Trail Tales | Hong Kong's Claire Price runner-up at French ultra-trail race
Top local runner conquers tough 119km-long Traces des Ducs de Savoie in just over 18 hours to finish second in the prestigious race
Hong Kong trail runner Claire Price has finished on the podium in one of the marquee trail running events in the world, the Traces des Ducs de Savoie (TDS) in Chamonix, France.
The 44-year-old property agent who runs for Team Salomon completed the 119-kilometre ultramarathon in 18 hours 9 minutes and 23 seconds. She was runner-up behind Nathalie Mauclair (17:36:41) and 21st overall (men and women combined) in a field of 1,526 runners.
The mountainous and technical course took participants from the start line in Cormayeur, Italy, to the finish in Chamonix, France, past the Mont Blanc, Beaufort, Tarentaise and Aosta valley countryside for a total cumulative elevation gain of 7,250 metres.
Numerous sections were at altitudes of over 2,500 metres, including the Arête du Mont-Favre (2435m), Col Chavannes (2603m), Col du Petit Saint-Bernard (2,188m), Passeur de Pralognan (2,567m), Col de la Gitte (2,322m) and Col du Tricot (2,120m). As proof of just how tough the course is, about a third of the field didn’t finish the race, which has a cut-off of 33 hours.
The race is part of a week-long series of four races in Chamonix that is headlined by the 161km-long Ultra Trail Mont Blanc, which flagged off on Friday and is widely regarded as the toughest foot race in Europe and the holy grail of trail running.