Raid Montpellier Valencia 2006

My knees felt like they were juddering to pieces, my quads were hurting like hell, my glutes were aching, the chafing in between my thighs was raw and stinging, it was hot and humid and I was completely knackered. I thought to myself, "At least after 68 kilometres I'm glad I've only got another 7 kilometres to do before today's ridiculously long stage will be over. And then that will be six down only two left to do." Amazingly, in my increasingly dilapidated state, this was a genuinely comforting thought.

The Raid Montpellier Valencia (RMV) is the brainchild of Christophe Medard, a chef and caterer for rock concerts in France. A veteran of several marathons and ultras including the Marathon des Sables, Christophe created this eight day, 500 kilometre stage race which crosses the Pyrenees and passes along the French and Spanish Mediterranean coastline only a few years ago. The race alternates direction each year and this year began in the Spanish coastal town of Valencia.

In total there were twenty competitors who included mainly French runners with two Italians, one Spaniard and me, the first Englishman ever to compete in the race. Each year the race starts and finishes at different children's hospitals, who are beneficiaries of charitable donations by the RMV organiser. The race start was slightly delayed while we waited for our police escort to arrive. Three motorcyclists finally arrived and we headed off through Valencia. Instantly nicknamed CHIPS by a wise-cracking Frenchman, the three motorbikes leapfrogged past each other blowing whistles efficiently and holding up the traffic as we followed, obediently crossing roads and waiting for stragglers as directed.

The beginning of any multi-day race is always exciting - a new adventure is beginning and there is an enormous unknown ahead. For me this excitement was tempered with a little concern. My training this year has been less than sufficient and at 500 kilometres this would be the longest race I had ever undertaken. Although we only had to carry a day's rations in our packs, any weight was still going to slow me down. I had been less than helpful at my medical check-up - when asked by the well-intentioned doctor if I had been in regular training for the RMV I replied that indeed I had. What I didn't tell him was that I had only run once a week most weeks and sometimes twice. I knew he didn't mean this, but he only asked me if I hade trained regularly, not how often. So, on a technicality I hadn't actually lied. But I knew what he meant. Later in the week once he had become aware of my lack of training he was to remind me of this conversation and I would sheepishly be forced to admit the whole truth. But it was me who suffered for the lack of training not him, so I didn't feel too bad about it.


How to do it

For a competent ultra runner the RMV poses only a few major challenges other than the obvious one - it's a ridiculously long way! Apart from that the natural hazards are few. Aside from perhaps turning an ankle on the rocky seashore or toppling off a mountain, which is extremely unlikely, the course is fairly safe.

More problematic may be any history of injuries and the likelihood of a recurrence over such a long distance. If you start this race with an injury it's very unlikely you'll be able to complete without a great deal of discomfort. Of the twenty starters, all of who were relatively experienced ultra runners, nearly a third had to retire owing to injuries. So any budding runners need to ensure their injury prevention strategy is sound.

The optimum training for this will depend from athlete to athlete, depending on their aspirations. Regular training runs off-road would prepare runners for the varied trails they would encounter.

A sense of humour in order to cope with the relaxed style of organisation is essential. This is definitely not the Marathon des Sables (MdS) with 850 runners and 400 organisation staff; therefore, runners expecting the slick efficiency and prompt time-keeping of the MdS will be disappointed. The RMV is run on a shoe-string budget; the staff are all volunteers who are lucky to get 5 hours sleep a night and each stage will begin sometime in the morning, anytime before 10.00 am but it won't be specified.

Ensure you train on hills too as much of the course passes through the Pyrenees and whilst it's not that mountainous in the East, there will still be parts which challenge the calfs and quads.