2008 Reports
Last updated: Monday, 15 September, 2008La Couratt’ de Nyon (or how to run up a French mountain - slowly)
Event: La Couratt’ de Nyon
Time: 10:00am
Date: Sunday, 17 August, 2008
Venue: Morzine, France
Having booked a summer holiday to Morzine in the French Alps I was amazed to find that there was a race starting in the town centre while we were there. Billed as a ’7km fun run’ it sounded like an ideal run out. That was until I checked the race website and realised that there was a bit of a climb.
Morzine is at an altitude of 950m, and the race followed a 7km route up to the summit of the Pointe de Nyon, at 2000m. That’s about 3100ft to over 6500ft in old money. So I was starting the race with an oxygen debt, and it could only get worse!
Leaving the Place de l’Office de Tourisme in drizzle, the course wound through the town and was soon on the lower (gentle) slopes of the Nyon.
With the previous night’s rain I would have been better off wearing my XC spikes for this part of the run rather than road shoes.
Many of the runners carried walking poles and were at a distinct advantage.
The path climbed up into the forest and dried out so it became easier to run.
Some lovely woods, and the occasional view down to the valley to remind us how far up we had run were the order for the next couple of km.
The marshals were cheery with their shouts of “allez” to anyone looking a bit tired.
At 5km came the Plateau de Nyon, where the short course finished, and the long course carried on to the summit. By this point we had done about half of the ascent, and I was glad to see the refreshments point. Now, I don’t usually stop for water during a race, but I needed a break and as a young girl was handing out pieces of orange it seemed rude not to accept. So I stopped for a piece. I also had some of the water and banana on offer, but passed on the bottles of Kronenbourg.
So onto the final 2km, and the last 500m of ascent. I’d met another Brit at the start who said that the next bit through the woods wasn’t too bad, but that it got really steep when you reached the piste. Well, I don’t know what he was talking about, it was so steep in the woods it was virtually impossible to run. I managed a few metres here and there before having to walk again. Then when we reached the piste it was nearly vertical. From that point on I walked up a rubble path with impossibly tight hairpins. Approaching the top my hamstrings were really tightening and I was glad to see the top station of the chairlift and more refreshments. Then I realised that it wasn’t the finish – there was another couple of hundred metres to the summit.
I struggled up the last bit of track, over boulders, accompanied by more frenzied shouts of “allez, allez allez”.
The finish line came as a relief, but once I’d caught my breath the view was fantastic.
The sight of so many mountains, some with snow still on, made the effort worth it.
I’d achieved my main aim of not being last, and wasn’t even last in my vet class (40-54).
I finished 62nd out of 79 in a time of 1:21:15, just 28:06 behind the winner who finished in 53:09!
I was 17th out of 18 in the V1M category.
Then it was back down to the refreshments. More water, oranges and Kronenbourg were on offer, and, on the next table, fresh bread (being cut by the baker), slices of smoked sausage, hunks of cheese and red wine. Well I had to partake, just to be sociable. Maybe we should rethink the refreshments for the White Horse Half next year…
After that it was a ride in the chairlift back dowm to the Plateau, but that still left me half the mountain to descend to rejoin the family in Morzine. So it was time for a warm down, as I ran the 5km back down the mountain to our hotel and a nice warm shower.
Just in case you’re interested and to give you some idea of how steep it was, here are my splits, and yes, they are km splits! 7:30 (105m ascent), 6:46 (78m), 10:28 (141m), 10:14 (128m), 11:22 (151m), 15:43 (194m), 19:12 (244m).
For the full results you can click on the link: Full 2008 Couratt de Nyon Results ».
Simon Atkin