Race day

Success!  I did it 47 kilometres, 2750m up and 4000m down.  The Echappe Belle trail in the Belledonne range North of Grenoble.  It has been a long year of preparation with some ups and downs.  Things started well, and I manged to build up to 20 kilometre runs.  Then I had knee and leg problems.  After a runnning break, consulting General Doctors, Physiotherapists, Osteopaths and finally a Podiatrist, I resolved these issues.  I got back into training but never managed to run over 20 kilometres.  Then before I realised it the race was on me.
I was surprisingly calm the day of the race.  There were 361 runners lined up at the start line and we started fast, perhaps too fast for some (25 runners dropped out at the first feeding station).
The first section was hot, steep and hard work, but luckily my recon of a few weeks before had prepared me for this, so I took my time.  Despite pacing myself, I arrived at the first feeding station, completely drained.  I think I got my nutrition wrong.  I had made sure I had a good breakfast two hours before the race and ate a banana just before the start.  But during the 4 hours it took me to reach the feeding station, I only ate one muesli bar and a handful of trail mix.  In addition I sweated a lot and only had plain water to rehydrate.  So I think I was lacking salt and electrolytes.  I arrived to the cheers of family and friends, which in my tired state almost had me in tears.
At this first feeding station, I took a good break of one hour and my strength slowly returned.  I didn't feel like eating but forced food into myself.   It was amazing how I returned from being almost a monosyllabic zombing to a human after a few orange segments and salt biscuits.  I set off feeling much better.  The second section was less demanding and I arrived at the second feeding station feeling fairly good.  Again I had a good break and forced myself to eat.  There was only 12 kilometres left and I was determined that I was going to finish.
Unfortunately as I set off on the last leg the sky had clouded over and thunder began rumbling.  I had not done a recon of this section and I ended up doing it in the dark and rain.  A thunderstorm broke over our heads and turned the track to mud.  The last climb was 600 metres before a long descent into the finish.  My favourite moment of the course was running under an electricity pylon as lightening struck the hillside nearby.  The rain and muddy paths made running slippery and very tricky.  I ended up walking most of the last section.
Finally the last stretch into Aiguebelle came into view and I managed to break into a trot for the last kilometre.  I arrived at 10:30pm in the dark to the cheers of my family and the few spectators who had braved the rain.  My shoes and legs were caked in mud, but my legs felt fine.  I could hardly believe I had done it.