Challenge Accepted!

So… I did a thing. Again.

Some people collect stamps, others collect medals. Apparently, I collect unfinished business. Case in point: SWISSMAN. Case two: SaintéLyon.

Let me explain.

Years ago, I signed up for LyonSaintéLyon, the aller-retour ultra beast, because I wanted to gain UTMB points. Ambitious? Yes. Wise? Not exactly. I wasn’t fit enough, so I scaled down to the regular SaintéLyon, thinking that would be manageable. Spoiler: it wasn’t. I still didn’t finish.

Why? Because that race came just after the Transalpine Run in September. A fantastic experience, but it left me absolutely cooked. I was so drained that I barely trained between TAR and SaintéLyon—I managed just one longer run in that whole gap. Unsurprisingly, the December night run ended in a DNF.

Fast forward to now. Registration for the regular 2025 edition? Full. Gone. Sold out. Zut alors.

But! I didn’t give up. I did what any reasonable, responsible endurance enthusiast with a sense of nostalgia (and perhaps mild FOMO) would do: I joined the waitlist for the regular race, and, just to be safe, I signed up for the SaintExpress, the „short“ version.

Because why not run 45 km through the night in December, right? Lyon, after all, holds a special place in my heart. It was the first city my wife and I visited together. There’s history there, and apparently unfinished racing business too.

Also, let’s take a moment to appreciate my newfound wisdom and restraint: I did not sign up for LyonSaintéLyon this time. Yes, you read that right. Growth. Maturity.

And now? We wait. For SWISSMAN. For the SaintéLyon waitlist. For better decisions (maybe).

Unfinished business? Challenge accepted. Again.