A story about the great dream of a hair of cremation - The UTMB race

• 24 Feb 2023
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• Breathtaking views,
• outside Bulgaria,

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The beginning of the passion

I'm going to start a bit from afar so you can get an idea of me in case you don't know me. My name is Mitko and I am already 30 years old. When asked what describes me best I always say movement. As a child, I loved to play sports - football, basketball, folk ball, track and field, everything. First I trained football in Neftohimik, then handball in Aves/Chernomorets, then I trained windsurfing, then I played volleyball at the university, separately tennis on the court and others. But I've never really liked running, and that's where this story starts. In 2011 I tore ligaments in my knee and my recovery involved running. A very painful and tedious exercise. I ran a little in the stadium next to us and went back to soccer and volleyball. A few years later, however, I signed up for climbing and that's where I met Pepo (shishi). He's kind of like me, but a better version - he loves sports and movement to the point of madness. We traveled a lot together to climb and at some point he called me to volunteer for a marathon - first Tryavna Ultra and then Lion's Heart (triathlon).
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There, I saw firsthand the pleasure in the eyes of these crazy people (yes, that's right) who pushed their limits and gave it their all. Something in me ignited and I decided to try it myself. I started running in the park with my climbing friend Ellie, who was also interested in giving it a try. We ran 2-3-4km with many breaks, but afterwards I felt very good and full of energy. She lost interest in running quickly, but I was already very motivated and started to increase the distance.

The first races

I decided to motivate myself even more and signed up for my first competition - a night run near the Ovech fortress in Provadia. The distance I chose was 13 (or 14 km), Pepo, respectively, joined at 23, and Vyara and Eli at 6.5 km. The start was at sunset and it was run entirely on an unlit track of sleds. I had never run with a lead before and I was worried, then I got lost for about a kilometer, but in the end I successfully finished in 4th place, just a few minutes from the top three. There was a raffle after the end and I won a small Decathlon backpack in the raffle. I still have it and remember this race fondly.
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The photos belong to: Ovech Night Run, Urgent Run Burgas, Persenk Ultra, Black sea marathon, marathon Plovdiv, Sreburna run (up-down, left-right)

After that I started signing up for other races and increasing the distance. I tried a very large number such as Plovdiv marathon, Sofia marathon, Varna marathon, Tarnovo ultra, Tryavna ultra, Orehovo ultra, Pirin ultra, Ravnogor, Kalandzha marathon, Ludogorski marathon, Via Pontica cross-border marathon, Black Sea marathon, already more than 50 participations in 5km and more many other short and longer races. I ran from 5km to 110km, I ran city marathons and such in rugged terrain, I ran on beaches and on peaks, and along the way I managed to visit many new and unknown corners of Bulgaria and met incredible and unique people (I love you). However, there was one race that I watched with awe but also with great passion and that was.. UTMB - the ultra tour of Mont Blanc.

UTMB.. the big dream

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Photo: UTMB Mont-Blanc

Already in my first year, when I started running more seriously, I came across this competition - UTMB. It turned out they were streaming it live on the internet and I was very impressed. People from all over the world participated, and the live broadcast was unique! There were commentators and people running with cameras chasing the best runners in the world to film them. Something burned me, deep inside my soul, and I promised myself that one day I would be there too. This was my big dream in this sport, it was also my biggest fear. The race passes through three countries - France, Switzerland and Italy and moves along paths between the high peaks of the Alps. A very difficult route with a large number of ascents and a large number of descents. Registering for the race also proved to be a challenge. You don't have the right to simply sign up for participation, but you need to have completed certain races (which carry points) in the last two years, sign up for a raffle and be drawn to participate in order to pay your fee and you get involved. The raffle had over 40,000 people and the seats.. less than 10,000. What are the odds?

The raffles and the luck

At the end of 2019, for the first time, I was able to collect enough points to register for the UTMB raffle. Unfortunately, I did not have enough points for the long 160 km distance, but it was somehow not to my taste. I loved the 100km distance CCC (Cormaier - Champetx- Chamonix) which starts in Italy, goes through Switzerland and finishes in France, with 6100 meters of total elevation gain along the way. Quite a challenging and interesting course. In that year I had successfully completed Tryavna Ultra 76km, Wild Pig Ultra 110km and Pirin Ultra 38km. and I felt confident that I could handle it. However, I got a disappointing "No" from the raffle.

