Nord Trail Monts de Flandres is a classic race in the cross-border region Pays des Monts - Heuvelland in Northern France and West-Flanders. I’ve had it on my radar since 2020, and decided to use it as a training-race in my preparation for Oslo Bergen Trail.
I don’t run real races that often. But now and then, it’s fun to do. The disadvantage is that there can be a lot of people on the trails, and loads of noise. Both of which can lead to a lesser bathed in nature experience, which is something I seek while trailrunning. But on the other hand, a race helps me to push myself harder, which is also something I need from time to time.
My 5 weeks preparation consisted of a mix of tempo runs (1x/week), hill repeats (2x/week) and longer runs (1x/week).
Here’s my race report:
02:00
The start signal is given.
A chilly wind blows from the NE, but the promised rain isn’t there yet.
There we go, out of the village of Saint-Jans-Cappel and up Mont Noir, the first ascent of the day.
As I was at the starting line about 25 minutes early, I am running rather at the front.
Half way up the climb, we are met by the first carnival band of the day: music and dancing ladies in clothes adorned with glowsticks.
The North of France is known for their carnival traditions.
02:30
At the start of the first climb of Mont des Cats, I look behind me to see a swaying string of head torch lights.
There are 256 runners for the 115km race, all strung out over about 2km.
03:27
Climbed Mont des Cats for the second time. I feel strong and everything is going great.
I am still near some other runners, but we sometimes have a bit of trouble navigating the course.
There are 2 kind of course markers: fixed arrows with a very small reflectory square and loose hanging ribbons with the same reflectory square.
The course marking strategy is not the same at each intersection.
Sometimes there is an arrow before the intersection, with a ribbon after it.
But other times there is only an arrow on the intersection, or a ribbon after the intersection.
It seems as if the effectiveness of the markings has not been tested in the dark.
03:44
First of 7 support points.
This is a reason why, in my mind, this race seemed like an easy race: there are support points every ~15km.
I top off my flask containing only water and continue.
This section doesn’t have any real ascents.
The pace is high.
We advance over rural paths between fields and meadows, and streets.
05:11
I enter the Brasserie 3 Monts in Saint-Sylvestre-Cappel, where the second support point is located.
There is an assortment of salty and sweet snacks.
I eat salami and cheese and some TUC cookies.
One of the volunteers has some open 75cl bottles of 3 Monts in front of him, and asks whether I would like some of the beer.
I thank him, but fill my cup with water.
05:15
The course continues through the brewery.
That’s a nice touch.
Next are multiple ascents of Mont Cassel, on whoms top lays the town of Cassel.
Up Mont des Récollets, down a bit and then the first ascent of Mont Cassel.
This is the first ascent I mainly hike.
06:00
Down, up, down, and up again to the summit of Mont Cassel.
I take my breath at the top, look at the ancient wind mill and the foggy view.
The weather is grey and the air humid, but it isn’t raining yet.
I am having fun.
06:20
Down, up, down, and up again for the second complete ascent.
And another support point, where I top up my flasks again.
In the meantime I have turned off my head torch.
07:00
At the top of the third complete ascent of Mont Cassel, I have a nice view over the plains to the east, illuminated by the sun who just cleared the horizon.
As always, seeing the sun gives me a boost of energy.
I descent down to the plain together with two other runners, and leave them behind a bit later.
The pack has thinned to the point where I run the rest of this section alone.
07:10
The rest of this section is mainly flat and has a lot of paved and asphalted streets.
It starts raining. I put on my light rain jacket.
07:36
I start to feel some cramps and rumblings in my intestines.
I skip one snacking moment and eat only some Haribo Roulette.
The problems don’t bother me too much most of the time, and I continue to move.
I am a bit too hot in my jacket, so I take it off.
My clothes are wet anyway, as the jacket is no longer waterproof.
08:12
Piet has fixed the Ferrett issues, so from now on people at home can follow me and send me messages.
I promptly get an encouraging message of my eldest son, Torben ❤.
A bit later I am at the support point, time for a sanitary stop!
08:26
In the town of Eecke, I miss a course marker at two different occasions, running up and down streets to get back to the last marker and set out again from there.
After that we have another long stretch of almost flat course, and too much on roads for my taste.
This whole loop from Mont des Cats to Mont Cassel and back really has to much concrete and asphalt.
On the up side: in every village or town we pass, there are one or more carnival groups standing along the course.
They are dressed in traditional clothes or in some funny theme.
They have radios or make music themselves.
