It's not without a little pinch in the heart that I follow the UTMB races this year. When Mike, Börkur and Jez will leave Chamonix tonight with the hope to finish or win the UTMB, I'll still be sitting behind my computer, in the middle of grey-sky London. After 3 consecutive participations, it's hard to give up on this nearly mythical race, featuring a new 850m ascent at the very end this year.

This feeling arose when I started to follow Mark on the Petite Trotte à Léon (220km, 17,000m ascent, 100 hours limit, teams of 3) on Google Earth. You can monitor the progress of every team in real time. Google Earth gives you an idea on how amazing some scenery must be - and how hard this route must be. Maybe next year...

Ultra not where it's at.