“A group of friends who train seriously without taking themselves seriously”. This is how Grégory Jacquet defines the Cartel running club, whose name is as quirky as its eight core members. Every week for more than two and a half years, these “regional level” Haute-Savoie athletes, aged 23 to 50, meet to run. “It started from an observation: by living in the Mont-Blanc valley, our practice was for a long time limited to trail running, notes Grégory Jacquet, who lives in Sallanches. We don’t have the culture of road athletics. We therefore wanted to set up two sessions per week on the track to improve our speed. »
The very first session brings together in the fall of 2020 Grégory Jacquet and François Lervant, then more of a swimmer than a trail runner. “We were supposed to motivate ourselves to prepare for winter crosses together, remembers this one. But in the end, that season, I participated in a cross, and Greg in none. “The adventure is launched for the two thirty-somethings, between “training for running, cycling, ski touring… and beers”, with the rapid reinforcement of Tayeb Mahi, by far the eldest of the group with his 50 years. Communications manager for the Wedze de Decathlon brand, Grégory Jacquet details the birth of the Cartel running club, whose members spend an average of ten hours a week practicing sports outdoors.
The valves and the chambers started to fuse between us, and we launched a logo and this name of Cartel. We wanted to try to share our state of mind on Instagram. People quickly embraced our hyper-authentic and spontaneous content. They identify with us. We’re not talking about performance, timing, and we’re not trying to pass for heroes. Nor are we here to play influencers by thanking partners. »
Marathon runner Hassan Chahdi as a prestigious “guest”
The Cartel running club is gradually expanding, welcoming a woman, Mathilde Talou-Derible (31), physiotherapist and sports coach. Tayeb Mahi, who only really took up trail running in 2010, takes advantage of the presence of his young partners to motivate himself. “I hang on and I hope to be an example for the little young people in the group who sometimes find false excuses not to surpass themselves”, laughs this finisher a SaintéLyon (night trail of 78 km between Saint-Etienne and Lyon), delighted to benefit from “a brilliant game environment” in the Arve valley. But also sometimes sacred guests with the Cartel like the elite marathon runner Hassan Chahdi, a native of Cluses (Haute-Savoie), and who participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
Among the big sporting adventures shared by these Haut-Savoie trail runners, there was the tour of Mont-Blanc by road bike, with 330 km traveled (8,000 m of elevation gain) in about fifteen hours, between Switzerland, Italy and France. “Leaving at 2:30 am to complete the tour in a single day was still a barbaric thing,” notes Tayeb Mahi. In comparison, the ski touring ascent of the Dômes de Miage was almost a lie in the morning, with a departure at 4 a.m. to investigate 2,500 m of D + from Les Contamines-Montjoie.
17 hours spent on skis for the 10,000 challenge
The prospect of crossing the milestone of 10,000 subscribers on Instagram then inspired a crazy challenge at the Cartel running club: try to chain 10,000 m of elevation gain in a single day of ski touring. That’s about a fifth of the total traveled each season by each of them on skis. With a municipal decree in hand from the mayor of Combloux to be authorized to ski at night on the area, the band begins their adventure on February 17 at 9:30 p.m.
The rest is monstrous: after 17 hours of skiing, plus about three hours of break, and therefore 14 climbs of 740 m of D+ surveyed, the account is good for Tayeb Mahi and Grégory Jacquet, the only two finishers of this memorable challenge. “It was a rock and roll moment, uncertain, and I retain the collective dimension, the human adventure, underlines Grégory Jacquet. We still managed to stay 14 hours with seven skiers, before some suffered too many blisters. It shows Cartel emulation. »
“As if we were invited to the Oscars ceremony”
A successful challenge that followed the recent collaboration between the Cartel running club and Adidas Terrex. Seduced by the content offered by Haut-Savoyard trail runners on social networks, the famous three-stripe brand is indeed ready to financially support their future projects. Something to think about new barred challenges, such as “a foot chase on the heights of Chamonix, with a time lead to be determined for us against the elite athletes of Adidas Terrex”, slips Grégory Jacquet. “We do not see this kind of delirium on the networks, believes the pioneer of the Cartel. And then Adidas Terrex has such a prestigious armada of runners. It’s a bit like being invited to the Oscars ceremony. On an individual level, several members of the Cartel will be present for major running meetings in 2023: Romain Champenois (24) is qualified for the French cross-country championships which will take place on Sunday in Carhaix (Finistère).
Swimrun specialist, with two participations in the essential Ötіllö in Sweden (75 kilometers to cover as a duo, including 10 km swimming), François Servant is preparing this time for his first marathon, on April 2 in Paris. For his part, Tayeb Mahi is registered on the CCC (100 km and 6,000 m of D+), on September 1 during the next Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB). “It’s a race that’s been on my mind for a long time,” he confides. I think it’s the right time, the year of my 50th birthday, to take the plunge. I’m counting on my friends to be there when I get tough on the race. Tayeb didn’t even need to ask. The seven other members of the Cartel running club have signed up for the MCC (40 km), which will link Martigny-Combe (Switzerland) and Chamonix four days earlier. They planned to stay in Chamonix afterwards in order to help the neo-quinqua with all its supplies. And the Cartel running club would not fail to celebrate (with a beer) the first 100 km of its eldest for anything in the world.