In 2020 our country got hit by COVID and I had some kind of bile crisis and it was pretty bad. Accordingly, my training was at a very low level, my form dropped a lot and I participated in a small number of competitions. This time a friend Mitko and I decided to combine as a team and participate together for UTMB (again CCC). In this way, we got a double chance to participate - once independently and once with the team. (p.b. if one of the teams is withdrawn, they both qualify automatically) And in this second attempt we got a "No" again. On the other hand, 2021 was a new low in my running career - quite often my gall bladder started to hurt on runs, which made me reduce my training to save myself the pain, and everything was already coming to an end. And then Mitko appeared to invite me again to participate in the UTMB raffle together. "No way Mitak. I'm not up for it." I told him, but he kept insisting and finally succeeded. I said to myself - one last attempt and without anything else they will probably choose us again. If they choose me, I will think about whether I should pay the fee and enroll.

We got selected to participate in UTMB

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The third time is the charm - that's how it turned out for me. I wondered if I should sign up and spend extra money to struggle in the Alps. In the end I decided it was my luck and with a promise to practice more I paid my fee and successfully made it onto the start list. The competition is at the end of August and I had to start thinking about how I will get there, where we will sleep and many other details about the organization. I also had to decide in which competitions I would try to put myself to such an ordeal. In the end, I chose to participate in Ravnogor 42km, Vitosha 100 (100km), Tryavna Ultra (150km) and Orehovo Ultra (52km) - respectively Ravnogor is my favorite race and I had to pay back for quitting the previous year, Vitosha 100 is similar distance (and my long-time goal) and Tryavna 150 passed him in distance, but the elevation gain was close (total ascent). I naturally postponed the organization of the trip itself for UTMB for several months, and in the end all the prices rose sharply. However, we booked the flights, hotel, transfers to the hotel with some delay and everything was ready and waiting for us. We chose to fly on the route Sofia - Geneva as the closest destination.

The preparation for UTMB 

The competitions I wanted to prepare for started to come, but I was not in enviable shape due to some gall bladder problems in recent months. The first race was Ravnogor (42km) - I returned there with a desire for revenge, because the previous year I gave up for the same health reasons. This year I managed to finish the distance, although I definitely didn't feel very well - I was in pain, but I pushed on and got through it. After about a month it was time for the Vitosha 100 - one of the races I had never attended and I couldn't wait.
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Photos belong to: 5kmrun, Pancharevo Trail/KrisoK Photography, Vitosha 100, Ravnogor Scorelauf / Dekova Photography, Tryavna Ultra/Kremena Dimitrova, Orehovo Ultra/KrisoK Photography (from up-down, from left-right)

Things didn't quite go according to plan on Vitosha. There the start is at midnight, and only after a few minutes it turned out that my steering wheel was not working. With the light from the phone and a little bit from the other participants' headlamps, I managed to get through the night. Everything was going well until I almost froze to death at Studena Dam. Even though I was wearing everything I was wearing, my body just couldn't get warm. After that I had a problem with my shoes, but in the end I finished the race. Not with the time I wanted, but without pain in the gall bladder, which was optimistic. Tryavna 150 followed - perhaps the real test that will recreate the Tour of Mont Blanc. There things were not good at all - we traveled on the day of the race and at the start I was groggy. I managed to push up to 50km. (Mt. Shipka), but I had neither the strength nor the desire to do more and ended my participation. The last race was Orehovo Ultra. We met Willy on it and it is very close to my heart, but it was only 5 days before UTMB, and the distance is 52 km with 2600 meters of ascent. I had to save my strength, and I relied mainly on walking. The race resembled a half lap of Mont Blanc in parameters and was quite challenging. I had the good company of Ivo Dimov and with songs and fun we managed to cope with the challenge. He in a little under 11 hours and I a little over. I had tired legs, but also happiness in my heart and confidence for the upcoming race.

The beautiful town of Chamonix and preparation for the race

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Left: view from our room. Middle: the view from the dinner restaurant. Right: view from the breakfast restaurant.

The trip to Chamonix did not go according to plan at all. Our flight from Sofia to Vienna was delayed, causing us to miss our flight to Geneva. They ended up putting us on an extra flight to Frankfurt and a 5 hour layover before we got to Geneva. We managed to arrive at the hotel in the evening, and it turned out to be nicer than in the pictures. We chose the Rocky Pop Hotel in Les Houches and were very impressed. The restaurant for breakfast was fabulous with a gorgeous view and the one for dinner was outside and allowed us to enjoy amazing views of the Alps. ​
Me and Mitko in the center of Chamonix.

