Tor des Geants Race Report - Part 1

This was the moment. The dragon had arrived, and it was FIERCE. People say that you start the Tor in a counter-clockwise direction, and a dragon starts clockwise. At some point, you will face your dragon. Will you make it through or will the dragon take you down? I called Jen and Christophe and told them I was done – I couldn’t go on. I asked them to meet me where the trail hits the road into town. My right leg hurt so much, and I didn’t know if I could hobble through town to the aid station. They approached in the night, without headlamps even but with warmth and encouragement. Decisions had to be made.

Background & Pre-Race

Tor des Geants is a 220 mile loop of the Aosta Valley, spanning 25 mountain passes and 80,000+ feet of climbing. In addition to being over twice as long, it is significantly steeper per mile than UTMB, higher altitude (often above 9,000 feet), and far more rugged, wild, and technical. The longest I have gone before in a race is 30 hours, so I have not had to manage sleep. I would be out at minimum for 4 nights, a next level challenge I was not sure I would be up to.

Why would I do this? I learned about the race in its inaugural year back in 2010. I knew I was nowhere near ready for this kind of challenge, but it stuck in my mind and was always a distant goal. The beauty of the course is unparalleled. The race circumnavigates the entire Aosta Valley, and I had heard so much about how the entire region warmly supports the race, taking a week out of their lives to share their mountains with us. Finally, I wanted to test my limits and see if I could do it. It had been a long time since I was truly out of my comfort zone.

Christophe would be crewing for me. We met at a race in North Carolina back in 2016 and stayed in touch since then. He lives nearby in France and when I sent a message on Strava seeing if anyone was interested in crewing, he generously stepped up and volunteered. This was a gift that was hard to fathom, with Christophe taking a week away from his family and work. He worked tirelessly to support me, and as a previous Tor finisher (running a very fast time AND without crew), his course knowledge was also invaluable.

Jen would fly in and join us on Wednesday, which seemed very distance at the Sunday 10am start, but it gave me something to look forward to. I met up before the race with Nick (friend and fellow Happy Trails runner) and Pip (UK runner also coached by Damian), and it was nice to have some company to ease the nerves. Registration was quite efficient this year, and I made final preparations of my Life Base bag (which the race transports for you to the 6 “Life Bases” roughly every 50K along the course) and with Christophe. I couldn’t wait to just get started!

Acclimating to high altitude at the top of Skyway Monte Bianco before the race

Overlooking Val Veny, where Jen went for a hike after the race

Monte Bianco during a shake out run on the last part of the course

Life Base bags waiting to be picked up. The system was quite efficient this year. You took a ticket and returned when it was your time, eliminating the need to wait in line for hours. Two thumbs up.

Yes, Christophe is wearing his Tor finisher jacket and Ronda del Cim hat - #crewedbyalegend

Courmayeur to Valgrisenche

The weather forecast looked good for at least the first 3 days of the race. We started under blue skies and perfect temps through the town of Courmayeur and down the road to hit the trailhead and start the first big climb.

The race went out incredibly fast – what’s the rush, everyone? I kept the pace manageable but still was sub 8 min miles down the road. On the way out of town I saw Christophe and waved. He was planning to hike up the second climb, so I’d see him in around 5 hours at Rifugio Deffeyes.

We hit the 4,500 foot steep climb up to Col d’Arp, and I settled into a nice groove. There was some bottlenecking on the narrow trail, and I was going a bit slower than I normally would, but that was certainly all for the best. Crowds were thick ascending Col d’Arp as we broke above treeline towards 8,600 feet. As I was merrily hiking along, I snapped my pole strap. Uh-oh. This was the same pole where the point had fallen off just before the race, so it was rapidly becoming useless. I tried not to panic and would sort it out when I saw Christophe later.

Looking down the Aosta Valley as we crested treeline

The middle ridge line is the middle of the UTMB course and the finish of the Tor course

After the fanfare at the top of Col d’Arp, we started the long descent to La Thuile. This descent was unusually runnable and non-technical for the Tor, and I tried hard to slow down and save my legs. The pace was brisk for a race this long (~9 min miles), and people were still flying by me.

La Thuile was quite the party around 1pm in the afternoon. What I thought was the aid station was in fact just a huge beer tent with people out partying. I was a bit ahead of my planned schedule and took some time resupplying at La Thuile. I started on the climb to Deffeyes and was feeling super strong and moving up the field. This became a theme throughout the race, where I would always gain ground on the climbs and either hold my place or lose a bit on the descents depending on how I was feeling.

I couldn’t believe how many people were out cheering on the climb to Deffeyes. Left and right you would hear “bravo, ragazzi!” and “allez allez ragazzi!” in the unique mix of French and Italian in this region. Families with little kids were at the top of this 4,000 foot climb, and I made sure to cheer for and wave to the little kiddos who were such mountain bosses.

