By shifting its six events by one week (from 10 to 90 km), the Mont-Blanc Marathon will be able to pass, on July 2, 3 and 4, from 500 to around 8,000 participants. Enough to understand why this emblematic trail race in Haute-Savoie had every interest in taking place in July, a key month in the deconfinement of sports outdoor. “We sailed on sight for a long time,” says organizer Fred Comte. We felt that the easiest way would have been to cancel this edition as in 2020, but it was not conceivable for us. We are fans of this race and we want to promote our territory. “
From Friday to Sunday, the 8,000 runners entered (out of the usual 10,000 bibs), divided into three waves, will thus enjoy the first French race of such a scale since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Only 20% of people registered from October 2020 chose to cancel due to the date change.
“The organizational conditions remain very vague”
Exceptionally, there will certainly be no departure in the city center of Chamonix, nor passage through Switzerland during the course, but the trail world has been riveted for many weeks towards this date of July 2 in the Alps. After having also canceled its 2020 edition, the Maxi-Race in Annecy, which could not take place on its usual date at the end of May, preferred to postpone its races (from 15 to 110 km) to October 29 and 30, rather only to this week’s deconfined recovery.
“The conditions of organization remain casually very vague in July, estimates the co-organizer Stéphane Agnoli. As of September 2020, we started to work on this fallback date given the difficult global context, limiting to 5,000 runners, ie half of our 2019 tonnage. ”
“It’s been so old, a race with such a gauge in France”
For its flagship format of the 42 km (2,730 m of elevation gain) Sunday, the only French stage of the Golden Trail World Series, “we have a field of armed mutants”, rejoices Fred Comte of the Mont-Blanc Marathon. Among which the tricolor rider of Team Salomon Thibaut baronian. “It’s nice to use it at home, to feel that trail events are back,” he explains. In March, it was difficult to find the rhythm because the races were less linked than in a classic season. But there, we are practically sure that we will be able to run all summer, and that our plan A should finally be held. “
In two months, Thibaut Baronian will be back in Chamonix to take part in the CCC (101 km), the eagerly awaited race of the unmissable Ultra-trail du Mont-Blanc. Also elite trail runner (for Team Matryx), Lucille Germain (23) is engaged in the 23 km on Saturday. “8,000 people in a race, it speaks all the same, rejoices the young Chambérienne. It’s been so old, a race with such a gauge in France… Trail running remains a popular sport and people were necessarily frustrated that most of the events were reserved for elite runners in recent months. It didn’t have the same flavor for us either. “
“It makes me weird to be on a starting line again”
In addition to the Mont-Blanc Marathon, 300 teams of two runners will also be mobilized from Thursday to Saturday on the Pierra Menta (70 km in three days… with 7,000 m of elevation gain!). “There was a rumor that the race would be postponed to September, so when it was officially maintained, in mid-May, it took a lot of people by surprise, smiles Marine Dutertre (37), doctor in Lyon and amateur trail runner. A lot of us got back to training all of a sudden and I think there will be some damage. “
By aligning with the summer version of the Arêches-Beaufort event this week, she will participate in her first race … since February 2020. A desert of bibs that has changed the approach of her passion. “It makes me weird to tell myself that I’ll be back on a start line in a few days,” she says. I don’t know if I will have as much niac as before, because this period of Covid-19 opened me to off and creative projects. And above all, I got used to long walks more geared towards relaxation, exploring landscapes, and less towards performance. I believe that if I finish this Pierra Menta out of time, it won’t be so bad. “
“The depression gravitated in us”
A feeling that elite trail runners do not share. “For us, competition remains the core of our training,” says Lucille Germain. With the sudden end to racing last year, we hit a wall in the face. Personally, I really want to surpass myself and enjoy my races this season. As for the organizers, seeing the end of the tunnel is equally appreciated.
“Since March 2020, we haven’t been able to organize any event,” recalls Stéphane Agnoli of the Maxi-Race. OK, we have state aid, but the blues hung over us. There, we have a goal to cling to. »Like thousands of French trail runners ready to throw themselves on bibs all summer long.
Find the calendar of the main trail races in France on the Kavval website here.