Report: Grand Raid 2010 – diagonal of fools

It is cold, my hands are starting to shake, but it must be because of the excitement unfolding before my eyes, I am on  the grand raid 2010 – diagonal of fools. It is 4am and everybody stops on the rim of the caldera at 2250m, we hear the volcano rumble and magma coming through the pipes,  we peep over the edge and see a big lava fountain squirting lava, with chunks of plasma falling far over the edge, hitting the ground and then forming lava rivers. People shout out manjefique in french, and we are all stunned for a moment. Did i see hypothermia starting to set in? the answer is no, i was distracted, ok!! ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lqw37mj3FU

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The Diagonal of Fools is a highly technical non-stop run/hike of about 163km over Mountains with 9643m meters of elevation gain approximately diagonally across the island of Reunion from south to north through the foothills of the Piton de la Fournaise (active volcano) and calderas Cilaos, Mafate and Salazie, primarily via the hiking trails of the GR.  The maximum time of test, to be filed, is set at 66 hours (sixty six hours), including all breaks, subject to passing the various checkpoints before closing time. See http://traileruption.blogspot.com/
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We started the race 21 October 10pm from the south of reunion island at sea level at cape mechant. It was a mild tropical 22 degC outside. 2634 crazy people entered the race mostly from mainland france and reunion, i were the only south african. We were driven by busses to the sport stadium , where kit check was done, snacks were served and the fools given a last show of local island dancers with a guy blowing flames out of his mouth in true french glamour. Did I mention nobody speaks english on this island, Nobody. You need to improvise, use body language or learn french to survive. It was a huge mission for me to just get to the start of this race...  The moon was full and we were at the foot of the volcano, the vibe in the stadium was starting to get electric with a slight kink of crazyness, it is what I live for.

The gun went off and off we were, everybody starting to squash each other trying to get ahead, it looked like the start of comrades combined with a bull stampede, completely crazy. We climbed mildly for the first 15km to 700m, and the next 7km through dense muddy forest to 2250m. Every few hundred meters you would find a guy throwing up, that wern't eating or going up to quickly, I took it easy and felt good. You expand so much heat going up,  so I didn't wear anything warm.

I reached Foc-Foc, the CP just before the rim of the volcano, here even at night you can see the landscape changing to something simular to mars. Volcanic formations out of this world. It was slighly cooler here but with me still hot from the climb I carried on. I was running feeling good, and then we started hearing the volcano. This was so amazing, a noise I never heard before. Reaching the edge we saw the amazing specticle and I stopped to make a movie, eventualy I got a good shot using my gorilla pod (mini tripod) and putting my camera in night mode. What I didn't realise was that it was 3 degC outside, and my hands was starting to lose feeling. When I wanted to stop my movie and unclip my tripod I couldn't, I got a big scare. I couldn't open a energy bar with my hands and had to use my mouth, I couldn't put on my rain jacket. I had to get moving very quickly.

I reached the volcano observatory and refreshment point where I manged to get some lukewarm soup out of them but I couldn't open my bladder to refill, and had to beg the french guy that didn't understand me but eventualy saw my hands were freezing. I kept on going, the sun came up and my core temprature restored.

We were high above the clouds with very unique landscapes unfolding constantly, volunteers waiting en-route were encouraging you with ale-ale, this was great, and after another climb with magnificent scenery I reached a downhill I could run fast and passed a lot of people, this was great.

It is impossible for me to describe a race like this in every detail, but what I can tell you this island is out of this world diverse dramatic and like nothing you have seen before, and the trail condition differ constantly as does the landscape. The people racing can be described as lemmings as in the highly addictive computer game where thousands of little fools get send over an extreme obstacle course and only a few surviving to the end.

The main volcano on the island is 3000m high and extrinct, around the volcano lies 3 calderas, basically sucken in land masses around the volcano dropping from the edges from +-2300m sleeply down to 1000m, each caldera has a community of people living inside it completely surronded by mountains.

We aproached the first caldera Salazie though dense forests of rolling hills, and I followed a group of french people. My mind started playing tricks on me here and I though the french people were conspiring against me, remember I was just hearing french since my arrival on the island and I didn't understand a word. We dropped steeply into Salazie the caldera with the most water, waterfalls everywhere hundreds of them. This is rivendale, but better and home to the iron hole (Trou de Fer) http://www.crystalcanyons.net/Pages/TripReports/TroudeFer.htm, one of the canyons I will have to come back for canyoneering. I reached the town of Hell-Bourg and the 70km mark 16h7m into the race having done 3600m of climbing. Then we had to get out of the caldera climbing from 1000m to 2480m via cap anglais, this climb plays mental games on everybody, it is steep short switchbacks through dense forests that never seems to end, and you can't see the top. I reached the top just before nightfall and opted to move on and get down into the next caldera where i would take my first sleep break.

