COLUMN
The Olympic marathoner recalls her first experience of trail racing
T he Dolomites in northern Italy have long been one of my favourite places in the world. I enjoy hiking in mountains, and fell in love with the dramatic landscape of the Dolomites the first time I visited. The combination of spectacular landscape, pristine nature, picturesque villages, warm Tyrolian hospitality and delicious food is hard to beat. Rising early to a delicious Italian coffee, then spending the day hiking amongst wild flowers and breathtaking views, and finishing off with a delicious meal of polenta, dried mountain ham and locally-grown vegetables, is something I really cherish and look forward to.
So when I decided, after retiring from elite competition on the roads, to try trail running in 2017, it was easy to decide where to go. A friend recommended the Lavaredo Ultra Trail in Cortina d’Ampezzo (home of the 1956 Winter Olympics), held annually on the last weekend in June. Being a beginner on the trails, I cheerfully opted for the shortest event on offer, the Cortina Skyrace, not fully appreciating that it had more than 1000m of climbing over 20km!
I love learning something new, and took to the South West Coast Path in north Devon to accustom my legs to the steep ups and downs awaiting me in Cortina. I also made sure to acclimatise to the altitude, by planning a 10-day hiking trip leading up to the race. Memories of racing the Bolder Boulder back in 2004 without acclimatising to altitude will never leave me, and the pain I felt that day is something I vowed never to repeat! Two days before the race I walked the course as a recce. I was all set, or so I thought!
We set off on a slightly uphill road out of Cortina. I felt heavy-legged and out of sorts, but after a few minutes, I settled into my stride. Then the climbing started. It was all fine to begin with, as we had a long section of easy undulations after the first ascent to shake our legs out. But at the top of the second and final long stretch of climbing up to over 2000m altitude, my legs felt like they would buckle under me. By this time I had snuck into the lead, after battling it out with the eventual runner-up. I have never felt fatigue in my legs like it. Road marathons are mostly flat and if they have hills, as New York does, they are nothing compared to those ascents above Cortina.
In the shadow of the famous Tre Cime di Lavaredo peaks, I turned back for Cortina and the long descent. My legs felt like they were on borrowed time, but
