by Captain T A G Evans
Officer Commanding The Reconnaissance Platoon
Number Three Company
The Eiger Ultra Trail is set high up in the Swiss Mountains. There are 4 different races held over the weekend: 16km, 35km, 51km and 101km. I had had my eye on the 101km since returning from the Marathon des Sables in April.
Grindelwald is a small town about 3 hours south of Zurich. It is most famous for its fantastic views of the North Face of the Eiger. The days before any race can sometimes be stressful as a result of lengthy registration processes, not being able to find the food you want to eat and limited personal space for warming up. Thankfully, Grindelwald was well set up to receive over 1000 runners.
At 0430, 600 runners were released to start their journey on the 101km race. The pace at the start was quick, uphill and relentless. As always, I started a bit too quickly and had to reel myself in after 25km. It was going to be a long day with over 6750m of vertical ascent! This was the first race that I used poles. They do take a bit of getting used to but they are able to reduce the strain on your legs when going uphill. This was essential for me as my strengths lie with the running sections rather than climbing. The Eiger Ultra Trail had lots of great sections where I was able to really get into my stride. There were also significant technical sections to the race, running over rocks, steep descents and thin trails through forests. Concentration was key; you couldn’t afford to switch off for a second.
At the 51km point I was in 8th place, having made sure that I didn’t work too hard in the first half of the race. I knew that I had some big climbs ahead so wanted to leave something in the tank. There was also a nice long downhill section where I knew would be able to make up some ground. Slowly but surely I started to move through the pack and ended up in 4th position at the 70km point. The final stage of the race is a steep descent on tarmac before a short but very steep climb back into Grindelwald and the awaiting finish line. I crossed the line in 11 hrs 55 mins and 22 secs, in 4th place.
My nutrition and hydration had been good throughout the race, although it is a constant process of adjustment and testing during each race. The aid stations were really well stocked with bars, gels and fruit. I was also carrying gels that I found worked really well as they could be taken without water. I decided to pack an iPod shuffle for this race, unlike previous ones where I have been purist. I will need to update my playlist for next time in order to avoid constant repeats of S Club 7!
