Written on July 12, 2010, by matt.
Looking Back to the Andorra Sky Race
Now that I have finally stopped driving and found some time to think and write here is a little trip back in time to the Andorra Sky race. In the end, a very inspiring weekend for me.
The week leading up to the race was spent walking and visiting physios trying to get rid of the sciatica that was tormenting me. Electric shocks from my lower back, through my butt into my hamistring and all the way down into my calf muscle. Not the best preparation. My next torment was that I had flown to Perpignan…a very nice place but nearly impossible to get out of as I found out. A big days travel and I finally arrived at the race venue. A ski resort just like any, that in the summer looks like a building site being bombed, however, I am sure it would look gorgeous in winter.
The sun was shinning and the sky was a perfect cloudless blue. I spent Friday and Saturday walking/running the first half of the race, reaching a col at 2600m which was covered in snow and had a steep snowy drop off down to a glacial lake and beyond to the valley below. The course then took off up another long climb to a 2750m summit and followed a ridge down to the finish.
I was just going to the supermarket for some refueling lunch when 6 Salomon/Kilian cars whizzed past me. First I pinched myself to check I wasn’t dreaming and then I followed the cars. And who else would it be but Kilians entire support crew on the 5th day of his Pyrenees crossing. As Kilian himself came trotting past fresh as a daisy and “feeling stronger and better than he did on day 1″ (keeping in mind he had done 25,000m positive altitude of climbing and about 600km of running at this point) I couldn’t help but feel totally inspired and motivated.
Dragging myself back to the job at hand, the thunder storm had set in and the rain wasn’t far off. Race day – it was tipping it down. The course was shortened and completely changed direction and we were all drenched. Being a South Island Kiwi girl this isn’t unusual weather so I was quite happy. 1hour 41minutes later I had managed to hold off the competition to win my first Sky Race.
Mission impossible to complete though – getting back to Perpignan. But I had the buzz of a win and respect seeing Kilian perform something so natural to him that I dreamed my way back to the UK with fresh enthusiasm for life.
Which I guess brings me from Chamonix – Annecy – the Italian Orobie mountains. The start of my European Van/Race tour.
