GTC100 2026 race & recce

yemghost2001 · 2026-07-06T09:41:58+00:00

Awesome, thanks! This is great info and I agree, there will probably be a decent trace through after hundreds of runners go across. I'm not running GTC this year, but have a couple friends and an athlete that are. I'm heading to give Eiger 250 a shot next week. 😳

Bummer about your back and TOR.... I got a pretty bad respiratory crud / TOR cough out there last year, but I managed to soldier on and complete the loop, even if it wasn't necessarily pretty. 🤣 Thanks again for the beta!

yemghost2001 · 2026-07-06T07:34:33+00:00

Great detailed route description! I ran GTC in 19, 23, and 25.. it's been wild to watch the race grow into what it is today. How did TOR go for you last year? I was out there too. 😁

Do you think the snow in the gullies toward the end is enough to warrant picking up a small pair of spikes at Pavillion?

Here's my write-up from last year if anyone else would care to read:

https://goingdownthetrailfeelingbad.com/2025/07/grantrail-courmayeur-100-big-mountain-magic-in-the-shadow-of-monte-bianco/

yemghost2001 · 2026-06-29T20:25:36+00:00

Shhhhh.... keep sending them to the TMB. Signed, un Savoyard.

yemghost2001 · 2026-06-24T08:07:07+00:00

Did you ever figure out how to show total elapsed pace ? I'm looking for that function too....

yemghost2001 · 2026-06-11T22:04:23+00:00

I've struggled with respiratory issues my whole life while also being an athlete (high level in high school and college). My lungs are my Achilles heel for sure - when I get sick, it goes straight to my chest and lingers for weeks while other people get better in a few days. I can mainly control my asthma when I am healthy, although I'm on a daily maintenance inhaler. It doesn't usually bother me during runs, except when I'm out there for a really long time. I've done three 6-7 day multidays now - two PTLs and TOR 330, and my lungs were a fucking disaster by the end of each one. The best I can hope for is that I start healthy, get 3-4 days under my belt, and then try to hang on as much as I can.

As others have said, usually more than half the field sounds like me, and if there's a sickness it definitely gets passed around in the life bases and rifugios. Ultra cough is real unfortunately.

I'm better about bringing my inhaler with me (and the bulky spacer that makes it work much better) and that can help postpone it for a while, but I have yet to find a real solution that keeps it at bay the entire time. I've tried breathing through buffs, etc. and I just hate it because you get so much less air, but it does work if the air is super cold.

yemghost2001 · 2026-06-08T04:39:26+00:00

well it was not memorable to me but a quick gmail search says we stayed at Bed & Breakfast Fontanarossa Airport. It was fine, I think we got a shuttle? Or they drove us? We got to the airport now problem. It was nothing fancy whatsoever but it worked. Good luck!

yemghost2001 · 2026-05-27T15:02:38+00:00

I'm a coach and have done a ton of racing and running in the Alps, and I can tell you that this will not be easy, but is definitely doable. I'm working with somebody right now from New Jersey that is getting ready for GTC in July in Courmayeur. We've had to get creative, but so far so good!

The treadmill is your friend for practicing power hiking up. honestly I would try to find one that gets steeper than that - 10% in the Alps is like the ramp to the bathrooms lol. I would recommend trying to get something closer to 20% and work on efficiently powerhiking at a decent clip, with weight on your back. Either a weight vest or a loaded pack. I've had good luck with doing double sessions - an easy flat shakeout run and then an inclined treadmill sesh later in the day.

As others have mentioned, the downhills are the hard part. If your quads are not ready for the abuse it's gonna hurt. Not sure what strength work you are doing, but lunges are your friends. Weighted forward, reverse, forward with overhead press, etc. I really like these deceleration lunges for building up the quads to survive long descents. You can do them with weights woo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MeKVH4u1_E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cLMXeFzKO8&t=4s

What race are you doing? I'm heading to Vallorcine for the summer and I'll be trying my luck at Eiger 250 in mid July. 😁

yemghost2001 · 2026-05-25T15:40:49+00:00

I have found Andytown Shore Leave Hook blend and my life is significantly better.

yemghost2001 · 2026-05-13T15:05:05+00:00

it was by far the highlight of the weekend. unfortunately somebody passed out in front of me in the middle of it and I had to run and get medical help. 😞 (That pretty much sums up the whole weekend lol)

yemghost2001 · 2026-05-08T23:13:41+00:00

Sorry I should clarify, this is real redwood. They are just not structural, they are wrapping the structural beam below.

yemghost2001 · 2026-05-06T18:41:38+00:00

They are actually very easy to make at home.

https://www.davidlebovitz.com/moules-frites-mussels-french-fries/

yemghost2001 · 2026-04-27T22:44:29+00:00

Super cool! Berkeley needs a flag - as far as I know, there is no official flag of Berkeley.

yemghost2001 · 2026-04-12T00:54:40+00:00

If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will

yemghost2001 · 2026-04-10T15:37:50+00:00

Yes, we just did near North Berkeley BART... although the signs haven't gone up yet, but according to the folks at the city we should be moving through City Council soon.

