Day 3, Part 7: The day of the Medoc Marathon, 10km to go, and all the classified chateaux suffer – 2014 Medoc Marathon Diary No.10

Click here for previous articles related to the main day of the Medoc Marathon.

メドックマラソンに関する詳細なまとめ情報は、こちらに展開する予定です。事前準備に関しては、こちらをどうぞ。

Difficult remaining 10km

I was exhausted from the heat and from drinking too much due to my strong service spirit, but somehow I passed 32km and came to the remaining 10km.

The remaining 10km, from 32km to 40km, is a northbound route along the D2, which runs north-south along the left bank of the Gironde River and is lined with classified châteaux.

However, it was a really difficult remaining 10km.

Everyone around me is running hard in the heat. I can’t lose, too.

However, it was already impossible to reach the time limit within 6 hours and 30 minutes. I gave up. But I was going to run to the end anyway. When I changed my mind like that, I felt energetic naturally.

10km to go with a series of rated châteaux

The following is the list of châteaux where we were served wine or where we took photos, although they were slightly different from the ones we knew beforehand.

32.5km Château BEYCHEVELLE
33.5km Château DUCRU-BEAUCAILLOU
35.0km Château LEOVILLE-POYFERRE
37.5km Château PICHON-LONGUEVILLE
38.3km Château FONBADET
39.5km Château LYNCH-BAGES

The following are in order.

32.5km Château BEYCHEVELLE(St-Julien,4th class)

大きな地図で見る

This is a chateau that I had very high expectations for. We had this wine during our preliminary research and fell in love with it at first sip because of its exquisite balance of astringency, acidity and sweetness.

Beychevelle is even more impressive because it’s the first chateau you see when you arrive in the Médoc, heading north from Bordeaux on the D2 road to Pauillac.

The vast grounds are also very beautiful.

However, I am already quite exhausted. We hurried ahead after a little bit of feeding wine. Honestly speaking, I didn’t have time to taste it.

By the way, I bought a magnum bottle of this wine in Bordeaux city, and it cost about 180 Euros even though it was 2005 vintage. It was easily gone at the camp of my music group the other day….

It seems that it is difficult to find a reasonable magnum bottle in Japan, even though it is a Medoc class wine, so I will buy it again there.

33.5km Château DUCRU-BEAUCAILLOU(St-Julien,2nd class)

大きな地図で見る

I’m sure I passed it, but I don’t remember it being painful anyway. Was there any wine to be paid in the first place?

I think this was probably the hardest time for me.

I don’t have many photos left, which I think further confirms how hard it was.

A little disappointed. But I had no choice. At the time of passing this chateau, I was just in such a conflict whether to try harder to run within the time limit or to give up and enjoy the wine as much as possible.

I would like to revisit this wine at some point. It’s expensive…. I think I’ll go there again because it seems to be difficult to get it from Japan.

35.0km Château LEOVILLE-POYFERRE(St-Julien,2nd class)

大きな地図で見る

LEVILLE-POYFERRE at exactly 35km.

Unlike the time of DUCRU-BEAUCAILLOU, I gave up finishing the race within the time limit once and for all, so I arrived in a much easier state mentally.

The wine here was also pre-researched, but a bit not to my liking. We ended up just tasting a sip.

It was really great to be able to pass through the grounds so sparingly. The fountain at the entrance was very impressive.

37.5km Château PICHON-LONGUEVILLE (Pauillac, 2nd growth)

大きな地図で見る

The Chateau is a lovely place, and the area is already battered.

We only had a sip of wine, which is a shame because it’s a great second growth chateau…. It is difficult to conquer it completely. I would like to have a revenge when I challenge the Medoc Marathon next time.

38.3km Château FONBADET (Oyster? huître)

This was an oyster point. I can’t remember if there was a chateau or not.

Oysters were provided as you can see, I even got about two. I don’t think it was particularly normal, but I didn’t want to eat too much because I didn’t want to have a stomach ache.

もうワインを飲む気力が低下していたので、ここに置いてあった白ワインは遠慮したのですが、一緒に参加した人曰く「ものすごく美味しかった！」とか。ううう、悔しい…。

それにしても、本当にいろいろな方、たくさんの地元の方に支えられている大会だなあと、つくづく思います。

39.5km Château LYNCH-BAGES (Pauillac, class 5)

It’s probably a wine feeder.

We’re 2.75km from the finish line!

I only took a sip of this wine as well. It was delicious, but I didn’t have the energy to drink up the portion provided. Sorry, I threw away what was left….

この直前くらいから、「そろそろ交通規制解除するよ」というプレッシャーを感じ始めます。どうやらこれが事実上の関門通過の制限時間に相当するみたいでしたので、とにかくこれにひっかっかてはいけないと、最後の力を振り絞って走ることにしました。