The next caldera Cilaos drops down via technical switchbacks over 5km to 1400m, i joined a group running a nice pace, and enjoyed this technical downhill at night. Your mind in deep concentration as your body negotiates the rocks at speed. This was an awesome mind blowing downhill, made for technical trail running. I reached the Stadium in Cilaos the 90km mark 22h31m into the race, and slept for 2 hours. I rested well ate something and headed out just before midnight. Each caldera is so unique. We skirted canyon walls and climbed out of the caldera using switchbacks, it was another challenging climb and i reached the top just before sunrise, before dropping down into Mafate.

Salazie and Cilaos are barely accessible via roads from the coastline, but these roads are exgeneering feats and very sheer mountain roads.  Mafate is totally inaccessible via roads and the community relies on a chopper flying in food and solar power.

Dropping into Mafate as the sun came up was amazing, this is an amazing caldera, very remote and very beautiful. I reached the bottom feeling extremely good and started running fast deep into the caldera, i enjoyed the technical running and special feeling of complete isolation. It was a long day, seeing out of this world beauty, but somewhere along the way in mafate i picked up a knee injury running a downhill that would make downhills not runnable anymore but uphills ok. I reached Deux Bras the 126km mark slowly after i got hold of a wooden stick to support me. It was 41h41m  into the race having slept 2 hours, and i was doing reality checks in my mind if i can survive another 40km on a swollen painful knee. I got a medic to massage my legs strap my knee, ate something, and slept for 2 hours.  I refused to give up even though the pain was excruciating, and i knew the inflammation was just gonna get worse. I left just before nightfall.

It was amazing here, some very steep scrambling holding onto cables at places we used steep switch backs and traversed up a cliff, i loved this and uphills wasn't that painful for my knee as the downhills. When we got to the top we reached a remote town on the escarpment with locals cheering us on. Then we had to go down again and it was a single track going steep down. There were hundreds of people before and after me, and it was gonna take me all night with my knee and i wouldn't have made progress as i would have to let everybody pass the whole time. So i just had to block out the pain and run the downhill without passing out. Here i found that your body can actually handle allot more pain than you think before you pass out. It was a long night, but i reached Possession 142km just before 2am,  51h 54m into the race, where i slept another 2 hours to normalize the pain.

The rest of the route i would do uphills as fast as i can, and go slow on downhills trying not to pass out. I eventually reached Colorado high in the mountains above St Dennis, where people indicated to me i am starting to drift (swing like a drunk person) across the paths. Colorado is 5km before the finish and i reached it 60h43m into the race, where i got some pain pills to get me to the finish. The view here is out of the world, and the vibe of the locals cheered me up tremendously. High above the clouds a very special place, so close but yet so far.

The pain pills helped allot, i got moving going down the very steep switchbacks and reached the finish in 62h49m37s. I made it!! and got my photos taken and received the medal of my dreams. It was all worth it, and an experience i will never ever forget in my live.

Victories often occur after you see no way to succeed but refuse to give up anyway...

1189 lemmings (fools) (people) almost 50% abandoned the race, and I made it, despite a terrible knee injury that made downhills outpassable painful, I could have had a better time if I didn't injure myself.

Spaniard Kilian Jornet won the race in an astonishing 23h 17m 26.

No report can do this race justice, It is also more than a race, It is also a celebration of French-Reunion culture.
Though I'd share some of it with you adventure minded people.
See ya
Jacques Booysen
--
"Dream big and live those dreams. Why ration passion. Pursue Passion. Death and/or old age is coming, we must live sweet. The time is now. It is not only life, but the quality of this life." - Mike Libecki

The Test

The Diagonal of Fools is a run/hike of about 163km over Mountains for over 9600 meters of elevation gain approximately diagonally across the island of Reunion from south to north through the foothills of the Piton de la Fournaise and circuses Cilaos Mafate and Salazie, primarily via the hiking trails of the GR. This hike or mountain running is for people trained and in good physical condition. It takes place in one step, at your own pace.

