For the loopy selection, the XTerra Tahiti Trail exists. We have been warned that when a chance arises to grab it – and on the similar time inform a narrative – we should always by no means let it go. But we have been additionally promised ” unhealthy hours », « boul trick “. Guarantee: the warmth, the humidity within the air (about 80%), the evening and the unhealthy know-how of the route made this legend a problem for 2024, though we have been assured that the race could be ” utterly clean “. Of course, we’re nonetheless wanting. In this Night of Routes (4 codecs this 12 months: 27k, 50k, 75k and 100k supplied), the assembly was given as a practice in Moorea, an island reverse Tahiti, on the seashore with probably the most lovely white sand in Tahiamanu and the blue harbor. Until till now, it was paradise. We will quickly be disillusioned.
Friday, at 7:30 pm 500 runners gathered underneath the coconut bushes for a lesson earlier than the beginning of the whistle at 8:00 pm (Saturday at 8 am in France). Unlike different years, the organizers fulfilled an previous dream by organizing this four-night race. It is a superb problem along with understanding that the route of the routes which might be closed to the general public all 12 months spherical – as a result of they go by non-public land – is already very difficult. So why add problem to working at evening? ” It’s quite simpleexplains Serge Leprince, vice chairman of the organizing physique VSOP. The full moon was on May 23 and 24, with the very best gentle of the 12 months. So we could not miss that. »
Barkley’s tropical perfume
And an actual concept was put in place: if all of the runners began collectively, everybody had the selection throughout the race to decide on their distance in response to their situation, and their stage of feeling and motivation. A sort of forgotten Barkley within the tropics, XTerra can depend on nearly 100 volunteers but in addition forty troopers who’ve gathered all through the evening and are scattered all through the routes. For six months, a couple of times every week, volunteers have spent their time and vitality to construct tracks and mark trails by this dense mountain forest, to say the least.
Patrick Montel as a visitor
Before leaving, the visitor spoke on the microphone after the essential organizer Jean-Michel Monot and the hearth dance present. It is none aside from Patrick Montel, the sponsor of this seventeenth version. ” This is the life I want to reside in actualitythe previous sports activities reporter of France Télévisions advised us emotionally two minutes earlier than the beginning, sporting a “Radio Montel” t-shirt. You are driving at 60 km/h, folks greet you, they’re good and really good. »
At 8:00 pm, the military of lights took the tarmac of the one street on the island, underneath the encouragement of some folks watching and about 1.5 km. Then, we flip rapidly to the correct on a small path earlier than the actual enemy. The warmth may be very shiny, the humidity is the worst burden on the physique. After solely 3 km, the t-shirts are sweaty, just like the brow and shortly the shorts. After 5 hundred meters, a protracted rope was put in to climb up and down the very steep gap. In whole, ten cables have been put in to go the best levels. Running, strolling rather a lot but in addition climbing, so.
A runner in sandals
The land is dry, very slippery. Small waterfalls preserve coming – clearly we’re not secure. Every step is a lure, the bottom is filled with stones and numerous roots. We run and stroll on scorching coals. And mud swirls within the air, greater than sweat drops, beads within the ambiance. If we dare to lift our heads, the “full moon” is a fantasy. Endless and difficult, the primary large climb is already calming the spirits. In this tribe, in single file, we meet a courageous (or unconscious) one that had the braveness to enter this hell with white seashore sandals. A present to the Raramuris of the Sierra Tarahumara canyons in Mexico? Great braveness.
Rivers to cross
The technical nature of the path requires you to stroll rather a lot, much more. And even within the second hour, the cardio skyrockets. You have to be armed. At km 10 and 17, water. A blessed hole. Then we cross a number of rivers. We are soaked, from head to toe. During the final third of the race, the gaps slender and we discover ourselves alone within the center, for nearly an hour, crossing this forest with our our bodies typically staggering like zombies. There is human heat: all through the course, volunteers and troopers encourage all of the runners, with their singing voice. ” Compete! »(Good luck in Tahitian).
Despite this, the final kilometers look like an eternity, between a number of technical and exhausting climbs. Even a discount is a shadow of slowness. But the final two kilometers are very clean. Hallelujah! A protracted descent between the homes offers us a breath of contemporary air earlier than we get again on the street, 1 kilometer earlier than the end line, underneath the blue arch and the crimson carpet. The Cannes competition, which has simply launched its award, has no energy to dominate and that is for the very best. Under the golden palm bushes, our timer reveals 5h14 on this historic 27 km (1250 m D+). Sitting underneath the massive barnum, cup in hand, physique sporting tatters, haggard look, one query: will I’m going again? It’s scorching, I’m undecided…