The next day we went by bus to Chamonix to get our start numbers. Chamonix is a fairy-tale town that in those days was full of sports people and buzzing with energy. We got our packs and took a short walk, and some of the group went up to one of the glaciers above the town to have a look. We got home and I packed all the things they required in the backpack. I barely closed it, so to speak, but I did. We went downstairs for dinner and suddenly I got a bad stomach ache. Straight to the room and curled up in a ball all night (most likely gallbladder inflammation again). At 5 in the morning, with almost no sleep, I took my rucksack and went to the bus stop to take us to the start in Cormajor. A kiss from Villi and a promise to wait for me at the finish send me off.

The dream is already in action

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We arrive in Cormajor, Italy with the bus and the emotion is already starting to overwhelm me. Most of you know I don't get excited about racing, but here was something different. Great emotion, great inspiration, dancing, shouting, amazing crowd of supportive people. The starts were 3 times in groups of ~700 people. I was in the last group, and by the time the first two left, my heart was already beating fast - a mixture of excitement and worry. It was time for our start.. 3 2 1 and off we went.

Photo: UTMB Mont-Blanc
Slowly in a large group on the streets of the small Italian town. All the time we left the town there was a line of people on both sides, wheezing, ringing bells and shouting "Alleez, Allez, Bravooo". I, on the other hand, with a lump stuck in my throat and unstoppable tears, enjoyed every second. We enter a forest at the foot of the mountain and before long the path becomes single track (ie we move in a column of one). We slowly made our way up one of the steepest sections of the race - the Tête de la Tronche climb with almost 1300 meters of ascent in 10km. (that's a pretty steep climb by any standards)

Photos: UTMB Mont-Blanc
Shortly before reaching the summit, a light rain began to fall, and lightning began to be seen in the distance. I put on my jacket and slightly worried put the poles away. I get to the top and I'm already soaking wet, and at 2500+ meters it gets pretty chilly even in these warm months. My fingers are freezing and I can barely move, so I decide to run downstairs to get lower and warm up. The descent was quite steep and rocky, but I quickly reached the first point at 13km - Refuge Bertone. Upon arrival I saw a helicopter take off near the lodge and my first thought was that someone had been hurt. I was quite worried and decided to act more carefully going forward. At the hut, I stopped to recharge a little better, because I hadn't eaten since yesterday at lunch. There was soup and some biscuits - not a dream meal but not bad. We moved with Mitko to the hut, and after her I let him go ahead, because he was definitely faster than me. At that moment I tried to feel my body and its desires. I stopped for a bit on the side of the road to eat some French blueberries - not bad.

Photo: UTMB Mont-Blanc
The rain was with me again and the windbreaker jacket hardly came off my back. Until the second point, the path runs almost flat and there is no big difference in level. This allowed me to feel my body and alternate between running and walking to spare myself. My body didn't hurt, but I was a little tired. Passed the second point and began a big and steep climb. At the same time, the sun baked and made the mission even more difficult. During the last twenty kilometers, I began to notice an interesting regularity - on the descents, many people overtook me, but on the ascents, I passed them as if they had stopped. That was my strategy too - save down and push up and it seems to be working for now. I managed to reach the summit in a fairly decent time, which was about 2,600 meters, and began my descent. In nearly 10 hours I reached the point at 40 km. While eating hot soup on the TV, something unexpected happened - it turned out that the first participant of our distance finished in Chamonix. This hit me pretty hard considering I hadn't cut the half distance yet, but I knew that was what I was capable of at this point. From there, it was a descent through fabulous Alpine villages with very beautiful views and endless green meadows. Fabulously beautiful. In one of the villages in the center, children had gathered, they had a table and they had arranged glasses of water for the passers-by. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to put the steering wheel down until 53 km, and despite the already setting sun, I continued to move without lights. Before the Champex-Lac checkpoint there was a climb of about 300-400 meters within 3-4 km. Hey, this climb already seemed endless to me! The night enveloped us and the steps barely followed one another. I put on my helmet, stuck my head in the ground and said to myself "I'll get there right now", but it never came. After much struggle and what felt like an eternity of climbing, I reached the point. It was getting close to midnight and I was seriously getting sleepy. I stopped at the station for soup and a little longer rest to get fit.

Photo: UTMB Mont-Blanc
Checkpoint on the route looked like this. Plenty of benches and tables with food/liquids at the entrance.

