The Ultra Tour of Monte Rosa - an account of the 170km four-day stage race
Standing at the start at 5:45am in the Doftplatz in Grachen, I felt strangely calm. It was dark but the sky was clear. Our timing chips had been scanned and we listened to the first of our early morning briefings. The countdown to 6am began. Exactly on time, and to the sound of alpenhorns, we set off on our epic four-day, 170km journey through forest, alps and high mountain passes following the route of the Tour of Monte Rosa through Switzerland and Italy. During the last six months, I had been on several start-lines where I had felt full of apprehension: out of my depth and worried about cut-off times. In spite of this, Mickleden Straddle, Edale Skyline, Big Black Mountain Challenge, Jura, The LAMM, Holme Moss had all been completed successfully. Now at Grachen on the start-line of the UTMR it was different - I knew that I had managed all these races; I had trained by doing long runs in the Peak and some long back to back days in the Lakes. Last year Dave and I had don