A foggy April 9 2017, for the 75 min drive from Sete, but as I got near Lauret I had my first glimpse of Le Roc des Mates looming up over the village. It was somewhat higher than I had imagined, with the peak at 391m (the start and finish at 162m).
All was very friendly in the village and I was one of the first to collect my dossard.
Starting near the back we had a short stretch of road then some wide trails as the route headed upwards. At this point I was able to overtake quite a few runners, until we switched onto the narrow rocky trails which predominated for the remainder of the course. Then, we were mostly single file, running or walking according to the speed of the people in front, with few opportunities for overtaking.
It was on upwards until we reached the first ‘peak’. It was then that I realised it was difficult to keep up with the others when descending over the uneven rocky trails. We crossed a stream to the accompaniment of cheer-leading teenagers. Then up to the top at roughly the halfway point. Not out of breath, but I had stumbled a couple of times on the way to it, then ran into a low hanging tree trunk, which supposedly knocked some sense into me (well it saw a few stars); that’s the danger of wearing a sunhat to keep out sun glare. Also I was continually keeping a close watch on the trail to ensure I didn’t trip or stumble.
It had taken an hour to reach the top at roughly 7.5km. Water and food were provided and I stopped for a few pictures, but the visibility was not perfect.
Having already realised I wasn’t good at descending, my aim was to get down without falling, especially given my legs were a bit tired, but that wasn’t to be. After the first fall I started walking, and then had to let the runners come streaming passed me, not always easy on the narrow tracks. Occasionally I tried a bit more of slow jogging when the path seemed level and rock free, but fell again, so gave up on that idea.
Eventually I made it to the bottom, taking longer than I had to get to the top, and was able to run properly for the last 500m of road.
I’m glad I did it, but it’s clear I cannot cope with rocky trails. Is it the beginnings of the neuropathy my father had, or just old age?