Leonie had booked us in for 25 km of running fun.
We drove into the French speaking part of Switzerland on Friday evening arriving early enough to pitch the tent and crawl into it at midnight. On Saturday we headed to the start line in Les Diablerets. The race was a 25 km run in the hills with approx. 1500 vertical metres of climbing. Unlike most of the other mountain runs I’ve done the finish line was not at the top of the mountain. Instead we had 1500 metres of downhill as well and the finish line was near the start line.
The race started at 10 am and we jogged off with sunny weather. The route took us along above the road and down the valley a few kms. We then crossed to the other side of the valley and headed steeply into the hills. The track was small and muddy and much more interesting than some of the other mountain running races I’ve done in Europe. We ran through patches of forest and open fields climbing up and up. My legs were behaving and I passed a good collection of people on the ascent.
We had a small descent followed by another ascent to the highest point in the race. The views along the ridge near the top were great: bigger snowy mountains in the distance and a big drop into the valley where we had started. The descent started and my legs started to go downhill both literally and figuratively. I hobbled down to the drinks station near a lake and spent a while there refuelling before hobbling onwards. I was passed by quite a few people on the rest of the course but managed to hobble fast enough to hold off the hordes. The descent was also very nice with open sections and forested patches.
I crossed the finish line in 3:43.57,4 in place 36/88. I was quite happy with my time and it was only the downhill section where my legs let me down. Leonie cross the finish line a bit later in 4:19.12,1 in place 17/45. Also a good time.
We left and spent the rest of the day being lazy. On Sunday morning we went for a small wander to loosen up our legs a little and then drove home to the floor lake.
1) It was a little busy in the forest but luckily I managed to push by on the passing lane on the right, and sometimes the left.
2) The sky was blue and the scenery nice so grinning was allowed.The sky was blue and the scenery nice so grinning was allowed.
3) The ridge was fun to run along and there were good views down to the right into the valley.
4) The ridge was fun to run along and there were good views down to the right into the valley.
5) Our feet at the finish line.
Humani Trail 2013
Time: 3:43.57,4 Dst: 25km/1500m Place 36/88 Senior men
Leonie: 4:19.12,1 17/45 Senior women