I have nothing against Switzerland or France. But I have to admit that out of the three countries that Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) travels thru, Italy is my favorite. 

Since Western States in the end of June, my training has been good – but not great. I therefore decided to give my preparations for UTMB a boost with a four or five day run around Mt. Blanc. I arrived in Milan/Italy on Saturday and drove directly to one of my favorite towns, Courmayeur. This gem of the Aosta valley is such a nice place with narrow streets, good and affordable restaurants and not too many tourists. After a good night sleep I ran/hiked to La Fouly in Switzerland, following the UTMB course. From La Fouly I followed the well marked trail that I’ll be visiting again in a months time…

Italy is behind me, this is at the Grand Col du Ferret at 2.500 meters.

Here’s the short version of my UTMB training camp:

Day 1: Courmayeur to La Fouly (Switzerland), 33 km.
Day 2: La Fouly to La Flegere (France), 53 km. I took the gondola down from La Flegere in order to save some money. The refuge at La Flegere is expensive and cramped (dormitory).
Day 3: La Flegere to Notre Dame de la Gorge (France), 37 km.
Day 4: Notre Dame de la Gorge to Courmayeur (Italy), 46 km.

The original plan was to do the UTMB-loop i five days. But the Refugio Elisabetta was full when I got there. Luckily I’m an ultra runner so I didn’t mind doing an extra 15 km. on Wednesday afternoon to make it all the way to Courmayeur. It was also quite motivating to know that once I arrived in Courmayeur there would be a nice pizza, some good italian wine and a hotel bed.

The view of Mt. Blanc from La Flegere.

Col du Bonhomme (2.500m) on the fourth day.

After a (vegetarian) pizza at the Pizzeria du Tunnel in Courmayeur and a good night sleep, I drove to Bergamo where I am now. The reason why I am here is that I am going to run the Gran Trail Orobie tomorrow (Saturday). The race is 70 km long with 4.200 meters of elevation, so it is going to be a good challenge. The race starts in Carona and finishes in the old town here in Bergamo. It is possible to follow the race live via this link. I have bib number 5 (and I’m doing the GTO, not the longer race Orobie Ultra Trail). From what I’ve heard, the trails is technical and challenging, but the scenery is amazing.

Wish me luck!

Good italian food and drinks in the Bergamo old town with Nerea Martinez, Ana Bustamente Velez, Lucas Boix and Pablo Criado.