{"id":30939,"date":"2018-09-28T18:08:09","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T10:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/?p=30939"},"modified":"2018-09-28T18:08:09","modified_gmt":"2018-09-28T10:08:09","slug":"i-finally-unlocked-my-achievement-at-occ-utmb-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.runsociety.com\/reviews\/i-finally-unlocked-my-achievement-at-occ-utmb-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"I Finally Unlocked My Achievement at OCC UTMB 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been three weeks since I competed at the Orsi\u00e8res-Champex-Chamonix (OCC) race category of the famed Ultra Trail Mont Blanc (UTMB). It was a personal proud moment as it marked a milestone in my journey as a running enthusiast. The OCC is the shortest distance category on offer that required qualifying races, and while it was merely about a third the distance of the main UTMB race, it was still an epic experience nonetheless. <\/p>\n

Perhaps, I was in awe being surrounded by about 10,000 runners and many more volunteers and supporters from over 100 countries \u2013 including the who\u2019s who of the trail running world Xavier Th\u00e9venard and Kilian Jornet \u2013 converging on the mecca of trail running in Chamonix, France.<\/p>\n

My Trail Running Journey<\/h2>\n

While road running is second nature to me, I am still relatively a greenhorn when it comes to trail running. The North Face Thailand 50km was my first trail event in January 2015, and it was such a humbling experience that made the MacRitchie Reservoir loop a stroll in the park. I immediately got hooked because I got to see beautiful landscape that would be inaccessible by road and become very close to nature. One trail race led to another with the race distances getting longer each time. <\/p>\n

In every sport, there will typically be a pinnacle event or series of events. For marathoners, there is World Marathon Majors<\/a> including Boston marathon that requires qualifying times. Triathletes look up to Ironman Championships at Kona, Hawaii as the ultimate bucket list to tick in their endurance triathlon journey. For trail running, the highest point \u2013 pun intended \u2013 is the UTMB race at Chamonix.<\/p>\n

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View from Chamonix city centre.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To qualify for races at UTMB, runners would need to take part in qualifying events. And so, that obsession began and persisted through to being at the start line of this year\u2019s OCC race.<\/p>\n

Also read Ultra-Trail Australia 2018<\/a>.<\/p>\n

OCC Race Experience<\/h2>\n

The UTMB festival was a weeklong buzz of activities. Due to the various race distances, there were three start points \u2013 Orsi\u00e8res in Switzerland, Courmayeur in Italy and Chamonix in France. All races ended in Chamonix.<\/p>\n

I arrived on Tuesday two days prior to my race, hoping to quickly acclimate to the cooler weather and 1000m altitude. On Wednesday, I collected my race pack and did the expo rounds. Chamonix is a quaint small town, and is of walking distance to get to the race areas. The expo was outdoor, huge and had lots of apparel and equipment brands that have not been introduced in our part of the world, as well as promotions for other global trail races.<\/p>\n

On Thursday 5am, OCC participants boarded shuttle buses that took us across the border to Orsi\u00e8res, a journey that took slightly over an hour. The excitement grew as the race start neared at 8:15am, with 1572 runners squeezing in the tiny town. I kept my calm with the mindset that it would be a long race. <\/p>\n

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Unpredictable mountain weather.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

56km is not exactly an ultra distance, but having an elevation gain of more than 3500m with three peaks at around 2000m altitude and cut-off time of 14.5 hours would be a new adventure for me. As context, the 50-storey The Pinnacle @ Duxton is 156m tall. I would have to go up and down 22 times, at high base altitude and mountain weather conditions.<\/p>\n

The race started with much fanfare and warm local hospitality as runners took the narrow streets before heading other villages uphill. In the early part of the race, runners were in high spirits, and their trekking poles causing potential hazards. Soon at Champex-Lac (altitude 1470m, 10km), it was clear the mountains separated the men from the boys (me!).<\/p>\n

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Ready to start.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The course then continued to an even higher La Giete (altitude 1884m, 18km) before making a steep descent at Trient (altitude 1,300m, 25km). Trient is just under the halfway mark, and I left this checkpoint an hour away from cut-off time, half hour off from my plan.<\/p>\n

It has been many years since I trekked at high altitude in Khumbu region, Nepal, so it was a strange feeling to be at high altitude, with the strong sun peeling my skin and just having a layer of clothing to cool my warm body.<\/p>\n

From Trient, there was another steep ascent to Catogne (altitude 2,065km, 30km). In my race plan, I had factored in how torturous this climb would be, but still underestimated the amount of labour I needed to put through. At that point, it struck me that the elevation training I did at Bukit Timah had perhaps only partially helped me; if only I had the luxury of doing altitude training. It was also here at Catogne that the cool factor kicked in \u2013 that I was at the border crossing from Switzerland back to France.<\/p>\n

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Beautiful lake on the way to Champex-Lac.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being a rather slow runner, I had adapted my racing to \u201cwalk uphill on steep slopes, and then run downhill\u201d. Sometimes it worked, sometimes I fell big time with wounds, torn bottoms and also race abandonments. The next 15km was pretty much downhill; so I got to Argentiere (altitude 1,250m, 44km) with 1.5 hours away from cut-off time. So, I felt comfortable and thought I could make target to complete the race just after sunset at about 8:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

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OCC technical data. Photo Credit: UTMB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There was just this one more mountain to climb La Flegere (altitude 1860m, 48km). Alas, the tired body succumbed to the rapidly changing mountain weather; cold set in, wind grew stronger and the sun quickly faded. When I got to the peak of La Flegere, darkness had set in, the headlamps came out, and the final 8km downhill stretched seemed endless.<\/p>\n

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OCC course profile. Photo Credit: UTMB<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nevertheless, the pain and struggles along the course soon vanished as I entered Chamonix, and onlookers and the crowds gave the customary banging of banners and advertising boards to show their support. It was such an honour to complete the race at the home of the pinnacle of ultra trail racing, knowing that the best trail runners would all complete their respective races at the same finish arch.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding the fact that the OCC winner Erenjia Jia of China completed the race at 5:28 hours, some eight hours ahead of me at 13:37 hours, I was very much a happy camper.<\/p>\n

\"I
Race expo booth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UTMB and ITRA Overview<\/h2>\n