One of the challenges of
running in first place is that you are always running scared, literally always
terrified that somebody is coming up behind you. Just manage between here, OK? That's all you need. You just be smooth and strong. If you're smooth and strong they won't catch you. That's all you got to do. "I'm tired." That's normal. This year I decided to have a focus on a little bit of longer distance objectives. In the spring I did the Haute Route a 110-kilometer ski traverse, and then
following that I made this sort of shift to running from skiing which is always a little
bit tough because it's very different for the body. the Mont Blanc 90k is part of the Mont Blanc marathon
festival. This year the race was a little bit different than some other years. 85 kilometers and
about 6,000 meters of vertical gain. It's pretty steep it's very technical it's not very runnable.
Easy way to sort of break it up in my head. In the last five years, pretty much the
longest race I've done is upper 50 kilometers. This part is literally the hardest part for me
because I have a really hard time projecting myself. You have to have food that you want to
eat because it's all about how many calories you can put into your body and making sure that
your stomach is okay. Because I'm relatively inexperienced in ultra-distance racing I looked to
Katie Schide and Mimi Kotka for their advice about this racecourse in particular they're the winners
of the last three editions of this race and so they know it super well and they're also really
experienced ultra runners. For her I think it's like managing the ultra aspect of it like eating
and drinking and perhaps trying to conserve some energy for the end, because when it's long it makes
more of a difference to get enough energy and to stay hydrated so but I'm sure she's on top of it.
Yeah I think the 90k it's really a mountain race more than most other ultras it's really steep it's
a lot more technical than most races. I think it's really truly the race of Chamonix. What is your
goal how much do you want to eat by this point too? I also looked directly to my friend Mike who
has a really methodical brain and so he kind of helped me to think about how to prepare myself
in a way that was really strategic. Do you want me to meet you before or after the aid station
or like i guess there's going to be a crew zone. Yeah it's 20 meters before 20 meters
after. You prefer me to be on that? Maybe after? Okay. Essentially the race course you could split it
up into five major climbs each one being you know somewhere around a thousand meters and
we decided that Mike would be at the beginning and the end up in sort of the higher
mountain aid stations and then I had my friend Alex and Katie and Mimi and Meg who were
all gonna be sort of spread out lower in the valley to support me when I was going
to be coming back down before big climbs. Let's put your hands in the
air and put them together for the team and the volunteers. There will be snow on the
descent. So please do be careful for the snow there's quite a bit of it on the
descent. But I think that 12 hours is fine. And then we'll get started in just under
four minutes just under four minutes to the 2021 edition of the 90k Mont Blanc. The race started
at four o'clock in the morning and we had an elite starting pin so I saw and recognized
both the Ekaterina Mityaeva and Giuditta Turini who I knew would be my
main competitors for the race. The first climb right out of Chamonix is about
1200 meters and Katie had encouraged me to go out strong. I went out relatively hard in that first
climb and was able to establish a 10-minute gap with Giuditta and Ekaterina. How are
you doing? I'm good. I don't do long stuff! That first traverse was pretty
magical because we had the sunrise the light was incredible and you're
essentially traversing all the way across just above the valley even if it looks on the
map like it's flat you have to be really on it. I think that one of the biggest challenges
about switching race format is whereas in a short race you know I'm essentially going all
out the whole time in a race like this I had to be thinking about economy and my energy. I kept saying
to myself in my head like is this a pace that I can keep going at for another eight hours and
trying to make sure that I wasn't going too fast. Coming into the Vallorcine aid station I saw Katie and
I'm pretty sure I told her that I was starting to feel pretty
tired and she said, "that's normal." It's great reassurance to have from somebody who
does a lot of ultras that like feeling kind of crappy relatively early on is pretty normal. At
that point I wasn't even at halfway in the race. Having someone support you on a race is more just
about having those moments where you see someone and you're able to like let go of whatever is
going on in your head and kind of just say like okay you're not alone we're all here for you and
we're supporting you. Have fun I'll see you soon. I knew that I was maintaining
about the same 10-minute gap with Giuditta behind me. I was actually surprised
that Ekaterina had fallen back a little bit but definitely felt a consistent
pressure from Giuditta as I was going. As I was coming into Le Tour I was feeling
pretty good but I was also relatively tired. I was looking forward to the fact
that Mimi had told me that she was going to bring a chair for me so
I was really excited to sit down. The high of
having so much energy so many people around me that probably after that I was gonna
kind of you know drop in energy again and Mimi also anticipated that and I
remember her looking me right in the eyes and saying "just remember when you feel
like crap everyone else also feels like crap." After I left that aid station and was starting
to, you know, struggle a little bit in the next big climb, in my head I was thinking like
everybody else feels this bad right now. After the fourth climb and descent we
were coming into Les Bois, everyone I know who lives locally in Chamonix has told me
that that's a pretty key moment because Les Bois is just a couple flat kilometers to the
finish line except instead of going straight you're gonna do another 1400 meter climb up to
Montenvers and mentally that's kind of a crux moment because I knew that Giuditta was going quickly
on the downhills and not spending much time in the aid stations I was really concerned that
she might see me in Les Bois and a lot of racing is in the mental game and competition
is also in your head and so I knew that if she saw me that would give
her a boost that she could catch me. Montenvers is essentially like one of the
birthplaces of mountain tourism. On a beautiful summer day, it is just flooded
with tourists. "I think I broke my body." Just as my coach had told me, save energy for
the last climb in my head I was thinking like Oh man I bet Giuditta has done the same thing
and she's going to be you know doing a crazy acceleration on this climb and coming for me. And
I started getting in a pretty dark place mentally. I think i told Mike that I had broken
my body and I was pretty desperate, hoping for a miracle. "Some fresh water and electrolyte." He
was both listening to me but he was also kind of dictating to me. He was able
to say to me like, "I want you to eat this." "Want to drink a little more
for me." "You need some electrolytes, some gel." I
put the old ones back in. "Yeah. Keep drinking." I mean my whole [ __ ] body hurts.
"Like doing an ultra or something." "Cross you know, that you know the drill. No one's
more confident than you, you got it just just stay in your wheelhouse. Manage in-between here okay?
That's all you need, and just be smooth and strong if you're smooth and strong they'll won't catch
you. "Okay." "That's all you gotta do." Mike knows what that experience is like and I think he anticipated
a little bit what I was gonna need then and he was really the person that I needed in the place
that I needed when I needed him to be there. "Every two steps, you say kick-ass. "Kickass." "Kickass and stay upright. "Keep going.
Strong you got it all right." In any kind of race that you do you live a lot
of highs and lows I definitely know that from the all the shorter races that I've done but I
think that maybe I didn't appreciate enough that in a race this long those highs and lows you've
got the same ones except they last way longer, so you can dig yourself a pretty deep hole or feel
like you know you're soaring for a lot more time. I'm pretty tired. I thought that it was all over when I got to
Montenvers. My friend Mike really boosted my confidence and said "you got this, you can do it," and
help me take it home. Crewing isn't just about like being supportive I think that sometimes it's got
to be about tough love sometimes it's got to be about being you know there for you and sometimes
it's got to be about giving somebody a swift kick in the butt. Having a crew that knows
so well how to do that like Katie and Mimi and Mike who were absolutely key in
allowing me to win the race this weekend. "Congratulations, so what's next on the agenda for you, Hillary?" Beer and ice cream. "Beer and ice, that sounds good to me. Congratulations, nice job."