At one point, as I was sitting at the table, I felt that I had dozed off. I did not like it! I began to seriously question whether I should continue and whether I would be able to cope. I was freezing, physically exhausted and mentally shaken. After a little internal conversation, I decided this was my year. Now or never! And if I have to fail, it will be because I gave my all. I put my long leggings under my shorts and absolutely all the clothes I had on my back. I drank two glasses of cola for quick energy and headed outside. As soon as I left the checkpoint, the cold wind hit me and slapped me hard. I wasn't ready for that. Champe-Lac seemed like a small town to me, and before long we re-entered the forest, where the temperature was much more pleasant. I quickly got to the 58km point as it was quite close and almost flat there. There is another ascent of about 600 meters in less than 5 km. I walk slowly and confidently, stopping for quick breaks. On a few of the breaks I feel myself dozing off which made me get up and move even slowly. At this stage I ran out of water for the first time, which was worrying. Before long, however, I passed a cowshed with a fountain and stopped to fill up. Shortly after, I found myself in another cowshed, a sort of mini-outpost that had been turned into a disco. Loud music, dancing, big party. But I still have a long way to go. It was very peaceful at night in my forest - the temperature was pleasant, you could see beautifully lit towns and villages in the distance, the helm illuminated pleasantly ahead, and the silence somehow recharged me. Until the point of 70 km I was moving pleasantly and calmly. I stopped there to eat and rest a bit - there was a DJ and the atmosphere was very cool. I fueled up well, filled one bottle with water and the other with cola and hit the trails. There was a serious climb of about 700 meters ahead and I wanted to have energy. I was moving well and I was ahead of quite a few people, I was moving well about an hour - an hour and a half under the control time, which gave me peace of mind. At the 80 km point, the sun had already started to appear and I entered the point with a run that corresponds to the sensations of my body. The light was very nice, but the heat was what pleased me more. And yet, when it's light, I don't feel so sleepy. My body was preparing for the new day, even though I hadn't slept in almost 2 days. After Vallorcine there was a huge climb almost sheer with winding paths up. People walking on them looked like little ants and seemed to barely move. It turned out to be even steeper than it looked, but I was excited and knew I was extremely close to the finish line. The trail wasn't exactly a trail, but rather large boulders to climb and I had to be quite careful with every step. At this stage I was moving a bit faster than I wanted, but the excitement got the better of me. I expected that when we reached the top we would start to descend towards Chamonix, but it didn't turn out that way. After we reached the highest point the path started to wind between fallen rocks (sort of like our moraines) and the walking was even more difficult. A woman next to me tripped and hurt her knee, and I was getting slower and more careful. I felt bored and a little bored with this trail. The sun was already shining brightly and sweat was pouring down my face. After about an hour I came to a sort of point that I think he had delayed by 3-4km, but hey that means it will be over faster. I take off my backpack, take off my leggings and thermal blouse, because it's already terribly hot, and I call Willy to tell her that I'm coming home to meet me in half an hour. She tells me that it took the others before me about 2 hours from there to the finish. I shout to myself: Phew, absurd. 6km - max hour. Well... it turned out that the point is really after 4km and from there I still have another 6km to the finish line. The descent to Chamonix was quite interesting on some not very wide paths swallowed up by tree roots. I wanted to run, but I was very worried about tripping over one of the many branches. At the same time there were many runners and walkers going up and encouraging us. I felt energized and it wasn't long before I was running downstairs. There was a group of runners (not from the race) coming down and I briefly ran with them. I was excited. I managed to pick up a nice pace and was going down pretty fast towards the finish. Turns, another and another. I look to my left and see volunteers, tapes.. Ha, that was fast. At the second turn I reach a bridge and see Villi standing there waiting for me. I kiss her, she greets me, but I tell her I'm in a hurry because we're chasing with some fellow runner. We're off to run to the finish line together. Me ahead, she behind me.

My bell rings tirelessly, people far away clap and encourage me. We pass through the central streets and it is already visible where the finish line is. Vili gives me the Bulgarian flag she took without telling me and I take it with me. A turn and I reach the huge crowd, and in the distance the arch. And final! Great euphoria, Villi hugs me, the friends of the other Mitko are there and congratulate me. An incredible emotion! Thank you, UTMB!
Unfortunately, it turned out that he had dropped out and was unable to finish the race.


In the end, medals were given only to the first-place finishers, but for each successful finisher they gave a vest with the inscription "Finisher". I also have a hat and a t-shirt from there, and the incredible memories of a dream that I was able to fulfill despite all the adversities, thanks to the will, grit and people who supported me in this endeavor ❤

If there's one thing I can say to you in the end and that is: "Don't stop chasing your dreams and never give up on them!"

And if you're wondering what Villi was doing while I was roaming the hills of the Alps - you can read about the fabulous Mer de Glace glacier in Chamonix here.​

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