Ultimate XC 50K - Mont Tremblant

Last year was the Ultimate XC marathon in Val Morin. This year was the 50K in Mont Tremblant Quebec.

Official Time: 10:38:00 / 14:05























Wow...Compared to the Val Morin Course last year, this was difficult! As such, just when I thought racing 3 marathons and a half in 8 weeks was tough, being in the muddy and hilly terrain for over 10 hours was physically brutal and mentally draining.

Driving through Friday's torrential downpour into Mont Tremblant, we expected to be served as a nice 12 course meal for our little "friends". Moreover, the bug sprays were useless. After awhile, you'll become indifferent and along the course you may accidentally swallow those lil' creatures. Some tidbits:

-There were approx. 6 cutoffs with the last one being 9.5 hours till 41.5Km.
-Scaling down on the rocks with a rope was part of the race
-Around the half-way mark, there was short brook crossing by shimmying through a transverse rope
-Lost my right shoe as it was buried inside the mud...JR got a kick out of it.
-Long river crossing...that took forever!
-Endless uphill ascensions
-mud sloshings
-myriad summits
-miles of brook crossing
-well marked course but was lost 3-4 times
-ankle twisting paths
-leg scraping limbs
-bug infested conditions (leaving me a case of 37 bug bites and swollen ears)
-As described by JR: "A nice starting jog through the woods before jumping into a river and playing at being salmon for several kilometres. After that things got a bit nasty. The event was based around a ski resort and we certainly got to see some of their harder runs. The terrain varied between steep and very steep and was mostly on single lane tracks with branches brushing on both elbows. The course was well marked all around and the water stations were very ably manned. The worst part was the bug-life. We were under constant attack from mosquitoes and flies."

Loads of fun and will definitely be back for more cuts, blisters and bug bites.

































































































Cheers,
Moz