Some of the groups have a giant, which is another typical Flemish tradition.
I make small dancing moves when I pass by.
We are joined by the runners of the 80km and 59km events, so there’s a bit more people around me.
09:13
We are back on the flanks of Mont des Cats, for some elevation gain.
And finally some good stretches of mud, thanks to the rain.
Also thanks to the rain and to the chilly wind, I am a bit cold.
I noticed that only later on.
I should have put my jacket back on, but I was running together with different other runners, chatting away.
09:37
We are passed by the lead runners of the 42km event.
Man, are they running fast!
09:53
At the support point of Moulin de Bouschèpe, I take the time to warm up again, eat well and refill my flasks.
I also dry my phone as good as possible -I still had a somewhat dry buff in my pack-, to be able to send some messages home.
Before setting off again, I put on my wet jacket over my drenched clothes.
This won’t help much against the rain, but it will keep me a bit warmer.
10:30
I see the outlines of Mont Noir and Rode Berg in the distance.
I am in high spirits.
I feel like I am still moving forward at a good pace.
This is a beautiful place to run.
I am having fun.
I only see runners from other distances around me.
At that moment I hadn’t looked at the temporary results, so had no idea I was running so far at the front.
10:56
I hear the music of the support point at the parking lot of Kosmos, on the Rode Berg, but there are still 3 ascents of Rode Berg before me.
I set a hard hiking pace uphill.
On the downhills, my left knee starts to hurt.
When it’s steep, the pain is so much, that I make only small steps with my left foot and larger stept with my right foot.
Luckily I don’t feel anything in the ascents, so there I can keep pushing.
Coincidently, at that moment, my buddy Piet sent me the following message, which made me laugh out loud.
PAIN IS BREAD.
11:14
It has finally stopped raining.
I stop to make a picture of the bluebells on the hill flank, and to put my jacket away.
11:36
I am at the Kosmos.
There is a “resting area” in the support point, with comfortable looking transat seats.
But they are a trap, and I know it.
So I decide not to sit in one of them.
11:40
I set out of the support point, and it starts raining again.
I stop to put my -still wet- jacket back on.
From here on the smaller distance runners have left us, and we remain only with the runners of 115km and 80km events.
This means less people around me again.
Next hill to ascent is Scherpenberg.
I feel fatigue taking over, and slow down in the ascent.
12:03
Next follows a long, almost straight, stretch of street.
I am overtaken by another runner and decide to hook my wagon onto his.
I remain in his wake, am able to maintain his pace.
This helps me a lot for this stretch.
When reaching the first slopes of Kemmelberg, I thank him for the service.
It stopped raining again, so I put my jacket back in my pack.
12:23
First ascent of Kemmelberg is done.
The next support point shouldn’t be too far now.
These last couple of kilometers are hard.
In the support point at the Castle of Warrande on the Kemmelberg, I gather a small pile of food and set myself on a bench for some minutes, my feet floating in the air.
My legs are sore, my left knee hurts in the downhills and over the last kms, the outer edge of my right foot started to hurt too.
12:52
This race is not going to end itself by me sitting on my bum.
It’s time to get going again, for the final section towards the finish line.
I need some time to get upto speed again.
I run together with another flemish runner for some time and we chat a bit.
The views from the flanks of Kemmelberg are beautiful, even if the weather is still grey.
13:36
It feels like my tank is emptied to the bottom.
I slow down and start to struggle a bit.
There’s still 12km to go to the finish line.
But I want to finish this, and I want to finish this in beauty.
14:20
At the top of Rode Berg, we are joined with runners of all distances again.
When other runners see the color of my race bib, they give me comments of encouragement and respect for what I have already covered.
This gives me some strength.
I dig deep into my reserves.
I start to chant one of my favorite meditation mantras out loud.
I am the light of my soul, I am beautiful, I am bountiful, I am bliss!
I pick up the pace. There I go again, to the finish line! I feel strong again. I jog or powerhike uphill and run downhill, even if my left knee hurts.
14:55
Into the village of Saint-Jans-Cappel.
There are a lot of people at the sides of the road, calling out, congratulating the runners.
I feel exhalted.
On the final stretch to the finish line, I reach out both arms to high-five the people I pass.
15:05
It’s done!
I feel happy, I feel proud of what I did.
I learn that I finished 18th of the 256 participants!
Whoa, I had never imagined that I was so far at the front.
GAP = Gradient Adjusted Pace = the pace at which I would have run the same distance without the elevation gain. ↩
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