The train arrives in Sainte étienne. We follow the other guys towards the reception hall. It's full of people!!! It seems as if the 10 000 runners, like one man, decided to pick up their racing bibs at the same time!!! Aaaaaarrrggghhhh.... No choice, but to join the line :)The queque is taking forever!!! With an assistance from Aurélie, I manage to change into my running clothes while we keep on moving up the queque. I devour my portion of Gatosport and Sportdej, still in the queque. We finally get our bibs!!! Got about 2h left to the start. Agnese is about to leave on the navette bus going to Ste Catherine. Good luck, chica!!
Minus 6C doesn't feel warm, hell no!! We move out to the start area 10min before midnight. What a mass of people!! From where we are, we don't get to see the arch :D
Midnight strikes, IT'SON!!! Well, it's on for the elite runners at the front, and it takes us about 5 mins stroll to pass the arch.... there we go!! People around me start trotting slowly, conversations are built up.. nah, me wanna run, follow the call!! I put on second gear and start making my way along onwards. The night air feels cold, but I'm comfortable.
The first 7km in 35mins....looks promising :))
We finally get to quit Sainte étienne. Snow's on the roads!! Yeah, that's what I've been waiting for!! I keep running, drinking every 10mins, up the hill, down the hill. I can only guess the distance by the time passed, combined with the elevation profile I took with me. It feels so timeless out there...
Refreshment point one, a few km in the dark, refreshment point two..
I pass by the tents, picking up a glass of coke or warm tea, eat something afterwards, and continue to run. Three to five mins per ravito... Finally, Ste Catherine, at km 27!! I'm at 3h 22mins, 25th in my category!! That's about as good as I ever made it during the run :D
We bump into slippery passes: icy roads, frozen mud with water running on the top... after 15min hesitation I put on my Petzl spikes... ladies and gentlemen, these do work!! I regain confidence in my grip, and continue to run instead of edging along.Km 45, ravito Jarrest. I'm friggin' tired!!
I sit down outside of the tent to help myself to the ravioli I brought along. They're definitely better warm, no doubt about that :D It's hard, so hard, but I manage to put up a trot to keep moving. Two hills to do before the last refreshment point. A strange park at night, all slippery, phantasmaghoric. I'm good walking up the slopes, it's going down that hurts. I give up running on the flat for what I hope is a dynamic stroll. It takes forever to get to Beaunant!! But, finally, I make it. It's about sunrise time. I'm not motivated to go into the tent, I continue walking. The final slope they try to scare you with is in front of me. Sorry, not impressed, done tougher and longer :D Around the top of the hill, I try to take on running again. Awwww, where's that force and motivation?? Don't know, it feels like I'm not really there anymore... I arive at km 61, half walking, half running. The slope is taking long, I slow down to a stroll. The panel announcing the last 5km appears. Damn it, I feel like weeping instead of rejoicing. Strange. I decide to walk until the end. I'm not enjoying the surroundings: instead of letting us enter the city and enjoy some views, we get to run along a river shore, reminiscent of an abandoned harbour out of a horror movie. All the way, there's ice and water mix on the road. Still, I don't put on my spikes. Too much effort. Two km to go. Then, we enter the park. I can hear other runners point to a building 500m away. That's the one! I force myself to run the final stretch... no joy there. I pass the gate and enter the stadium building. Wow, it's full of spectators!!! Arrivée!! What, it's finished?? Yeah, that's it!! The guy with the microphone is talking to me, but I don't get anything. I move on. There's Agnese in the crowd!! Luckily, cause I lost my cell phone in the snow!!
I get my t-shirt, my bag. Agnese shows me the way to the showers. I take like 30mins, so weak!!
Then, we get to check out the massage area, but the queque takes soooo long... No, I stretch out on my jacket and try to get some sleep... I have to put on extra layers of clothes, I feel like I'm freezing. We keep on getting messages from Aurélie, and then she arrives, too!!! We congratulate each other and make it to the tube, to get to the train station. We made it, and we may be back one day!!!
http://www.saintelyon.com/course-raid-nocturne/
9h 45min watch time, 9h 53min chip time
9h 45min watch time, 9h 53min chip time
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