Étoile Verte d’Éguzon successfully completed

 This morning’s final “short” stage of “only” 19 miles of hilly lakeside trail running started inauspiciously with a hugely violent thunderstorm, soaking runners and spectators alike at 7:15am. It is fair to say that Claire is not a fan of lightning, but she pushed on regardless as the day got underway.

The last five days have seen her steady, determined pace pay off. Fortunately the back and knee problems she experienced before the race have not proved too troublesome. Temperatures after midday each day were annoyingly high but just about doable. Claire started each stage prudently and then ran strongly on all but steep hills, and with a smile on her face. 

Our twice-a-day blister ritual has successfully kept her from succumbing to DNFing. Draining, plastering and taping has been my sherpa responsibility, in addition to complete surgical removal of the toeboxes of her running shoes. Claire planned and managed her liquid, nutrition and protein intake excellently; this is vitally important in ultra stage races.

So our week in central France now draws to a close. It has been great experience. Claire has covered 300km (186 miles), in the company of kind, friendly and dedicated runners and volunteers. Completing this race so strongly is in my opinion one of her best athletic achievements to date.

Étoile Verte d’Éguzon - halfway done

After three seriously hilly days, Claire has run nearly 100 French miles, in both high temperatures yesterday and pouring rain today. Despite some toe blisters and knee twinges, she seems to be in remarkably good shape. She has two more long stages plus a trail race of “only” 18 miles to go, and she will be done with this great race in central France, courtesy of race director and long-time friend Jean-Benoît Jaouen and his super team of volunteers.

I couldn’t be prouder. It is remarkable to see Claire’s perseverance, work ethic, and sensible pacing alongside nearly 50 other extremely experienced runners. To have participated in this very tough event with training severely limited by injury this year makes it all the more impressive on her part.

Étoile Verte d’Éguzon

 

Tomorrow morning, Claire and I drive to central France, to the beautiful Limousin region. Plenty of cows; very little traffic; and thankfully no longer sitting under sweltering heatwave conditions like a month ago. This is our first post-Covid stage race adventure since Schwarzwaldlauf in 2018.

On Sunday, Stage 1 of 6 daily stages totalling 300km (186 miles) begins, heading northwards along the Creuse Valley. Claire is running; I am her faithful Sherpa! We stay at a leisure centre in Éguzon, and she’ll run different loops from there each day.

She is in decent shape for this race, despite an assortment of back and knee issues. She has swum plenty in 2022, which helps with overall fitness, but running mileage has been limited. I’ve run the last couple of training runs with her, and she looked really strong and healthy, so I’m my usual optimistic self that she’ll make it through.

We’re looking forward to seeing our 70 or so French and German friends who run or volunteer in Éguzon. It is a great group of people under the always exceptional race direction of Jean-Benoît Jaouen, a great friend for the last 17 years.