as the day progressed. Unfortunately, I didn't really have much of an appetite. The only thing I ate post race was a pizza, some bread and gelato.

How to recover properly

Gina & I!

In the afternoon, I got to watch the first utmb finishers arrive. When François arrived you would have thought the queen of England was finishing. The streets were packed with people, the announcers going crazy, the dramatic theme song blaring, cameras everywhere. He had broken the course record and it was just so exciting to watch it all unfold. A couple hours later I went back to watch rory bosio, who I'm very proud to call my friend, win for the second year in a row. I felt overwhelmed with happiness to see her cross the line. She did all her little jumps and dances and curtsying for the cameras and crowd in typical utmb drama fashion.

This girl rocks!

Later that night we all went out dancing at a local bar. I'm still impressed how late she stayed out and all her dancing shenanigans... You must get a superpower if you win!! Haha

Sunday morning there was the award ceremony. It was verrrryyyy long and dramatic and all in French. It was thrilling though. I'm very inspired and now determined to return for the full utmb and make my way onto that stage. For winning my age group I won the best prize ever. I got a TNF backpack with a gift certificate to TNF and a big cowbell with an inscribed leather handle. The cowbell is now one of my favorite possessions. It has such a beautiful sound and sentimental worth.

My most prized possession!

Unfortunately my time in chamonix has come to an end. I spent 26 days in the most beautiful, cultural, fun mountain town. I am already dreaming of coming back and I already miss it greatly. The opportunities I had, the people I met, food eaten, the trails run and sights seen will forever be etched in my memory as the trip of a lifetime.

J'ADORE FRANCAIS!

I am so so grateful for everybody who had helped me get here and finish this amazing race. My family has been so supportive of me running at all hours of the day and night to prepare and going to the aid stations to crew me. That was the highlight to get me moving along and I couldn't have done it without them. The community of runners and friends have me shocked with their love and care and congratulations. I'm taken aback by all the support. My coach Meghan is awesome. She is a badass ultra runner and has really helped me build the confidence and physical/mental ability to get through something this epic. I completely trust in her training, advice and have very much appreciated her feedback. I would be stumbling aimlessly around Mont Blanc without her!

I also want to thank The North Face for all their support and kindness. Their apparel was so great that I had no need to touch the other gear in my pack. The many people behind the brand that I got to meet have been so kind and encouraging as well.

Lastly, thank you to Taylor Swift and Disney for getting me out of the bad times :)

Gear used:
Salomon sense 12 set
Black diamond Z poles
Salomon waterproof gloves (required gear)
TNF e tip gloves (much warmer)
TNF t shirt, long sleeve, arm warmers, capris, feather lite jacket and rain jacket, rain pants
Victory sports design buff
Lulu lemon beanie
Julbo sunglasses
Swift wick socks
Salomon sense ultra sg
2xu calf sleeves
Picky bars & Gu gels
2 Petzl rxp headlamps

Bittersweet

CCC Race Week

On Sunday I moved in to a flat near the center of town from my hostel. I successfully hitchhiked about 4 km, which I am pretty proud of. I was staying with Meghan Arbogast, my coach, and Craig & Laurie thornley, the race director for western states. 

All week was very relaxing. There wasn't too much running but plenty of walking around. As the race got closer and closer throughout the month, I noticed that there were more and more runners vs the usual tourists/mountain adventurers. I had such a fun time walking around with Meghan Craig and Laurie, getting croissants and coffee, drinking wine and making delicious dinner.

It was also great to see the expo for utmb. It was unlike anything in the us! The whole place du Mont Blanc square was filled with these tiny wood buildings (as opposed to tents) and every European (and some American) running related vendor was there. There were also booths for other incredible international races.

It was also amazing to meet so many other runners from all over the us and world that week. It blew my mind to have all the interactions that I did.

Packet pickup was such an interesting process. I had to go in, show my passport and I would receive a list of randomly selected items I had to show from my pack. They were making sure everyone had the required gear. So then I showed that I had my mobile phone, rain jacket, long sleeve shirt and wind jacket combo and rain pants. Next I had my pack tagged and received a CCC wristband. I also got my finishers t shirt and a "drop bag". For utmb some of the elites had to get a blood test!!

The day before the race, nothing big happened. My mom and grandma had arrived so we got lunch and hung out a bit. But I mostly just wanted to lay low and not do anything. However, all week I had been anxiously biting my nails and twiddling my fingers in anticipation! The night before, I barely slept.