I am obviously not into that kind of thing, but know that many of you are 
While in Champex, on the Tour du Mont Blanc route, there was much talk of The North Face Ultra Tour du Mont Blanc; a mere 163 km with 8,900 meters of elevation gain. On Saturday 7/14 night several people training for it stayed at the Relais where I was staying, and on Sunday, going in the opposite direction, I met several more.
A couple of weeks later, hiking in the Zinal area, I saw a huge number of big yellow "Z" blazes on almost every rock. Turned out that the Sierre-Zinal race took place yesterday (8/12); I saw a few people training for it (fewer than for the Tour du Mont Blanc; I was in the Zinal area mid-week). This race is only 31 km, but rises from Sierre (500 m above sea level) to around 2,500 m at the highest point. Winner of the men's category (Jean-Christophe Dupont (F)) did it in 2hr 41' 44", winner of the women's category (Anna Pichrtova (CZ)) did it in 2hr 55' 19", setting a new record.
While in Champex, on the Tour du Mont Blanc route, there was much talk of The North Face Ultra Tour du Mont Blanc; a mere 163 km with 8,900 meters of elevation gain. On Saturday 7/14 night several people training for it stayed at the Relais where I was staying, and on Sunday, going in the opposite direction, I met several more.
A couple of weeks later, hiking in the Zinal area, I saw a huge number of big yellow "Z" blazes on almost every rock. Turned out that the Sierre-Zinal race took place yesterday (8/12); I saw a few people training for it (fewer than for the Tour du Mont Blanc; I was in the Zinal area mid-week). This race is only 31 km, but rises from Sierre (500 m above sea level) to around 2,500 m at the highest point. Winner of the men's category (Jean-Christophe Dupont (F)) did it in 2hr 41' 44", winner of the women's category (Anna Pichrtova (CZ)) did it in 2hr 55' 19", setting a new record.