The views were stunning as we approached Deffeyes, with huge glaciers and the Gran Paradiso National Park looming in front of us. I ran into Christophe and explained the pole situation. He would either get my poles repaired or buy new ones in town. Hopefully the repair would work, as there weren’t poles in my size when I had checked the stores the day before.

Ascending towards Deffeyes. Monte Bianco is already noticeably further away.

Then I as hit Deffeyes I was greeted with a huge surprise – my friend Giorgio Manoni! I met Giorgio at work, and he has finished 3 editions of Tor. He was a huge inspiration and source of knowledge for me with the race, and it was a very special moment to see him up at 8,300 feet in this stunning landscape. He had to be in New York soon for a work trip and made it all the way up to Deffeyes before making his way onwards! One of many instances of memorable Tor Trail Magic.

Looking back at Deffeyes after the surprise Giorgio visit

We traversed a rocky section even higher up from Deffeyes to Col Haut Pas. The views up there were epic, but the descent down was brutal, thousands of feet of descending boulders and scree. I didn’t give this next section enough credit. The terrain was extremely tough and took a toll despite being very early in the race.

The course was somewhat well travelled until Deffeyes. Now we were getting into the wild, rugged terrain that would characterize the rest of Tor until the final few miles.

Getting high up and into the alpine moonscape

Two mountain passes down. Lots and lots to go …

Entering the stunning Gran Paradiso National Park

We came off the crazy descent to an aid station, where I tried to regroup and resupply. Looking back, I was way up on my split for this section and probably going a bit too fast given the terrain. The next climb up to Col Crosatie was a straight up monster – just so steep and relentless, with fixed ropes and plenty of scrambling on the final approach. I bumped into a guy named Tim from the UK, and it was great to have someone to chat with for a bit. He needed to get home for work and had to catch a bus 119 hours after the start of the race. That boggled my mind, but he was chill about it and ended up finishing with plenty of time to spare.

Looking the other way at Col Crosatie. The views at Tor don’t suck …

My fluids were already empty with a long way to go to Planaval. We were well over 9,000 feet, and the sun was hot and strong. After we crested the top of the climb, there was a small bivouac aid station. One of the many amazing things about Tor are these aid stations up on top of the mountains that are airlifted in. The volunteers up here endure harsh conditions for who knows how long, and I was deeply grateful for them.

Bivouac aid station at Crosatie that was helicoptered in

Supplies were understandably limited up here, but I was in desperate need of fluids. I had some tea and coke, and I filled one bottle with as much water as they could spare. It would have to be enough to get me down to the next aid station at Planaval. Shortly after the descent started, I spotted the memorial for Yuan Yang, the runner who tragically died in the 2013 edition. I said a prayer for him and his family as I passed.

Beginning the descent and just loving this wild landscape

The descent was extremely long, and I still didn’t feel great after the last section and dehydration. I was also well up on my planned splits. Anything other than feeling fantastic this early in the race was just silly, so I backed way off the pace, even hiking some of the downhill. Some runners passed me, but I was totally relaxed and just focused on feeling good.

I came into Planaval and spent a good few minutes fueling up before the 4 mile easy section to the first life base, Valgrisenche. Between slowing down and getting in plenty of food and fluids, I was feeling much better.

You could hear the race loudspeaker well before getting to the aid station. I cruised into Valgrisenche around 7:30pm. 9.5 hours for 55km with almost 13,000 feet of climbing was a solid split, and I was really happy with it. I ran a race in Switzerland with almost the same profile back in 2014. It took me 3 hours longer, and I was worked at the end. Here I was feeling fresh and just getting warmed up. It really is amazing what consistent hard work over multiple years can do.

Christophe was there with pizza in hand! Crew was not allowed in the food area, so I grabbed the pizza and my life base bag. I ate the entire pizza (feeling a bit guilty as other runners who didn’t have a Christophe looked longingly at my pizza) while sorting out my pack and refilling bottles / 2L bladder. Then I headed to the separate area where runners could meet with their crew and change clothes.

I had a ginger beer (nectar of the gods!), some avocado, and various other food. I took off my shoes, cleaned my feet with baby wipes, and put on fresh socks. I grabbed all of my super warm layers for the next section – we would be at the highest parts of the course in the middle of the night, and I wanted to be prepared.

Mostly importantly, Christophe had gotten my poles fixed! The left pole had a new strap and a new point, and I was so happy to be reunited with my beloved sticks. As an aside, the fact that Christophe ran down from Deffeyes, drove to Courmayeur, fixed my pole, got pizza, and drove to the remote village of Valgrisenche all in under four hours is another data point that he is, in fact, superman.

I spent about a half hour at the life base, and it was time very well spent. I set off into the fading light at 8pm, fired up and ready for section 2.