It started with a surprise Christmas gift. Ann informed me
that she had payed 50 euros each to put us into the lottery for the smaller
sibling of the most famous—and infamous— trail ultra in the world. At 101 km,
Courmayeur-Champex Lac-Chamonix (CCC) is a distance we’ve done before, much
less daunting than the 170 km of the original
Ultra-Trail du Mount Blanc(UTMB). Best of all, the course is set in the Alps, a circumnavigation through
three countries of the tallest mountain in Europe, renowned for outdoor
enthusiasts and some of the most beautiful views I’ve only seen in photos.
This whimsical gift took a turn about a month later when we
discovered that we both got picked in the lottery to run. All of the races we
had planned for the year had to be reevaluated. Peterson Ridge 40 miler was
still a good way to get our base miles up early, but our big race for the
year—the Fat Dog 70 miler—wouldn’t work since it was two weeks before CCC. We
cancelled and forfeited the money.