Memories of the Tor des Geants – Lea MacLeod

I was anxious about my pace during those first few minutes. Thousands of people cheered us on from either side of the barriers as we weaved our way through Courmayeur’s narrow, cobbled streets. A woman whom I had met the previous year at Ultra Tour Monte Rosa paced away but I wanted to stay with her. I knew this would be a solitary race, so the comfort of a familiar face and English speaker was appealing. As we meandered our way through the carbon poles, a weathered-looking Italian man said something about a “maratona” in a deliberately loud voice. I hung back and let Barbara tank on. I reminded myself of her tactics: she powers ahead with incredible speed, and when an aid station arrives, she makes full use of it, eating several meals and sleeping for several hours. That sounded much more fun than my tactics: I prefer what I call a ‘diesel engine’ approach – like my Dad’s 1960s International tractor in low ratio. I try to hang back and spend as little time as possible at the aid stations. As bodies fly by me, I relinquish every gram of my pride and competitiveness, my ego chirping “you’re fitter than them”. Remember what they say in Yoga to “renounce the ego”? I have four, five or even six days out in these beautiful mountains – competitiveness will get me nowhere.

8th April 2022. I receive an email: “Lea, congratulations – you have been selected to take part in Tor des Geants 2022.” In a way, it was an email I was hoping I wouldn’t receive. I knew if I was selected I would have no choice but to accept my fate and travel to Aosta in the summer. Tor des Geants – the Tour of Giants – is a 350 km run that loops around the highest mountains in the Alps in Val D’aosta, Italy.  The terrain is brutal, covering some 25 mountain passes, with the total elevation gain around 28,000 metres: almost three and a half Mount Everests. The race is non-stop; once the clock starts, you have 150 hours to return to Courmayeur. There are stations to sleep in along the way, but most people don’t have time for much of that. With hunger and sleep deprivation wearing you down, it becomes a mental game…

The first hours of the race pass quickly and with the heat increasing, so does my over-thinking. Have I trained enough? Are your lungs tight? Remember you had covid only two and a half weeks ago. The trail is steep and unforgiving.

I come up behind an Italian man in his 60s. An unpleasant smell of unwashed running clothes fills my nostrils. Maybe I wilI renounce renouncing the ego for one minute; I step off the trail and overtake him. I then see the next competitor: Mark Thompson. I initiate a conversation attempting to extinguish my anxious ruminations. The conversation quickly turns to training. I feel confident telling him about my 60-mile weeks. He tells me he has already raced two, 200-mile races this year, the last only three weeks ago. Renounce the ego.