The alarm woke me; that never happens. I normally wake before the alarm so sleeping well the night before an ultra race was novel! Got up at 0345 and headed downstairs to make a coffee and boil water for my oat cereal mix.
The race started at 0600 but I like to eat two hours before, respecting the morning routine and allowing my system to wake up.
We hired a little Fiat 500 at Pisa airport because after a lot of searching online and emailing the race organisers there was absolutely no public transport to Radda in Chianti. It was a 90min drive which we had to navigate in the dark through the winding roads. How did we ever manage before google maps?!
We had booked accommodation in Volpaia about 8km away from the Radda in Chianti where the race started. Later on we would discover in the race it wasn’t 8km away as they weaved us back to Chianti – it was 8miles. At least the race distance was accurate- it was 73km.
Both places were picturesque hill top villages with vineyards and olive trees. Radda’s history is steep; the medieval village and its castle were part of the fiefdom of Count Guidi, to offer protection against the constant feuding and invasion from Siena. Peace did not come to the area until Siena was finally incorporated into the Republic of Florence. With the resolution of peace in the area the military importance of Radda disappeared and the castles and its fortifications soon transformed into villas and residences.
The actual name Radda in Chianti is from 1911 in an effort to give an elevated value to the wine in production in the area. However, records show this area was already exporting wine to England in the 1600’s and before that; 2300 years ago the ancient people of Etruria, which was one of the first superpowers of the Western Mediterranean, had cultivated grapes for wine there.
I was excited to race. I cast my eye around the competition at the start. What I’ve learnt over the years of travelling and racing is never to underestimate the locals and who is going to turn up.
The kilted compère took off his shirt, banged a drum and we were off.
The sunrise was very undramatic; in fact it remained overcast til mid morning but then we had some beautiful sunshine.
It was a fast first 10km; a lot of road and gravel tracks. I was pleased to be in my SCOTT Ultra Carbon RC.
Leaving Radda at the start it was downhill and I overtook two women as I tried to stay as relaxed as possible. When they overtook me on the flat I let them go as we were already doing 7.30 min mile pace.
After 10km I overtook them and then just comfortably kept pace. One was Italian but I wasn’t sure where the other lady was from so I randomly asked her, the USA; we wished each other all the best and carried on. We continued on gravel tracks but with the first rocky descent introduced. At 20km topping up with water at the checkpoint seemed such a disappointment when surrounded by casks of wine but onwards with the race.
The aid stations were approximately 10km, 10km, 10miles, 10km, 10km and 10miles and mainly in beautiful vineyards. I took all my own nutrition so only required water to top up my flasks- using 32Gi gels and a variety from XMiles. I was in and out super fast.
The terrain changed towards the 3rd checkpoint and my main recollection is the gullies carved out by rain water with muddy pools which we had to climb up through. My memory is poor of the route detail; it all merges and it’s fair to say my focus was on racing not looking around. I did hear a lot of movement from lizards though in the scrub.
Coming into checkpoint 4 was a climb up a vineyard. All the vines had been cut back ready for new growth (although what I know about wine growing you could write on a gel wrapper).
Checkpoint 4 started off down and then we climbed up a very rocky track with big step ups for 900m. I was with an Italian chap but soon dropped him and his rhythmic click click of poles on the stone. I had no idea where I was positioned overall so kept pushing on incase I could improve on it. I ran a lot of the race on my own.
I was pleased to see the 5th and final checkpoint. After all the hiking up my legs felt ready to descend and I could run relatively well although not at the initial pace I started off at. Passing through Volpaia I could see Radda in Chianti in the distance on a hill top. The finale wove us through the medieval tunnels- here is Jon emerging from one. His smile shows how delighted he was to finish in around 11hrs.
The finish was under a banner in the piazza. I had won in 7hrs 36mins covering 73km and 2900m. I was 8th overall and absolutely delighted!
Now to drink the 3 litre bottle of Castello Di Albola Chianti I won.
Thank you to the race organisers at the Chianti Ultra Trail for the experience!
Jo Meek 