Humani'Trail

In the last three years I have always spent one weekend in spring and autumn trail running in Les Diablerets with the EPFL/UNIL running club. This year, the weekend in autumn coincided with the Humani’Trail trail running race. We were encouraged to race any of the proposed distances (17km/11mi, 25km/16mi, 42km/26mi), hence why I signed up for the Trail du Takin (42km/26mi), my first ever trail running race.

Preparation

Since all summer long I have mostly done mountaineering, I was not exactly well prepared for this race. Besides two longer runs, I did a handful of shorter training runs in the weeks leading up to the competition. However, having done many steep climbs at altitude should help a lot on the steep and rocky trails around Les Diablerets. Luckily, I know the region around Les Diablerets like the back of my hand, which is made pretty evident by my trail map. I will use that as my advantage to gauge my pace.

Map of the trail runs I have already done around Les Diablerets

It is an understatement to say that I was quite happy when the weekend arrived. I took the train Friday evening after work towards Les Diablerets. Already on the way there I met some friends who have already participated in previous trail weekends. It is always great to see them again. We soon arrived at the chalet where we will be staying at for the weekend. After filling our carbohydrate stores with some delicious pasta, we went to bed early to take some rest before the competition.

Race day

Waking up in the morning at 5am was tough. I did not sleep too well, and had a terrible sore throat. Whatever. With Chloé, Federico, and Matthieu, the three other people who signed up for the 42km (26mi) race, we ate some bread and cereals for breakfast, and then headed out to arrive just on time at the starting line. Unfortunately, it had been announced that the course had to be modified due to the snow which already covered the highest peaks around Les Diablerets. The course was now going to be slightly flatter and would not involve climbing all the way up to the Oldenhorn.

At 06:30am, the race started. The first kilometer or so was almost entirely flat. I tried to gain some positions in order to not be stuck behind other people on the single trail which was going to take over after the first few kilometers. The first ten kilometers to the Col du Pillon were rather unexciting: a long line of headlamps slowly moving through a small forest path in the dawn.

Beautiful morning atmosphere behind the moutains

I was happy when we reached the pass and could finally start the steep section. An ascent of almost exactly one vertical kilometer to the Cabane des Diablerets was next.

The first proper climb to the Tête aux Chamois

I took over a few runners, of whom I was happy to recognize a familiar face: Skander, a guy I have met the previous summer while participating in a study by On-running. After a short chat with him, I started picking up the pace a bit, but quite soon reached a pack of around 10 people, which would be hard to overtake. Hence, I decided to stay behind and save some energy for later.

Queuing up on the steep single trail

Close to the top, we had to wrap around the right side of a rock-band, the Tête aux Chamois, the only slightly technical sector of the course. I knew this trail was somewhat exposed, and also required some scrambling. However, I was struck when we suddenly had to cross a narrow ledge with a massive drop to the right. But stuck in the flow-state, I did not think much about it, and kept following the people in front of me. Suddenly, the runners in front of me stopped. Someone asked if we were sure that we are going the right way. I took out my phone, looked on the map, and saw that we should have taken a left turn well before the cables of the cablecar cross above our heads. We missed it and went around 200m (656ft) too far into extremely technical and exposed terrain. Quickly, the whole queue of runners - there must have been at least 30 of us taking the wrong way - turned around. I was extremely afraid that in the hurry of the race, someone would accidentally get off balance and fall. Luckily, it seems like all we lost was 5min of time.

Happy to have almost finished the first climb

I used the wave of adrenaline to take over a big group of runners, and passed through the aid station at the Cabane without taking anything, since I wanted to be alone on the descent and the next station was not too far away. The descent was quite long and flat, until the last section. It involved going down a path with steps carved into the rock following the Oldenbach torrent and required some care.

Just after the technical descent down the Olden valley

After a flatter section, I arrived at the aid station in Reusch. I ate chocolate, cake, and banana, drank a cup of coke, and refilled my water bottles. From there on, the path became progressively steeper. On the flatter sections I could take over a handful of runners, with some of whom I shared a word or two and some encouragements. But all fun was over once we crossed through Isenau and started the infamous 300m (984ft) climb up to the Palette. I distributed the effort well, and was happy to reach the top just slightly exhausted.

During one of the last ascents with the Palette majestically posing in the background

What followed were some nice flat trails which could be ran efficiently. A small aid-station with many particularly nice helpers sent me back into the race fully refueled. Just two more small climbs and then the long descent to Les Diablerets were on the program now. Between the two climbs I ran up to the fastest female runner just as she struggled to find the continuation of the path. I chatted a bit with her, reassured her that her competition was nowhere near, and then put some distance in between us on the last short ascent.

I was relieved to reach the end of the last climb, and was ready to start the 1’100m (3’600ft) descent down into Les Diablerets. Quite quickly, I joined forces with two other competitors from France for a somewhat technical descent. I ran behind them all the way to the last aid station, where I left them behind because I did not judge it to be necessary to refuel for a 600m (1’900ft) descent. The last descent went well. I felt great and could push pretty hard. I took over one last runner, who seemed to have some muscular problems, and reached the finish line in 15th place in a time of 06:10:18.

Conclusion

I am overall happy with how my first trail running race went. I enjoyed the more relaxed and easy-going vibe of the other competitors as opposed to the embittered runners you encounter on road marathons. Since after the race I still felt great, I will try to go somewhat faster in my next trail race, or increase the distance.