"Girona is a city of sports, I find a lot of inspiration there, a very cool community has been created", comments Christian Meier, the former Canadian cyclist who has successfully crossed over to the world of ultra trail riding. Meier was proclaimed winner last week in Chamonix of the TDS, one of the most demanding tests of the Ultra Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) galaxy. The Girona-based athlete invested 19h36m35s in covering the 153.5 kilometres, with a positive difference of 9,316 metres, of the wild alpine race, which in the current edition was even tougher due to the snow, cold and low visibility.
Meier, 38, is mentally hardened by his experience as a cyclist, an advantage in this type of challenge in which physical preparation is as important as the head.
"I started in this sport in 2020, when due to the covid pandemic we did not leave after the municipal area, I had little travel by bike, so I dedicated myself to running and I was hooked. Before I did not run, the coaches of the professional teams cycling clubs don't want us to do other things to avoid injuries", he says in Chamonix, after his well-known and long-suffering victory. "My goal -he adds- was to finish, this has been my longest race, but I was training with high-level friends with a lot of experience, like Scotty Hawker, from New Zealand, who settled in Europe for two months to prepare for the UTMB ". Hawker finished fifteenth in the UTMB (171 km and 10,000 meters of positive elevation gain), which was won by American Jim Walmsley.
A total of 1,649 runners left Courmayeur (Italy) at midnight from Monday to Tuesday, but only 998 could reach the finish line in Chamonix (France), 60.5%. The planned route had to be slightly modified due to adverse weather, which added an additional 8.5 kilometers to the 145 planned. "We went down to zero degrees, the visibility was one meter, there was a lot of snow on the climbs, but I was able to do my race and keep up with my rhythm. In these tests it is very easy for you to pass because there is a lot of emotion. The truth is that not I had downturns, I stopped at the aid stations, ate well, I went from second to first at 100 kilometers, and so on until the end. From Les Houches to Chamonix I suffered, but I had a sufficient advantage", he comments. Meier took 21 minutes from the second classified, the Swede Simen Hjalmar Wästlund.
Meier left professional cycling in 2016, at the age of 31, after participating in the Tour de France, the Giro and the Vuelta a España, as well as being Canadian road champion in 2008, among other titles. He arrived in Girona in 2008, when he was part of the American Garmin-Slipstream team, and shortly before his "retirement" from cycling he rode with his partner, Amber, his first specialty coffee shop, La Fabrica, which he has followed Espresso Mafia and a specialty store on the trail, Overland. He says that Girona has captivated them, that they have everything they are looking for there, that its location is perfect and, now, that the love for trail running that is breathed in the city is a plus.
"I dedicate myself to running almost professionally, I like training, I like the lifestyle, getting the best out of myself, I still want to suffer, just like with cycling, this is something that does not change. I train between 15 and 20 hours a week, I go out to Gavarres, I also go to Vallter, to Núria...", he explains. He believes that the transition from cyclist to runner is more difficult than vice versa, "because of the greater impact" that this sport has. "In my first 20-kilometer race, in 2020, I thought it was the hardest thing of my life, the descents are not like on the bike, but I really liked it, I finished in the top ten. I have an engine, but muscularly it is difficult for me At the beginning I had knee injuries, ankle injuries, almost the whole body, and you realize how important patience is."
Her move to long distance was fast and partly to blame is Núria Picas, the 2017 UTMB winner. "The video of her reaching the finish line so tired but so happy is exciting, it hooked and inspired me." In 2021 she finished in fourteenth position in the Ultrapirineu (100 km), the same year that Kilian Jornet won it for the third time. And since then she hasn't stopped.
