Swiss Peaks 397km +28,000m

Sunday 30th August to Friday 4th September

9th September - Swiss Peaks!!! I had an incredible race and I'm in the process of adding more to the below but as you can imagine it's a long read because it took me 169 hours from Sunday morning to Friday evening! A summary of the week is that I found it very hot when we started the race and I was glad that we were in a massive slow queue up the first hill. I just tried to manage the heat by slowing down and drinking a lot, hoping that I would feel better when it cooled down.

This worked well and although I didn't feel great, I knew I could get through the week doing this. I even thought about sleeping during the day. I was lucky on Monday in that I was up high during the day and so the heat didn't get to me. There were lots of women around and I wasn't getting drawn into racing. I wanted to get to Tuesday evening feeling ok before having any thoughts of where I was in the field. This would have been ok but a cameraman told me I was 2nd on Tuesday morning and the US woman that had been around me all the time was slightly annoying me anyway being quite loud and then blanking me. I still just did my own thing, sleeping when I needed to and planning to run more in the night and cooler temperatures. It was on Tuesday night when I left Chemeuille and Emily was going to sleep. I set off into the cold night and just enjoyed the run over Pralong to Thyon and without really trying I gained an hour's gap on Emily. I had a good stop at the checkpoint, with a massage and a sleep of 30 minutes.  Emily was having a massage and we crept out quietly. I couldn't eat much when I woke but had some yoghurt with fruit. I took the next climb steady but with purpose. Laurent met me at Lortier and then at Cabane Brulee and said Emily had only stopped 15 minutes at Lortier. I was quick and got off feeling good heading into another night. By the time I met Laurent at Pressurney I had a good gap on Emily and I tried to sleep but the arrangements weren't good. I left the checkpoint and a French Due team said we should go together. I was ok with this and we trotted off through Champex however they just left me and I wasn't sure whether we were sticking together or not. I faffed around with my leggings and carried on slowly. They had waited for me and seemed rather cross. We continued up and over Fenetre de Arpette which in 2025 we did in daylight and it felt good, now it was dark and it was horrendous. My legs just had no strength at all. It was good that one of the Due was struggling too. We eventually reached the summit and had a rest. Setting off down they told me to go ahead. I thought they wanted me to lead and I did waiting for them when they stopped. It was a bit frustrating but I owed them for waiting for me. However one of them said "Nicky go go" and so off I went. I reached Col du Forclaz (where we were held last year) and just lay down on a bench with a blanket for ten minutes. I woke and felt much better.

We climbed up and over a plateau and then it was a lot of forest tracks and small paths. It was getting hot and I felt zonked. Other runners obviously felt the same as I passed two runners asleep on the trail. It was on this stretch that I came across a tree stump and just decided that this was the start, so it must be the finish. I sat down waiting for the organisors to turn up. It was dawning on me that this wasn't the finish. It was a linear route, it was Thursday and I was going to finish on Friday, there was no parking, no finish funnel, nothing. I didn't know where the finish was but decided I needed to get up and just keep following my watch as that would lead me to the finish.  I set off again and passed a sign for the suspension bridge. Now I had a nightmare thought that we had to cross the suspension bridge to finish. I was trying to remember if the organisors had said there was a dispensation and you could avoid the bridge. I really didn't feel up to crossing the bridge and got quite worked up. But I decided I could crawl across the bridge if I had to. I just kept following the watch up and down and round in circles it felt, until there was the Salvan checkpoint and Laurent waiting for me! All of a sudden the French Duo appeared as well as the Brit/Swedish guys on the Odyssey. I had got a good lead now so I had a good feed, a shower and a massage. I also set my alarm for 1.30 hours sleep and I know I slept well for an hour at least.

I was looking forward to Salanfe as I thought it was stunning in 2025. It was quite hot climbing up but I was going well. The checkpoint had a good selection of food but again was very basic. I had the raclette and a zero beer and set off along the track. There was just one runner in front of me and I couldn't see anyone behind me. It was tough initially on the scree but then the path got more hard packed and I loved the summit. I remembered the long descent and tried to get into a good rhythm. I had an issue with my Achillies and the physio had taped it which helped. But it was a worry as getting worse again. I tried flexing my foot and all sorts to sort it. I was running well and glad that I was doing this in the daylight as it was technical and slow. Laurent was there at Balme and helped me decide about clothes and food. The Brit/Swedish guys came in but didn't spend any time as they wanted to finish now. I had Laurent cut my compression socks so they were just calf compressions and I put them on as this helped my Achillies. The Achillies was really bothering me so I added some zinc oxide tape on top of the physio tape and that fixed it in place!

Onto Morgins I went. The long climb on the tracks to Chaux Palin went on forever and at the checkpoint I had pancakes and sat in the deck chair with a blanket. I needed a sleep so set the alarm for 15 minutes. It was a deep sleep and I woke to see the Italian Duo looking confused and worried. They asked me about the distances as they were wrong on the official programme profile. I showed them my profile and reassured them it was 10k to Morgins. We all left together and once over the summit the terrain was much more gentle and runnable which was good in one way but I thought it would suit Emily too much!  I headed down into Morgins and had a feed, a shower, a really good massage and then went to have a sleep. I just thought I would check the tracker and was shocked to see that Emily's predicted time into Morgins was 7.10am. It was now 5.30am. I hurriedly abandoned sleep, packed up my drop bag and got the hell out.

I just remember the last section - 46km as being really hot and hellish. Initially it was cool and I was good on the climbs but as it warmed up we were exposed and it was just so hot. But so close to the finish I couldn't relax. There were a lot of 100 mile and Ultra runners about and they helped me - giving me encouragement and also runners to focus on to try and keep up with. I just puffed my way up all the climbs, downed all my gels and sweets, ate whatever the checkpoints had and drank a lot of water. The route didn't seem as bad as 2025 but still it climbed up something steep, dropped steeply to a track and climbed up again. Laurent was going to meet me but text and said he had a puncture so couldn't. I had no food left but just decided I could manage. Taney, like 2025, had mushrooms and so I thought "what the hell I need food". I ate a whole bowl full - it was like eggy bread with mushrooms and extremely delicious. That and a few mini chocolate bars and I was on my way!

Laurent and Yuri were at Grand Pre and now it was sinking in that I only had two hours to go and was going to make it. I enjoyed a yoghurt and fruit, topped up my water and headed off. The last section is really dire - first a long road / track, then a long contour on a tiny path, with tree roots, then a never ending zigzagged track down so slowly to sea level. Then in the heat you have to run out of town on the main road, cross over the railway line and back along the lake front. I tried to run but it was a shuffle so I waited until the last minute before picking up the pace and running through the finish funnel!

I'm really happy with how the race went. It could have been nicer if it was cooler. But I managed myself well and did what I had to do to retain second place. Laurent was a superstar supporter and I couldn't have done it without him.

I finished 32nd in 129 hours and 2nd Woman (also 2nd vet 50 woman). https://live.swisspeaks.ch/events/371980/contest/2/summary