"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own" Sri Chinmoy
Mont St Baudile - Hill Walk - May 2026 - South of France
My prep for the Mount Olympus Marathon was going well, with 2 years spent qualifying and training, a few setbacks which I overcame, and then in a moment it was all changed.On a long training run through the fields near Long Ashton, I turned to close a gate behind me, turned back around, and bam - torn medial meniscus in my right knee. So, Olympus is off, running itself is off, and I am back on the familiar road of rehab. That was in March and over the succeeding weeks I set myself back to square one and had to start all over again (after practicing CPR, kneeling, on a first aid course). The pain was acute at times, enough to wake me up in the night with the nerves in my knee screaming, but with T-day 2 months behind me now, things are starting to ease.
Although running has been impossible, walking hasn't been too bad. I had an hour or two to fill after picking up a hire-car in Montpellier and decided to find a modest hill to hike up - after all, rehab usually involves staying active rather than total rest. Scouring the map for a hill that was worthy of the name without being too big or too steep, I spotted the small conical outlier of Mont St Baudile.
I parked on a gravel pull-in at the foot of the hill, found the end of the trail and began my brisk trek through the scrub. The morning was cool but the sun was beautifully bright as I picked my way along a stony path that wound towards the lower slopes. Soon I was climbing on a loose trail, with just a couple of hill runners for company and the rest of Occitanie seemingly asleep. I heard a tuneful bird singing in the bushes and Merlin app told me it was a nightingale. Overhead, birds were circling in the still, summer air. I was overdressed really, something I tend to do when I'm injured to stop myself going quickly to stay warm, but I was enjoying the mild morning air and the solitude. After 24 minutes I was at the hilltop chapel of St Baudile, named for a local third-century saint, enjoying the views out over the sea and inland towards the Masif Central.
It was 23 minutes for the return journey, making it a 47 minute hike in total. As my last serious hike was 46 miles, that's quite a recalibration! Still, I was seeing the positives and feeling grateful that despite the injury I was still able to get out there and break a sweat, walk up a modest hill and take in the views. Max elevation on Garmin was 590' so I'll aim to build towards a 1000' hill and then hopefully beyond. I've always managed to restart running, even after some quite nasty injuries. This one feels more serious, and the battle against negative thoughts is harder than before, but that's the earth-plane for you. There is always uncertainty - but that can be a good thing.
Mount Olympus may never happen, if it does it will probably be years rather than months before I am ready to requalify, but I had an amazing experience training for it and this change of circumstances is teaching me something I definitely need to learn - patience.
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