The Méribel Trail has chosen to maintain its 2020 edition on August 8 and 9. - Sylvain Aymoz / Méribel Tourisme

  • France is attacking phase 3 of its deconfinement on Monday, but outdoor sports enthusiasts still cannot resume competition.
  • The trail races planned until July 31, for example, all had to cancel their 2020 edition, just like the UTMB (from August 24 to 31) which did not want to deprive itself of its foreign headliners and courses complete.
  • The organizers of the main trail races planned from August 1 in Savoie and Haute-Savoie explain to 20 Minutes how they plan this start of the season, postponed by five months due to the coronavirus health crisis.

On June 14, 34 "ultra melted" sailed from Saint-Malo to conquer the improbable Mil'Kil, with its 1,000 kilometers to be traveled non-stop to Sète. The deconfinement may enter its phase 3 on Monday, these runners are still an irreducible figure in France since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and this until July 31. According to government instructions, the French Athletics Federation (FFA) has communicated to the organizers the ban on maintaining any trail event scheduled before the month of August.

Apart from the Mil'Kil or rare challenges declined in off like the Ultra-Trail of Haut-Giffre (Haute-Savoie) last weekend, enthusiasts of wilderness races must take their troubles patiently. But how is this recovery preparing for the trail running world, when even its media showcase, the UTMB (more than 10,000 runners expected in Chamonix from August 24 to 31), had to resolve to cancel its 2020 edition ?

Why did the UTMB finally want to avoid "a cheap edition"? - via @ 20Minutes https://t.co/3beGQ8uWeS

- Diopserignesam (@ Diopserignesam1) May 20, 2020

The decrease in the number of participations "reassures the runners"

“Common sense led us to significantly reduce our number of participants (from 1,100 to 700). This reassures the runners and we feel a great enthusiasm in the registrations. Given the current vagueness, we don't know if they will be able to come, but we have registrants from Italy and even from Hong Kong, ”said Hervé Franchino, organizer of the Hoka One One XTrail. Organized on August 2 in Courchevel (Savoie), this race with four events (11, 21, 33 and 50 km) is already sold out on its long test, limited to 200 participants.

With his team, Hervé Franchino has been working for several weeks on respecting the rules of social distancing. The masks will thus be compulsory for removing the bibs the day before the race, and the runners will have to cover their nose and mouth on the start line, with the neck strap offered by the organization.

"Prevent runners from picking peanuts from plates"

"As we obviously want to prevent them from picking peanuts from the plates with drops of sweat falling from everywhere, the runners will have to be more independent," he warns. The supplies are canceled on the 11 and 21 km races and they will amount to a distribution of water bags for the longest distances.

For its part, the EDF Cenis Tour Trail (August 1 and 2) will opt for "individualized food plates on the supplies, as if we were at the self". "In these health conditions where we are looking for social distance, it will be easier for us to welcome more runners on our long distance [80 km]", says Annabel Lascar-Kam, director of this race taking place in Haute Maurienne. It has chosen to maintain the usual gauge of 1,200 runners and already has 800 registrants, including “a big demand from elites” over the 80 km.

"Plexiglass visors for each volunteer"

Organizer of the Méribel Trail (Savoie) on August 8 and 9, Eric Baudin will notably bet on “much more widely spaced time slots” between the seven proposed trials (from 500 m for children to 50 km), in order to best respect the sanitary measures. It also provides "plexiglass visors for all volunteers", often aged, taking care of the delivery of bibs and supplies.

If the Méribel Trail has not chosen to limit its number of participants (about a thousand people usually), it is struggling to take off until then, with a hundred registered. In order to allow the principle of “staggered departures” preferable for this particular recovery, the organizers provide timing chips that are triggered at the moment when one crosses the starting line.

"We are going to wipe the plaster a bit"

So many precautions taken everywhere by the racing organizations, more than a month from the recovery. “Unfortunately there is no specific protocol for outdoor sport , says Annabel Lascar-Kam. We would like to be better informed on this subject and ideally participate in its conception. "

In the meantime, Eric Baudin sums up the expectation that surrounds this real launch of the trail running season, five months late: “We are going to wipe the plasters a bit with all these big constraints to be respected but we feel a big enthusiasm, in all to find such a sporting event ”. "After all, we don't take more risks by running with 1,200 people in Haute Maurienne than by going to a bar in Paris," says Annabel Lascar-Kam.

"When you start a trail, it is rare that you get the flu"

A general optimism confirmed on Saturday by the maintenance of l'Echapée belle, an ultra-trail race (62, 87 and 149 km between Isère and Savoie) which will take place from August 21 to 23. "When you start a trail, it's rare to have a flu or a virus," recalls Hervé Franchino. Honestly, I will be more stressed on August 2 by possible harsh weather conditions than by the Covid-19. "

Maintenance of L'Échappée Belle, ultra crossing of Belledonne, August 21, 22 and 23, 2020 😀🥳
-> https://t.co/nzzh1qnmGB#Belledonne # Isère #Dynafit #AlpesIshere #Trail # EB2020 #Echappeebelledonne pic.twitter .com / ahCKM2eQvA

- L'Echappée Belle (@EB_belledonne) June 20, 2020

Two weeks later, the triathlon which he also organizes in Courchevel is maintained but more turned upside down. The swimming test planned at Lake Bozel (Savoie) is "not at all compatible with social distancing" and turns into a rowing competition… on ergometers in a gymnasium.

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  • Sport
  • Deconfinement
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