Well well well, the Grand Prix des Raids de la Province du Nord has officially started, and it did so with a long, tough race. What it was supposed to be a 11 km race turned out to be a 12.5 km race, a “tiny” detail we only got to know about 5 minutes before the very start.
The trail was brutal, when it wasn’t muddy and slippery it was very bushy, so all my concentration went into where am I going to put my foot next? I didn’t even enjoy my playlist, nor did I notice it played twice! There was a lot of sliding, falling, hanging on to branches, and river crossing. We climbed a 450m high very steep mountain, the top of which was not even the half way point of the course. I was convinced that the organizers got the length of the race wrong, well at least I wanted to believe that! I kept looking at my Garmin and couldn’t believe that in fact we were over 10k and there were no signs of the finish line. I ran out of water at the 7 kilometer mark (carrying water is mandatory) so I was desperate for a drink; for those final k’s I even tried to lick the very last of my power gel, which of course was empty.
Long story short, I crossed the line after 1 hour 53 minutes, in 3rd place! And out of the 171 participants on the mini raid (some crazy people, 176 to be exact, ran the grand raid which was 17.5km) I came in 13th, sooooo, yes, I’m very happy and proud I made this happen. Also, I’m glad I pushed and sprinted on that last kilometer, otherwise 97 (a 15 year old girl) would have come in 3rd and coming in 4th place is just not the same 😉
5 weeks to the next one in June, the countdown starts tomorrow!
*Thanks so much for your sweet and encouraging words, you guys are the best!
Runners who camped out for the night
My shoes, wet and dirty
