In the crazy genre, the XTerra Tahiti Trail is there. We were warned that if the opportunity presented itself to take advantage of it – and at the same time to tell the story – we should under no circumstances let it pass. But we were also promised “bad times”, “something crazy”. Confirmation: the heat, the humidity in the air (around 80%), the night and the terrible technicality of the route made this legendary trail a particularly challenging 2024 vintage, even though we had also been assured that the race would be “overall quite smooth”. Quite frankly, we’re still looking. For this Night of Trails (4 formats this year: 27k, 50k, 75k and 100k offered), the meeting was given as tradition in Moorea, the island just opposite Tahiti, on the sublime white sand beach of Tahiamanu and its turquoise blue lagoon. So far, it’s been paradise. We will quickly become disillusioned.
Friday, 7:30 p.m. The 500 runners are gathered under the coconut trees for a course briefing before a whistle-stopped start at 8:00 p.m. (Saturday 8 a.m. in mainland France). Unlike other years, the organizers have made an old dream come true by scheduling this quadruple night race. A hell of a challenge in addition knowing that the route on trails which are mostly closed to the public the rest of the year – because they pass through private property – is already extremely tricky. So why added the difficulty of running at night? “It’s very simple,” explains Serge Leprince, vice-president of the organizing association VSOP. The full moon fell on May 23 and 24, with the most beautiful illumination of the year. So we couldn’t miss that. »
A sort of hallucinated Barkley in the tropics
And an original concept was put in place: if all the runners started together, everyone had the choice during the race to choose their distance according to their state of form, and their level of sensations and motivation. A sort of hallucinated Barkley in the tropics, the XTerra can count on around a hundred volunteers but also forty soldiers mobilized all night and scattered throughout the routes. For six months, and two to three times a week, volunteers have invested their time and energy to create tracks and mark trails in the middle of this dense mountain jungle, to say the least.
Patrick Montel as guest
Before departure, a guest spoke at the microphone after the essential organizer Jean-Michel Monot and a spectacular fire dancing show. It is none other than Patrick Montel, sponsor of this 17th edition. “Here, this is the life that I would have liked to live in fact,” the former France Télévisions sports journalist told us emotionally two minutes before departure, wearing a “Radio Montel” t-shirt. You’re driving in a car at 60 km/h, people say hello to you, they’re nice and the scenery is really beautiful. »
At 8:00 p.m., the army of headlamps took possession of the asphalt of the only road on the island, under the encouragement of a handful of onlookers and for approximately 1.5 km. Then, we quickly turn right for a small path before the real hostilities. The heat is very pronounced, the humidity of the air is a terrible burden for the body. After only 3 km, the t-shirts are sweaty, like the foreheads and soon the shorts. Five hundred meters further on, a long rope was installed to ascend and then descend a very steep hollow. In total, around ten ropes were installed to best pass the steepest sections. Running, extreme hiking but also climbing, therefore.
A runner in sandals
The ground is dry, very slippery. The small falls keep coming – we are obviously not spared. Every step is a trap, the ground is permanently littered with countless stones and roots. We run and walk on hot coals. Dust swirls in the air, in addition to drops of sweat beading in the atmosphere. When we dare to raise our heads, the “full moon” is a fairy. Endless and complicated, the first big climb already calms the spirits. In this tribe, in single file, we come across a brave (or unconscious) person who dared to venture into this hell with a pair of white beach sandals. A tribute to the Raramuris of the canyons of the Sierra Tarahumara in Mexico? Great audacity.
Rivers to cross
The technical nature of the route requires you to walk a lot, even a lot. And even at two per hour (in reality 12 per kilo), the cardio skyrockets. You have to be armed. At km 10 and 17, water supplies. Blessed gap. Then we cross several rivers. Soaked, we are, from head to toe. During the last third of the race, the gaps narrow and we find ourselves alone in the middle of nowhere, for almost an hour, crossing this jungle with our body sometimes staggering like a zombie. But there is human warmth: throughout the course, volunteers and soldiers encourage all the runners, with their singing accent. “Faaitito!” » (Good luck in Tahitian).
Despite this comfort, the last kilometers seem like an eternity, between several climbs that are always technical and exhausting. Even the descents are a tribute to slowness. But the last two kilometers are very smooth. Hallelujah! A long descent between houses gives us some fresh air before returning to the road, 1 km before the finish line, under a blue arch and on a red carpet. The Cannes festival, which has just awarded its prize, does not have a monopoly on it and that is so much the better. Under the golden palm trees, our timer shows 5h14 for this epic 27 km (1250 m D+). Sitting under a large barnum, trophy in hand, body in tatters, haggard look, one question: will I go back? Hot, not sure…
2024-05-27 01:43:00
#XTerra #Tahiti #Trail #hell #paradise
