caigoose9

As I opened my eyes, I could not believe the beauty that surrounded me. The Mt Blanc massif that I had been studying on a map was right there, hovering more than 11,000 feet above the village of Chamonix with glaciers spilling down toward the north face denali fleece. Regardless of how the race went, I knew I was in a special part of the world, and embarking running a stunningly beautiful courses.

The scenery of the race did not disappoint, and neither did the villagers in the villages that we ran through. But for me, I would have to end my journey around Mt Blanc about half way through because of a serious problem with my right eye that brought my pace to a crawl. But up until the point that I realized I had to stop, I was having the time of my life.

The start of the north face denali, right on time at 6.30 pm, went smoothly - more smoothly than I would have imagined with 2,377 starters. I liked the idea of running through the night when I was fresh - which is different from most 100 mile races which have an early morning start that guarantees when the sun goes down, you're maunuvering through the darkness in some kind of a tired, zombie like state. The 6.30 pm start gave me some inspiration to try to finish before sunset the next day.

Besides the stunning scenery - before the sun went down - my favorite part of the race was running through the villages. It seemed like the entire village came out to watch the runners go by. Approaching a village, usually on a steep downhill, runners could hear in the distance music and cheering mingled together. The running route through each village was lit with lights and sometimes torches. Families came out, north face cheap, mothers holding babies, kids standing next to the course with their hands extended for a high five. Bands playing, small stands of water and wine set up for the runners to imbibe if they wish. It seemed like the more eye contact a runner made with the crowd, the louder they became. I tried to high five as many kids as possible, wave to the crowd, smile and just enjoy the moment. And they went nuts. I'm not sure how I was picked out as an American, but running through the villages, I often heard a question directed at me..."Obama?" "Obama!" I would answer and that again would throw the crowd into another level of cheers.