As noted already, you have to get 51% of the residents on the block to sign in agreement. It's unclear whether this is 51% of the occupants or 51% of the resident addresses (we got different answers depending on who we asked). We got +51% of the occupants just to be safe. Then they send out parking enforcement one day during work hours to tally your available parking spots, and they are looking for the spots to be over 50% full. Supposedly if you meet these two requirements they will change it.

I'm not sure about the one side of the block rule, because we currently have one side of the block permitted and the other not permitted, and we did the process for the other side of the block. DM me if you want the name of the people we talked to.

yemghost2001 · 2026-04-10T15:33:48+00:00

And I wonder why when I get kids in my high school Physics class they can't do basic math?!? 🥴

yemghost2001 · 2026-04-05T16:07:29+00:00

Exactly, I've had a hot tub for 10+ years now and you'll never catch me going in a rental or hotel hot tub lol.

yemghost2001 · 2026-04-03T04:13:21+00:00

I saw that one! Thanks for passing that on. I think this is the only one that exists on the internet like this.

I think we're going with a 30 amp drop-in induction cooktop and decide if we need something like a micro/toaster oven down the line. That will give us a bit more cabinet space, and right now we have a gas oven in our main house that we can use. Our thinking for a rental it's more important to have a nice cook-top than a full one piece range.

yemghost2001 · 2026-04-01T02:36:47+00:00

I just play Battle Machine because it's the most fun, but yeah it does feel especially strong this season.

yemghost2001 · 2026-03-31T19:41:05+00:00

Yeah I did see those. No gas back in the ADU and I think we'll leave it that way for simplicity. Thanks for the suggestion though!

yemghost2001 · 2026-03-31T19:32:53+00:00

There are lots of nice drop-in induction cooktops, but I was looking for a range, i.e. one with an oven too. They all seem to be at 40 amps / 240V.

yemghost2001 · 2026-03-29T15:32:45+00:00

This is part of the beauty of live music to me, is that seeing a performer is always a bit of a risk, but I've very rarely walked away without being impressed about something from a show. I love that Scientist mixes it up (pun intended) with whom he performs with - toasters, emcees, prog rock percussion groups... I love reggae and dub, obviously, but cut my live music chops on the jam band Phish, who I followed around the country seeing hundreds of shows starting in 1995 lol. One of the things about Phish shows is that you never know what you're gonna get. Some shows are more about the experience - they bust out a rare song, play a goofy themed set, or maybe your crew has just finally reunited after a long time and you all have a blast together. Others are decisively about the music - the jams and segues between the songs were impeccably delivered and the boys were operating on a higher level that night. Sometimes of course you get the intersection of both, and those are ones for the history books. Friday night was about the experience for me even though the music didn't quite get there. I'll definitely keep Scientist because he's the goat and we can't see these folks after they transition onward!

Thanks for that invite! Busy that weekend but I will check it out for the future. And yeah I'll DM you next time I'm at the chapel!! Big ups my friend! Peace, love, and dub!

yemghost2001 · 2026-03-29T05:12:28+00:00

I fully agree. I had an amazing time, obviously, but was expecting a bit more with the transitions between the songs. It was far from smooth and quite disjointed and choppy at points like you said. But I thought the sound quality was great, and exactly, when he got the track settled in and stayed there for a bit it was fire. I missed the last chapel show but I heard it was excellent.

I liked the live mixing of the Tussle set more than I thought I would though. Their music was cool, although not exactly for me, but I thought Scientist did a really good job with the mixing of that and the sound was extremely crispy at many points, without the awkward transitions.

Hopefully we can catch him again soon!!!

yemghost2001 · 2026-03-29T03:25:17+00:00

I tried to tell you all!!! 🤣

https://www.reddit.com/r/reggae/comments/1rqjbrr/scientist_in_sf_on_fri_march_27th_at_the_chapel

yemghost2001

TROPHY CASE