Marathon du Mont Blanc, Chamonix

2nd July 2008

The Mont Blanc Marathon, which takes part over two days of events, based in Chamonix, attracts a mix of serious trail runners to the weekend joggers and fun-runners.

Marathon du Mont Blanc, Chamonix

Chamonix Mont Blanc Marathon

First off on the Saturday was the Cross du Mont Blanc; a half-marathon race that set off from the parapente landing field of the Bois du Bouchet, just north of Chamonix Sports Centre.

This year was the 30th anniversary of the race and 1175 runners took on the challenge of running 23km from Chamonix, to Argentière, up to la Flégère and across to Plan Praz, finishing at an altitude of 2050m.

Thierry Icart came in first place just 2 hours and 8 minutes later; 13 years after he first won the race back in 1995! Hot on his heels was New-Zealand runner Anna Frost, who was the first woman over the finishing line with a time of 2 hours and 18 minutes.

Later there was also an event for children and fun runners the chance to compete with the mini-cross and the 10km du Mont Blanc. Now in its 4th year the 10km is a great introductory race to competitive trail running. Starting in the same place as the Cross it goes through the woods and alongside the river before climbing steeply up towards Le Lavancher and then descending back down into Les Bois before looping back to the river and finishing back at the parapente field.

Sunday was the big event as 1400 athletes lined up in Place du Triangle de l’Amitié to tackle the gruelling Marathon du Mont Blanc. The weather was great for watching but the prospect of running over 42km with an ascent of 1015m must have been incredibly daunting.

The winner of the 16th Mont Blanc Marathon was Swiss athlete Jean-Yves Rey; crossing the finishing line in just 3 hours and 52 minutes.

The first woman over the line was French runner Christiane Lacombe with an impressive time of 5 hours and 16 minutes. That might not sound that quick, but this is a high-altitude race that not only gains over 1000m in a short space of time but actually starts at 1035m that's almost as high as Snowdon!

Congratulations to everyone who took part there was a great turn-out, see you all next year!

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