From Petra Bijsterveld…
Peades d’Aigua means ‘water footsteps’ in Aranese, the local language, and the route of this Spanish trail race takes in more than 20 lakes. As I passed them I did think how lovely it would be to be out on a leisurely walk with plenty of time to look at them and take pictures. As it was, the PDA, described as a fast and demanding race, allowed little time for admiring the landscape, especially for those like myself who are maybe not so fast, and seriously have to keep an eye on the cut-offs. At 55km this is the shortest event in the Val d’Aran week, other options are the CDH at 106km and the VDA at 161km. These races are part of the UTMB World Series, and since 2022 taking part in one of the series’ races is the only way to have a chance of entry into the Chamonix UTMB races. There are opinions aplenty in the running press on the direction UTMB has taken in recent years, which I’ll let you check out for yourself if you wish. I had heard good things about the Val d’Aran races from Dick Waddington who did the CDH last year (he also told me it was very technical! I remembered that a few times during the day). This was my first ‘by UTMB’ event and though I entered it because I have hopes to get through the ballot into the OCC in Chamonix, I would admit that at times during this very busy race I wished I were in a much smaller event and thought ‘perhaps never mind Chamonix’. Still, the razzmatazz of a UTMB event has definite pulling power, it’s like the trail running equivalent of a big city marathon, something you may want to experience at least once. And having now spent the day after my race watching the start of the VDA as well as the arrival of the winners in the CDH I would defy anyone not to get caught up in the emotion of the event.
On the morning of the race we were taken by bus from Vielha to Salardu (1250m) a short distance up the valley for the 7.30 start. Starting upstream means this is a net downhill course with 3,300m (10,000ft) of ascent and 3,700m of descent. You can already feel your quads hurting just thinking about it I am sure. The start felt special, the playing of Vangelis’ Conquest of Paradise, as is standard at UTMB events, had a lot more impact than when you see it on YouTube. I felt quite emotional being on the start line after many months of training and being lucky not to get ill or injured. The start was in 2 waves 15 minutes apart, I am not sure how the runners were divided but it seemed random, with people of all speeds in each wave. I was in the first wave and spent many miles having to make way for fast runners from the second wave coming past on a narrow track. This was irritating both for steadier people like me and just as much for the fast runners I am sure. Moving in a single line and having to queue at steeper ascents was also very much a feature of the first half of the race, and it did feel rather crowded. With more than a thousand runners I guess that is unavoidable, it’s just that I had not really thought about it, having only taken part in much smaller mountain races.
I reached the first checkpoint after 9km of climbing with 30 minutes to spare. This is when some early optimism about my finish time reared its head, misplaced of course. A steep climb followed, hands required at times, to Coth de Podo (2600m). The 600m descent to the second checkpoint at Colomers was hideously technical and really made me question my decision to enter this event (even though I knew it would be technical, the reality of it was just even worse). I also realised that if the other 2 descents were of the same nature I would definitely be timed out. I feared that I would be too late at Colomers, 23km in, but I just made the cut, having tried to go as fast as I could over the never ending boulders without wanting to risk an accident.
Straight out of the checkpoint and onto the next climb to Tuc de Salana (2476m). At the bottom we had to wait whilst a young runner was helped off the very steep slope by medics, wrapped in a foil blanket. I couldn’t work out if he had hurt his leg or was generally unwell, but he had trouble standing. An older runner also came down the slope and got into the same vehicle saying he felt dizzy and was abandoning the race. The rest of us climbed upwards, in single file again. I was in front of an Irishman, it was one of the very few times that I actually had a conversation with anyone, as about 95% of the runners were Spanish speakers, so most exchanges were limited to simple nods or a bit of French on my part. He had also struggled with the technical descent, and we were both hoping that the mainly grassy slope of this ascent boded well for the other side, and thankfully it did. The next descent was steep but largely runnable of sorts, and took us in stages all the way down to the village of Arties (1140m) right in the valley bottom, 41km into the race. There was lots of cheerful support from spectators in Arties, it almost felt like coming into a finish, and part of me wished it were, I was getting quite tired. As I ran into the village someone called out ‘you have 8 minutes’ and when I reached the checkpoint they said we all had to leave within 7 minutes. No time to hang about! At least no more timing checkpoints now, other than needing to be at the finish in Vielha by 20.45.
Just a small matter of another massive climb ahead to Tuc de Cauva (2200m), so more than 1000m to ascend over 8km. The first part of the climb was in the forest on never ending steep zig-zags. By now it was warm, not warm by Spanish standards (very lucky with the weather!), but it was definitely affecting me. I started to feel dizzy and had to leave my place in the long line I was in to stop and take on some sugary carbs. This didn’t help. I ploughed on upwards but had to keep stopping to put my head down. I now felt queasy from the carbs and still dizzy. It was one of the low points of the race, I worried about actually passing out and being a burden on other runners who would have to stop. Thankfully my problem solving abilities were still functioning, I thought if it wasn’t sugar I needed it was likely my blood pressure was low and I needed salt, thankfully I had my own cheese supply (there must be Wallace and Gromit joke in there) and I sat down and ate some. Within minutes I felt better and able to carry on. We reached a short flat section, wonderful, but the profile on my watch told me there was a lot more climbing to come. This time on grassy slopes so it felt less claustrophobic, it was steep and tough and I was so tired I wanted to cry, but I told myself to get a grip and that at least I was no longer dizzy, just tired, and I would get to the top eventually, even though there were multiple false summits. Finally some abandoned ski lift posts came into view indicating the real top. There were absolutely stunning views all round but I didn’t stop to take them in, I knew that barring a last minute accident I would easily make the cut-off for the finish but I wanted to get the best time I could. It was only 6.5km to the finish, all downhill and very runnable. Initially steep and on gravelly scree, several runners were struggling to stay upright and seemed to struggle with the grips on their shoes and with their quads, but my shoes were grippy and quads you can ignore, they can hurt later all they like. These sorts of descents I can do, as long as there is nothing large to trip over. Then followed a wide track, think coming down from the Shooting Hut along Occupation Lane, just heaven to run down on and only a parkrun to go, yay, then paths through hay meadows, finally steeper paths through the woods with gnarly tree roots but still runnable. I hit the road in Vielha with about half a mile to go and sprinted as fast as my legs would carry me, not sure why, it felt like a matter of pride to do so. Hearing the sound system from the finish line from afar spurred me on. I got lots of cheers and shouts of encouragement from spectators and overtook a few people still. Really nice to see this level of support from the town and from fellow runners for what in reality was very much the back end of a race where the winner had come in 7 hours earlier (how that is even possible is just beyond me)! I rang the huge bell under the finish arch 12 hours and 39 minutes after I had set off, and was delighted to have achieved my main aims, to not get injured or have an accident, to make all the cut-offs and to get to ring that bell. A tough day out, I think slightly easier terrain and less time pressure suits me better, but very glad to have done this race and to have savoured the experience of a UTMB event, at least the once. Who knows what 2023 will bring?!
(1 5:37:42 Yanqiao Yun)
1037 12:39:55 Petra Bijsterveld
1091 finishers (922 men; 169 women)
1246 starters
155 DNF