When In Doubt, Go Big | Saying Yes to a 100k in the Alps.
by Nikki Parnell — February 10, 2020
“Set a goal so big that you can’t achieve it until you grow into the person who can.” A dear friend of mine recently shared this quote with me and it was the first thing that came to mind as the events below transpired.
Chase and I were having coffee with Amy Clark and Cory Smith from Ultrarunning Magazine, chatting about upcoming races, when Amy mentions something about the Swiss Alps 100. I perk up. I’d been looking for a race, ideally in Switzerland, during a couple week gap between the Grossglockner 110k race in Austria that Chase is running and the UTMB race week in Chamonix, which we hope to cover for our site. It turns out Amy knows the Race Director and long story short, I now have an entry of my choice into the Swiss Alps 50k or 100k. It had to be fate, right?! And to put a cherry on top, I’ll be writing a race report for the magazine if I manage to finish the race. How neat is that!
So initially I was planning on running the 50k, mostly because even a 50k on Alpen terrain will take a long time to run (hello STEEP mountains). But then in an email exchange with the race director, he encouraged me to do the 100k because it goes through a UNESCO World Heritage Site – the Aletsch Glacier, and over two huge suspension bridges! Places that would be a shame to miss, right? Well shoot, if 50k in the Alps seemed over my head, what would 100k feel like? You know that excited tingly feeling in your gut when you’re on the brink of doing something thrilling, yet scary and a little inconceivable? That’s how I’m feeling at the moment.
I’ve never run a 100k before. 62 miles. Yikes! And this race is technically 65 miles but who’s counting at that point. The farthest I’ve run is 50 miles, which I’ve done twice on what I would consider courses of moderate difficulty. The Swiss Alps 100k has 22,110 feet of climbing. TWENTY TWO THOUSAND FEET!! Put all those climbs together and that’s a realllllly tall mountain. So while it’s a 100k, it acts like a 100 miler — the time it would take me to run it would be closer to how long it would take to run a normal 100 mile. I’m thinking maybe 18 to 24 hours? I’ve never even run all the way through the night before! I’ve always known I wanted to run a 100k and someday a 100 miler, but I never thought my first 100k would be in the Alps with 22,000 feet of vert. I feel like I’m riding a fine line between badass and stupid.
The pictures of the race though, well, they would make any runner salivate. Dreamy single-track trails climbing up green mountainsides (the featured image at the top of this post is one I took back in 2015 near the Eiger in Switzerland and very similar to the terrain of the Swiss Alps 100), valleys with quaint European villages sprawled out below, and ridges with incredible views of endless mountains that make you feel like you’re on top of the world. And I can only imagine the Swiss cows with their clanging bells scattered all around.
Reading the description of the race makes it sound incredible and terrifying all at once. There’s a hill called “The Beast” where you climb up 14 switchbacks and 4,200 ft in 6 miles. It also sounds like there’s a 2 km section that is off-trail where runners need to be particularly attentive, “because it can be confusing at times not following a trail.” Hmm…great. Extra challenge. There’s also a mandatory equipment list – safety gear you must carry with you at all times largely in case of dramatic weather changes (apparently the 2018 races were canceled 12 hours after the start due to bad weather in the high mountains).
I know legally speaking the race director has to talk about all the risks involved and needs to make sure that runners take the race seriously. Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself – that all the “scary talk” is what runners should be aware of but it is also just precautionary and it doesn’t mean I’m personally going to experience those things on race day. Lastly, they mention on the website that being evacuated by helicopter in Switzerland is not ideal because it’s very expensive. Noted. I’ll try to avoid that.
In about a month it will have been 8 years since I ran my first marathon in Italy. Many of you know how that went – if not, read this if you dare. I guess my “personal experience” would tell me not to race a new distance for the first time in a foreign country. There are more variables and unknown factors that go into your race. You truly don’t know what to expect and some countries do things way differently than the one you’re from. The kinds of challenges I experienced in my marathon were funny and painful but it was just a marathon. In a 100k, some of those funny/uncomfortable race quirks could potentially be more serious. Then again, if all went well — or even if it didn’t — those details would just add to the epic story of a girl’s first 100k in the Swiss Alps.
Ultrarunning for me is largely about the experience of long runs and time spent with community in the mountains. It isn’t so much about the times, though I do hope to get faster as I go through life. It’s more about collecting all the quirky memories and funny mishaps that are inevitable when you spend so much time on your feet in the wilderness. And running races with other trail runners (especially ones with other accents and languages) is part of the brilliant bonding experience and what makes you feel like you are a part of something that is much bigger than yourself. You’re all out there running and working hard to arrive at the same destination, united by dirt and stories of the trail.
Being an ultrarunner, I know that some of these longer distances are in my future. It’s part of the inevitable collection of ultra experiences. It’s the insatiable appetite for testing how far you can really go. I want to be the badass. I want to try new things and not always settle for what’s comfortable. I want to blow my own mind in a “I can’t believe I just did that” kind of way. I want to have to grow into the person I need to be to accomplish this goal.
As a mother, do I worry about leaving my family in a foreign country while I’m off gallivanting in a completely strange land? Sure. Do I worry about my husband managing the kids and sleep schedules while I’m away? Uh-huh. Do I worry about taking a wrong turn and getting lost in the middle of the night in the middle of the mountains? Yep. Do I worry about finishing the race as the sun rises, having not slept all night, then trying to catch some zzz’s as the kids are just entering their most energetic time of the day? Oh yes, for sure. As a mother we can worry about all the things at all times. It’s hard to mix things up and break from the routine. It adds an extra level of chaos. But if our family’s history of ultrarunning and crewing long races has taught us anything, it’s that our kids are far more resilient and flexible than we often think. At this point in time, I need to take hold of the opportunity that is dangling before me and give my husband and kids credit where credit is due. I need to let the wild banshees fend for themselves and just watch — they’ll do it well, gracefully even, and all will be fine. I don’t want to live in fear of all the possible (but probably unlikely) things that could go wrong.
Plus, doing this race goes hand in hand with what we’re doing with Treeline Journal. We’re in a season of saying no to perceived limits. We’re pushing the boundaries of “normal” professional life and seeing what we can do. Throwing the status quo out the window and embracing the uncertainties and the thrilling sensations of adventure. A 100k in the Alps would certainly be an adventure.
So I’m doing it! I’m running the 100k! Yay! Gulp. I will try my darndest to be ready. Fingers crossed that training comes together and that race day goes smoothly — that’s all any runner can ever hope for. I can’t wait to soak in the endearing and beautiful details I can only imagine a race in Switzerland would provide. I’m excited to test myself and try something new in a jaw dropping landscape. Wish me luck and follow along as I prepare for this daunting yet once in a lifetime opportunity!
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Awesome post, Nikki!!!