Ultra-fit racers rule Mont Blanc
But picnickers have their own way of enjoying 200km Ultra-Trail race – by having a siesta beside the track
WHILE 2,300 ultra-fit athletes are tackling the 200km Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, with its 9,600m of climb over 400 summits on the roof of Europe, another band of equally dedicated but less-fit spectators are holding their own special event – a mountain-top siesta alongside the course.
The thousands of athletes from 74 countries taking part in tomorrow’s North Face sponsored event that is called “the race of all the superlatives” will probably not see those taking part in the "Ultra-Sieste du Mont-Blanc" as they picnic at the Rocher des Gaillands above Chamonix.
They will be too busy focusing on the course as they have just 46 hours to complete it, or not get a “finisher’s” vest.
Consisting of a complete circuit of Mont Blanc, passing through France, Switzerland and Italy, the Ultra-Trail runners set off from Chamonix tomorrow at 16.30 – by which time the Ultra Sieste picnickers will have reached their spot after “a gentle walk on the mountain”.
One of the Ultra-Sieste organisers, Philippe Serpollet, told Le Monde that they were “anti sport” but not “anti physical activity”. They just disliked the way that sport “codifies, institutionalises, and colonises public areas in the name of competition”.
In all, there are 7,000 athletes taking part in the seven-day North Face Ultra-Trail event, which also includes three other events, including the stupendous non-competitive Petite Trotte à Léon which covers 300km round Mont Blanc and 24,000m of climb.
The events bring 50,000 people to the Chamonix area as the summer tourist season ends.
For more information on the race, try Ultra-Trail Mont Blanc or for the siesta, try Ultra-Sieste Mont Blanc
