This was my 3rd time running around the Aosta valley and by far my biggest experiment with how much sleep is too little!
According to my Garmin, this year the race was 360km with just over 30km of vertical gain (and loss). I finished in 140 hours. 519 out of 743 finishers (1,100 Starters). That’s 3 hours faster than 2022, but 100 places further back.
The race was won by (F) Noor Van Der Veen in 79:34 and Richard Victor (M) 66:08, a new course record.
I feel I left a lot of time on the table … for next time 😉 [which will be 2026!]
Organised by the VDA Trailers in the Aosta valley of Northern Italy. The race aims to promote the region. The Tor Des Geants (TDG) is a circular route, heading anti-clockwise from Courmayeur taking the Alt Vista 2 along the southern side of the valley, as far as Donnas, before returning along Alta Vista 1 along the northern leg. It’s mostly above 2,000m. The high point is 3,300 m .. it’s hilly! obv, not Deeply Steep hilly, but pretty close!
Knowing what was to come, I did a lot more hill training this year. I bought a Hypoxia machine, so I could train at altitude AND I did heat training – this all worked well. When I finally re-gained control over my mind, I was moving strongly right through to the end of the race. [Shout out if you want to learn more practical tips about altitude and heat training and the gains in terms of blood volume and red blood cell count].
In 2022 I had about 12 hours of sleep. This year, my cunning tactic was to reduce my sleep time a little to try to improve my overall race time…
…I had 6 hours sleep over 6 days of constant (ish) movement. It was a sh@t tactic and I’m not doing it again! Actually, it was a good tactic for 3 days and then rapidly became a bad tactic. I didn’t slow down when I was moving, but I did forget I was in a race, and I had a couple of times when the things started to spin around a bit (requiring a sit down)! Feelings of Deja Vue came all too regularly. Hallucinations were different this time (no giant squirrel) – although there does seem to be a constant theme (for me) of dis-association of the mind and body – for instance – it seemed rationale that the my left water bottle was for me and my right bottle for someone else – the self talk then focused on the need for that other person to keep drinking and eating – or else they wouldn’t be able to finish – whereas I was drinking absolutely fine and had loads of energy!
At night I also had “auditory pareidolia” when I was close to the waterfalls and mountain streams. This is when your brain re-interprets random noise as something familiar. It is odd, but it does mean an endless playlist of all your favourite songs – like hearing a concert from a few hundred meters away.
The weather this year was amazing. No snow, just a little rain and temperatures were good – although the first 2 nights at altitude were below zero!
The ‘lore’of the race is that, as you set off counter-clockwise from Courmayeur, your personal Dragon sets off in a clockwise direction – at some point on the course you meet your dragon and have to come to peace (battle?) it for the rest of the race. I met 3 people in tears who asked “please help me” and one chap, standing alone at about 2,500 meters at 3am, 10km from the next aid station, who’s headtorch had failed and he realised he had left his spare torch and batteries in his drop bag… of course I left him :-). He bought me a beer later!
I ate and drank well throughout – my kit and shoe choices worked well (no blisters) and I had a wonderful time. I still had time to stop for pizza, beer and blueberry pie at some of the reffugio.
This race is stunning! I have put a couple of pictures as attachments. It is a humbling experience to be running in the high mountains as the sun goes down. With the peaks lit my moonlight under star filled skies. Or as the sun rises behind the Matterhorn.
At the TDG week, there are shorter races (30km, 100km, 130km) than this one (and one longer at 450km). Something for everyone! – the experience is magical… and you get to tame a dragon!