It requires competitors to some care of themselves. The race will start at 22:00 Thursday, October 21, 2010 in Cape Wicked (St. Philip). The maximum time of trial, to be filed, is set at 66 hours (sixty six hours), including all breaks, subject to passing the various checkpoints before closing time provided in the log book and on the website. The closing times of items were calculated to allow hikers to reach the finish within the maximum time imposed, while making any stops (rest, meals ...). Competitors will not be classified beyond these deadlines and will then submit their electronic bracelet, their bibs will be neutralized and they are not entitled to full assistance established by the organization, which assumes no responsibility for consequences that may result ...

Reunion Island

An island of true contrasts, the French department of Reunion is unknown to many of the world's travelers. That's unfortunate! This unique island in the middle of the Indian Ocean is simply one of the most intriguing spots on earth.
Not as well-known as nearby Mauritius or the not-so-far-away British Seychelles, little Reunion seems but a speck in the vast ocean, dwarfed by Madagascar, located 500 miles to the west. The French know the island well but only the very well-traveled have ever stepped foot on Reunion's varied and enticing terrain.

With an active volcano on its south coast, 17 miles of warm, welcoming beaches in the west, and lots of mountains and forests in between, Reunion Island offers vacation opportunities ranging from relaxing to truly insane. If you're looking for a place to "chill out", you'll find it here. But if you're the kind of vacationer who prefers an adrenaline rush over a sunburn, the possibilities are endless. From hiking Reunion's unique "cirques" or canyoning the island's many waterfalls to scuba diving or surfing in the clear waters that surround this tiny 30-mile-wide island, adventure activities abound for vacationers hoping to do something a little daring while on their Reunion holiday.

Volcano: the big show

This Friday, October 15, 2010, the lava continues to flow from the mouth rash which opened Thursday at 7:11 p.m. near the site of "Castle" in the Southeast sector of the volcano. Seen from the sky at dawn, the show is fascinating and the photos show performed this Friday at 6:00 by Imaz Press Reunion. On the ground, the flare is also visible from the peak Wood Green. View all images produced by Imaz Press Reunion.

Manuella Leroueil, youngest of "crazy" (My type of girl)

Leroueil Manuella, 24, will be the youngest participant of the Grand Raid 2010, also known as Diagonal of Fools. Indeed, with 156 kilometers of trails around the island and 9,000 meters in altitude, the Grand Raid, which takes place this year from October 21 to 23 is considered as a very difficult time.

At the age of 10 years that the young woman had a passion for running. "I've always loved the sport," she says. At 14, she began to compete on road to cross. She won some prizes. She continues to practice this sport "first and foremost passion."

She arrived in Reunion in 2007 to work as a fitness instructor. His interest in the Great Raid was born in 2009. "Many friends attended the event. So I followed their path. The idea to participate had already crossed my mind but my job limited my availability to train, "she recalls. Never mind if it is not on the start line of the Grand Raid 2009, it will be for the 2010 edition. It then binds to a single goal, to prepare for this inevitable event sports on the island.

In September 2009, she enrolled at the Athletics Club of Possession to participate in trails. "This kind of test allows to assess and train," she says. His profession of fitness allows him to prepare physically every day. She also performs reconnaissance on the route of the Grand Raid every 15 days. "With friends, we start walking at the weekend. It may be small output of 6 or 7 hours or large output exceeding 10 hours, "said Manual Leroueil. A week before the competition begins, the young woman said "ready" for the race and was "eager" to start.

Still, she admits to being apprehensive. "It's stress mixed with envy but also to doubts," she describes. Doubts, "because we are never sure of finishing the test," she says. "It may take a lot of things," said Manuel. She is not afraid of strokes or injuries but "feeding problems and the race on the night of Friday to Saturday." "I do not know at all how it's going to happen," she says.

But not enough to discourage the young athlete who sets a target to cross the finish line at the stage of the Redoubt on Saturday night. "If I come forward, that is happiness. If I arrive on Sunday, I will not complain, "she said, smiling. She continues: "For a year, I am prepared for the Great Raid. I'm a Gambler in the soul. Do not cross the finish line would be a huge disappointment. "

Especially since this is the first and perhaps last appearance Manuella. "To prepare for this test requires a huge investment. My job as fitness instructor does not permit me. I'm able to combine energy and recovery. It's very difficult when participating in the Great Raid. " But never say never and manual is well aware "there are many people who say it is their last call and cover the following year. Maybe this will be my case next year, "she concludes.

Mounic Najafaly for www.ipreunion.com

Historic Animated Lava Flows vs Grand Raid Route

Virtual Reality 3D View of the Volcano (Needs FLASH)