The stats:
6 days
170km
3 countries
10,000m ascent
Over £8,000 raised for Youth Concern
Day One: Chamonix to Les Contamines (26k, +1549m / –1412m)
An 8.30am start outside the church in Chamonix with Mont Blanc glowing behind the 14 of us. A gentle 4k valley run to Les Houches, taking a circuitous route to avoid recent rockfalls, before climbing began in earnest: 1549m ascent over the course of the day through grassy meadows, past glacial streams, a short via ferrata chain section and a 60m swinging bridge. A long 600m zig‑zag descent gave us a brutal introduction to TMB downhills, delivering us into Les Contamines with jelly legs and high spirits.
Day Two: Les Contamines to Chapieux (21k, +1492m / –1101m)
Another flat 4k warm‑up to the baroque church of Notre Dame de la Gorge before we split into pace groups. A steep wooded climb to the mountain refuge, runnable rocky paths under huge cliffs, and a hot second ascent to Col de Bonhomme at 2,329m and a panorama of the enormous mountain massifs of the Alps. The trail gradually climbed towards the Col de la Croix du Bonhomme, the highest point of the day at 2,433m. The descent into Chapieux featured horses, big views, and bearded vultures circling overhead. A glacial stream dip was one of the day’s highlights.
Day Three: Chapieux to Courmayeur (31k, +1570m / –1891m)
An initial 2k on the tarmac led to a valley trail along the river, then a steep climb to the Col de la Seigne at 2,515m and the French–Italian border. Astounding views from our morning coffee stop at Refuge Elisabetta (2195m) preceded a long descent through the sweeping Val Veny valley, passing beneath the huge glaciers spilling down from the Mont Blanc massif. A second climb through pine forest to the ski resort tested tired legs and morale. A steep, technical descent into Courmayeur finished the day.
Day Four: Courmayeur to La Fouly (31k, +2103m / –1698m)
Starting at the pink church, we climbed steadily whilst getting out of ultra‑runners’ way as they finished their 180k or 330k Tor des Géants races. A beautiful 7k traverse offered huge views of the valley; the north face of Mont Blanc and her glaciers our constant companion. Thick hot chocolate at Refugio Bonatti fuelled the second major climb to Grand Col Ferret (2537m), the highest point of the Tour. Cloud was low and wind was gusty. A long descent into La Fouly ended with an incongruous dinner of semolina soup, falafel, lentils and Viennetta.
Day Five: La Fouly to Trient (31k, +1450m / –1747m)
An early start and a pleasant 8k downhill through Swiss villages straight out of storybooks. Cooler weather. If our guide hadn’t agreed to stop at a village bakery, there’d have been a protest; coffee and raspberry tart at the beautiful mountain village of Champex‑Lac with its alpine lake were blissful. Steady but long climb afterwards in two sections towards Alpage de Bovine. The first climb was through mixed woodland with lots of mushrooms. The second section began steeply within the trees, but gradually eased as the views started to open up. After the refuge we descended to Col de la Forclaz and down to Trient, a beautiful little village tucked away inside a steep-sided valley.
Day Six: Trient to Chamonix (29k, +1816m / –2084m)
No gentle warm up today: straight into the 900m climb to Col de Balme and the mountain refuge for warm-from-the-oven cookies. The group took one of three routes here: either over the Tête de Balme, or steeply on foot or chairlift + gondola to Le Tour. An interesting ‘running tapas’ (ie mixed terrain) gentle run in to Chamonix, through the pine forests and along the Arve river. Two of the groups reunited for the final run into Chamonix, finishing where we began—at the church—with (once the third group had joined us) champagne and celebration.
Tour de Mont Blanc: A Post‑Run Debrief with Hannah
Q: What did you find the biggest surprise on the TMB?
Three things:
- the realisation that any mention of a ‘gentle 4k warm‑up’ was a trap. If warm ups existed at all, they led into climbs that rivalled anything you’d find in the UK. Think Snowdon sea-to-summit in one go. As the first climb of each day.
- Multi‑day running hits different. It’s harder to pace yourself when you know day one will be followed by another 5 days of 28km average distance runs.
- It was all worth it. The views were stupendous.
Q: What did pacing look like over six days?
We ran day one as a group, with a built-in pole-running workshop, and technical downhill running lesson. On Day Two we split into pace groups. You could switch between the groups each day, and sometimes during the day since we met each other at mountain refuges. Some of us were faster on the ups, some on the downs. Uphill turned out to be my secret strength. Downhill… less so.
Q: Which climb was the most memorable?
The final push to Grand Col Ferret on day 5. Windy and cold, the cloud was down. We’d had wall-to-wall sunshine until that point. It reminded us that these mountains demand respect. Sophie and I reached the Col together. We took the obligatory photos at the Italian/Swiss border marker then tried to stay out of the wind by crouching in a goat scrape to wait for the rest of our group. Fellow runner George called us mountain trolls when he arrived because only our heads were visible.
Q: What about descents? Did any of them break you?
Day 5 into Trient very nearly broke me. I thought my TMB days were over 🙁 My left knee gave up entirely. It refused to bend! I hobbled down using poles like walking sticks while Sophie kept morale up. We were overtaken by a couple singing their own lyrics to He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. That tells you everything.
Q: Any emotional moments?
Day three. I was the slowest member of the faster pace group, tired and found myself suddenly teary. Our guide had warned us all that we’d all have a wobble, that trail running and being alone in your own thoughts can cause you to self reflect. When I turned a corner and he was there, he said exactly the right things and got me moving quicker again. And the end was emotional. I couldn’t believe months of training and mileage and practicing fuelling was over.
Q: What were the best food stops?
There were so many it’s hard to choose! The raspberry tart with crème pâtissière in Champex-Lac was top notch. And the enormous chocolate chip shortbread the size of my head, alongside a pot of tea, on day six was a delight. Honourable mention: molten hot chocolate at Refugio Bonatti, so thick my spoon stood up in the cup.
Q: What did you learn about multi‑day trail running that shorter-distance runners should know?
Poles are not optional. Snacks are strategic. (Eat regularly even if you don’t think you can stomach it.) And recovery starts the moment you stop running—not after dinner. I’d taken Tailwind recovery sachets which I drank within 30 mins of finishing each day. In training, the furthest I ran was 30k, and I never ran more than 3 consecutive days. They say running’s a mental rather than physical challenge and for TMB, I’d agree 100%.
Q: Final verdict—would you do TMB again?
Yes. In a heartbeat. But next time with a better‑behaved knee. And I didn’t need the weight of that malt loaf in my pack… What a privilege to be able to run 170km in the mountains with beautiful views, fantastic company and delicious treats. The trip of a lifetime.
