A snowy sky and this question in everyone’s heads: “What am I doing here?” » This Sunday, December 28, it is not 9 a.m. but the town of Feuguerolles-Bully, 10 minutes from Caen (Calvados), is teeming. For runners – and walkers – the sporting year ends here in the Orne valley, at the Guigne trail, among the very last organized in the country in 2025.
“It’s nice to do the last one. We did a few short running outings on the 23rd and 27th. Here, we come to eliminate toxins, we don’t stay on the sofa,” smiles Manu, member of a running group from Tilly-sur-Seulles, not far from there. On the menu, two routes of 14 and 28 km, as well as a departure of walkers over 14 km 1,069 registered for this meeting nestled between New Year’s Eve. The event is sold out even though the thermometer is barely zero.
“It’s an atypical period,” Claire and Aurélie agree. These two college friends sum up their presence in Feuguerolles in one word: “we’re crazy. We participated in a race in November. We wanted to do one again.” People familiar with nature races are there. A recent world time record holder in the major world marathons too: Dorian Louvet from Caen, finally came 3rd in the 14 km.
Others set off for the first time, for reasons that cannot be invented: “We nickname our friend Alexy La Guigneexplain Manon and Madalin. When we saw this Guigne trail, the three of us signed up.”
New start in 2026
Since everyone is motivated, so are we. We will be at this last departure. As soon as you warm up, the feeling of cold fades quickly. “We especially have a thought for the flaggers, who wait motionless in the cold,” greet three runners from a Deauville-Trouville triathlon club.
The 28 km leaves at 9 a.m., half an hour before “our” 14 km. Departure at high speed. The first trails set the tone: apart from a fresh initial puddle, the mud is frozen. “For my first trail, I was afraid it would slip as I didn’t have suitable shoes,” confides Louna. The ground was hard, it was reassuring. » The main trap occurs mid-race, in a hairpin bend towards the banks of the Orne. A runner warns us. Simple slippage. Aurélie was not as lucky: “She trolledit was a gem,” quips her friend Claire.
Regularly, even in the forest, supporters also brave the cold. In the valleys of the Orne, cries resound here and there. A multitude of colored spots, often fluorescent, crisscross the bleached fields. Here and there, the ice cracks underfoot. The two college friends took the time to look around them: “We made signs to each other to look at the place. The landscape is lovely. We really liked the places in the forest, it made us want to stay there. There was a cocooning side.”
A final lap of the park and return to the town, sprinting, throwing his last strength into the battle. The arrival arch sounds the death knell for a “big season”. “We came here for fun. It allows you to occupy the break before starting again and to stay in shape during the holidays,” assure the Deauville triathletes. Alexy “La Guigne”’s friends high-five each other on arrival. “It was hard to motivate myself but once we started… We’ll do it again. »
No one is surprised by the crowds at the race. “We can clearly feel the enthusiasm around trail running and running and this trail is becoming more and more well known,” we repeat in the large arrival room, setting for an anticipated buffet. “Now we are ready for the New Year,” laughs one participant. From January, many of them will be back on the trails of 2026. Gloves, neck warmers and hats will also be worn in the new year.
