Mont Blanc Marathon 42k

MinniMinni ✭✭✭
I've landed a ballot place in the Mont Blanc marathon on 1st July.  The training is going to be a challenge and a fine balance between getting the miles (and climb in) and not getting injured.  Anyone else heading out there for the this or another of the races that weekend?

Comments

  • I did it this summer and I can´t stress the importance of hill training enough. Personally I underestimated this and as a result barely finished within the time limit (my time was 9:29 and the maximum time 9:30). For comparison I´m usually around 3:30 in city marathons so this a totally different beast. But it is a great race and I´m sure you will enjoy it with the right preparations. And don´t forget to bring a pair of poles! :)
  • I am running the marathon too, and for the first time and really looking forward to it - bought my first pair of trail shoes and backpack!  I take your point SS about hill training and fear a local hill with 120m ascent in 1 mile wont be nowhere near enough so am staying for a week in Chamonix in June to get some proper hill training. 
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    How are peoples training going.  3 (flat) marathons now done and dusted for 2018, so time to focus on MdMB and start running up and running down - how hard is that! (gulp!) 
  • OuchOuch: I can recommend you to walk up and run down when you train as that is how it´s going to be in the race. A bit unconventional, I know, but you use different muscles if you walk uphill compared to if you run and you have to train for that.
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    Cheers SS.  Had a week in Chamonix recently and though the plan was all-running, did plenty of walking both up and down, quads on fire!.  Race day imminent, really looking forward to it.  Further ramblings to be found on sub3 forum. 
  • Anyone had any problems in trying to register for this years event? <div>
    </div><div>I keep getting an error message on the registration page stating ‘can’t find your quotation in the ITRA database’. Any ideas what this means? Thanks  </div>
  • Mine seemed to go through fine. Hope it works for you. 
  • Thanks for the quick response OuchOuch. Are you a member of the ITRA, I wasn’t sure this might be the issue or that there is entry criteria I didn’t pick up on? Thanks 
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    edited October 2019
    I seem to be on the ITRA database but am not a member.   There is no entry criteria for Mont Blanc, just luck of the draw. When I ran it in 2018 it was the first time I'd ever run a trail marathon. Have you been able to enter now? 
  • Hi, yes! Thanks for confirming on the entry criteria and ITRA membership, it meant I could rule those out. Must have been just a glitch as I could enter this afternoon when I tried for the third time, didn’t enter anything differently! Cheers for your help 
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    edited October 2019
    Excellent.  Has the registration fee been deducted from your bank as mine seems to have, which I am taking as a positive sign. 
  • Hi OuchOuch, apologies, only just picked up on your message! <div>
    </div><div>How did you get on - I was lucky enough to get a place! Training has begun in earnest. Trying to work out how much ascent I need to add to my miles each week?</div>
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    edited December 2019
    Lucky you, you will love it. Hoping my luck is being delayed for the OCC @ UTMB ballot.  For me the ascents were fine it was the descents that cost me time and places, I didn't appreciate the skill involved in speedy descending. When I ran the Mont Blanc Marathon in 2018 I had a week in Chamonix as a family holiday to train at altitude and on the slopes, invaluable. 
  • OCC looks a fantastic race to be fair so would be great for you to get a place - Good luck!

    Would love to head out early or on a holiday before, but doesn't look likely at the moment unfortunately. I have a week in the Lakes District in May, i hope to find some challenging and 'Mont Blanc' specific routes there if i can.

    Any idea on the amount of ascent i should be getting in each week to help? I was thinking that my main build week should be 3,000m of vert, with 1750-2000m on the long run.
  • OuchOuchOuchOuch ✭✭✭
    edited January 2020
    That sounds about right, as much as you can really.  I did my specific Mont Blanc training off the back of a Spring Marathon and then swapped a flat LR for hilly LR aiming to be on my feet for an extra 30mins-1 hour, so generally 3-3.5 hours or so (I live in Cornwall so there was lots of local longish 10%-15% climbs).  Closer the time have a look at the sub-3 forum as I remember a poster SL posted a really good review of the course for me in around mid July 2018 which was spot on. Thanks and fingers crossed for the OCC; I will know on the 10th. 
  • Any news on the OCC OuchOuch? 
  • It was a negative sadly, lots of applicants and too few places, so sniffing around for a similar trail challenge now. 
  • Sorry to hear that - frustrating when you don't get in to those types of events despite having the points! Hope you have found a replacement. 
  • Hi Rich_dd,

    Its been a while!  Presume you've had a frustrating 2020 but hopefully you've been able to run over your MdMB 2020 entry to 2021.  In which case, 4 months to go! 

    Good news for me, I got a ballot place in this Augusts' OCC!  So there's a moral in there somewhere about patience, and luck of the draw etc. 
Sign In or Register to comment.