Running vertically

If you watch track and field, you’ll find all sorts of running events: sprints, middle-distance, long-distance, marathons, and ultra-marathons.  But this summer I was introduced to something I’d never seen or heard of, a vertical kilometer.  My b-i-l was participating, so we all rolled out of bed early, heading for the mountains near Gérardmer, France.  As you can see from his photo below, it was cold and foggy when we arrived very early and no inviting place nearby to get a hot drink.  My s-i-l and I decided we’d leave after the race started to get some coffee or tea and a pastry.  🙂

France: black and white

Bon jour!  I’m back from another excellent trip to France, where I was treated royally as always by my s-i-l and b-i-l.  During the trip, my b-i-l, who’s been doing ultra marathons (any race longer than a traditional marathon of 26 miles or 42.195 kilometers) did something a bit different: a vertical kilometer.  Taking place on a very steep ski run, the contestants “ran” to the top and took the lift down, repeating this a total of three times.  Final time was the total of the three uphill segments.  It was grueling!

The morning was cold and foggy, although the fog eventually burned off and the sun arrived.  Fortunately for the participants, it didn’t get hot, at least from a weather point of view.  I took this shot at the beginning of the race.  My b-i-l is on the left, an unknown runner on the right.  The black and white called for on the third Monday of Sally’s Mobile Photography Challenge seemed just right for both the foggy morning and the difficulty of the competition.