Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc 2009

Let’s start with some of the questions people keeping asking about the race:

* How far? 103 miles
* Where did it go? One large loop around the huge Mont Blanc massif starting in France, then south through Italy, north through Switzerland, and back west into France for the finish
* How many runners? About 2,300 runners (compared to 100 – 300 for the average US 100-miler)
* How high was it? The highest climb was 8323′ over Grand Col Ferret crossing from Italy to Switzerland (Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak in the American east is only 6,600′)
* How hard? 3 climbs 8000′ or higher (the hardest ultra I’ve ever run)
* Total climb: 30,849′ of total climb (1800′ more than the 29029′ of Mt. Everest)
* How long did it take? 44 hours (about 13 more hours than my average 100 here in the US)