A much better start today, thank goodness. Although sleep didn’t come easy I took a sleeping pill around 11pm, and the next thing I knew the alarm was going off at 5.15am. We had an early breakfast at 5.30, with staged starts at 6.30 and 7.30 (I was in the latter). My body felt great and I was excited for the day ahead.
The day started out beautiful and cool, and I tagged onto to one of the quicker groups from the outset, with the intent of getting a few km’s done before it started warming up. After a short sharp climb out of our overnight accomodation, it was a long descent on a bitumen road tracking alongside the river, then onto a forest track before we crossed the river on a high suspension bridge. Most of the elevation for the day was done by 15km, including a very technical, narrow and steep downhill trail that no-one enjoyed. The first aid station was around 14km, high above the river with some great views. We then dropped down and ran alongside the river, and with the sun still low there were some gorgeous reflections of the trees across the still water.
Into the town of Le Menoux, with a church famous for frescos by Jorge Carrasco. I had intended to pop in for a look but saw a sign for a toilet … which was badly needed (some info here for the curious, for the church not the toilet!). We continued along roads through the towns of Le Pêchereau and Argenton-sur-Cruese which offered some amazing architecture. So much history!
From there it was all a bit of a blur. It was hot, darn hot (max of 28 today), and I was just focussed on moving forward. For the most part, we followed open roads surrounded by fields, with little shade on offer. I recall putting on sunscreen at aid stations 2 & 4, chatting with Angela on the way in to Aid 4 (and then having to catch up again as I took a while with the sunscreen). Also leaving Aid 4 there were several runners in front of me provided some motivation to keep moving and try to pass them. The last 10km or so went by fairly quickly and I was glad to get it done (and jump in a cold shower).
That’s the big one donw (65km), and the penultimate day complete. Tomorrow is a “just” a short 45km run, though the temp is forecast to reach 31. I’m in no hurry to get that done though, it’ll be a bit sad to leave this great bunch of people.
Stats for today: 65.03km*, 8:15:45, 685m elevation (some bonus distance there from toilet diversions).