Picture this: You’re swimming through high-altitude lakes, scaling up walls next to waterfalls and climbing an A-frame for the most scenic view in France.

This. My friends. Is what the Spartan race in Morzine looks like. And I’ve got major FOMO this week.

Check out this quick 2min clip from Spartan France 2 years back on this course and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

It’s not in English, but it’s all good. Because the videography speaks for itself in this one.

About the Event:

This Friday, July 5th. Athletes will be taking on a 50-kilometer Spartan Ultra race with 60+ obstacles.

Taking place in the French Alps, this place is as picturesque as it is punishing. Looking at the prior year Ultra course, athletes started at about 3k altitude, which should be reasonable for all of us. But climbs to over 6,400ft in altitude. Which means. LOTS of climbing. And getting up high enough where flatlanders might start feeling some effects of that thin air. But, if you’re in the US and have been taking part in Spartan US’s National Series, this isn’t a big deal. As Big Bear and Utah are pushing above 8k ft altitude.

And how about that Elevation Gain?!?!
Per Spartan France’s map, they are showing 3,360 of gain, or 11K ft.
That might be accurate. But be ready for anything. As prior year Ultra results are in the 12.5K ft range.

So for those of us in North America. What’s this race similar to?

We were curious.

We did a review of 2023 Ultra Races in US/Canada a few months back and made a fancy chart. We wanted to see where Morzine would fall in. So we took 2023 Morzine data adjusted our pretty chart, and this is what we now have.

In looking at the fastest time and average completion time (Age Group & Open Waves finish times used), we have it just a little tougher than the 2023 New Jersey Ultra and just under Mont-Tremblant and Killington.

This seems to make sense. New Jersey has about 10.6K ft of elevation gain, just a little under Morzine. And terrain… it appears to be fairly similar.

Do you agree?!?! Let us know!

Prepping for the Race:

Looking at prior year results. High 6 and low 7hours for men and high 7 and low 8hours for women should give you a real podium shot. But for most racers. It’ll be a 10-14 hour day.

So how should you prepare for something like this?
We checked in with a few racers heading out there to see what they’ve been up to.

Training Blocks:

Jared Franciosa & Hannah Franciosa are heading to Morzine and have been focused on this event most of the year.

In the months leading up, Jared tells us about his training.

“I worked on trying to build up as much durability as possible for the higher mileage/vert because I’m typically a low mileage athlete (40’ish mile weeks)… I would hit around 1,500-2,500ft of vert on runs. Doing lots of hill repeats and uphill carry work…. just trying to chase as much volume and vert my body could handle”

Hannah’s training was similar, where a huge focus was on vert and climbing. She tells us.

“I tried to chase as much vert as possible during runs and hitting quality efforts hard and easy efforts easy…. lots of uphill and uphill carry work. I’ve also been doing a lot of the little things, like glute exercises, mobility work, etc.”

Maggie Virtanen, an OCR athlete in Stockholm, was on the Ultra course last year, but encountered an injury and was forced to drop out. Coming back for unfinished business she tells us her big “A” races of the year are Morzine and Sparta and as for training,

“I’ve increased my weekly mileage, on key weeks doing +50 miles. Along with a lot of hill work on the agenda.”

What do all three of these athletes have in common?!

HILLS.
Climbing, Vert, Uphill work. Whatever you want to call it. Prepare yourself for those Mountains!

The Peak Workout:

Doing a “peak workout”, or a “simulation run” is a crucial part of the training cycle for endurance events. It serves several purposes:

• Designed to be the longest and most challenging workout of the training cycle and should simulate race-day conditions as closely as possible.
• It will help gauge your fitness level and preparedness for the upcoming event.
• It builds confidence, and
• It allows you to test nutrition, hydration and gear under race-like conditions.

Abby Lock gave us a deep dive on R2R2R training earlier this year and talked about the “Peak Training Volume” week. Saying how this should occur “4-5 weeks out from the targeted R2R2R date”. That R2R2R canyon adventure tends to be a 12–16-hour effort. Fairly close to the average completion time on Spartan Ultra’s.

Checking back in with Jared. What do those peak workouts look like?

“I did a split double day about a month ago with 12 by 1/4mile repeats in the morning, followed by a 3hr trail run in the afternoon. I was surprised at how good I felt, even in that last hour of the 3-hour effort. It reminded me I need to stay on top of nutrition, hydration and salt intake to keep the body moving.”

Hannah told us she was working through some minor injuries. The plan would have been similar to Jared’s, but instead she just did the afternoon long run for 3.5hours on the longest steepest climb she could find. And that she’s been more focused on nutrition this year on long runs which has played a huge part in how she’s felt during runs.

Tapering:

Tapering is key.
Just chill out a bit.
Decrease your volume and intensity a little.
And let your body recovery so it’s ready to crush on race day.

For Jared, he’s been gradually decreasing total mileage and making a transition into more compromised uphill running and OCR work. As well as keeping hydration and nutrition in check.

Hannah’s taper starts after that peak run and she tells us.

“my long runs each weekend cut down by 30minutes. So 3.5 hours, then 3hours, 2.5hours” Along with, “during the week, the volume has been cut back by a few miles and doing one day of cross training instead of running. Trying to get lots of sleep, take naps when I can, and just trying to eat clean and eat enough.”

Race Day:

There’s a lot to be ready for out here. But there’s also a lot of excitement and enjoyment to come as athletes step out on this course.

Jared & Hannah tell us they’re most excited about the views and visiting a country they’ve never been to.

And Maggie who was here last year says.

“I’m looking forward to the swim in the lake! And hope for a cloudless sky so I can see Mount Blanc from top of the Pointe de Nyone.”

Per Spartan France socials, it looks like Live Coverage might be happening for this Championship event. Check out their YouTube channel to find out more.

I don’t know about you. But after seeing and hearing about this location and course, I’ve got a real itch to sign up for this one next year.

Who’s with me?!?!