Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 123, October 2019 | Page 47

TRAIL RUNNING
44km). One of the iconic images of the race is taken
from the summit of Tourelle, overlooking the town of
Tamarin, it’s gorgeous bay, and Le Morne Mountain in
the background.
Then there is the Trooper 25km, which starts at
the midway point of the ultra and also goes up
Macchabee and Tourelle, and the Active 10km
(Tourelle included), plus a relatively flat 4km fun run.
Soon as I said to Roy I would like to run, he said no
problem, my place in the 25km was booked. The
distance sounded OK, the route profile didn’t look too
daunting, and I was determined to get up Tourelle to
enjoy that view for myself.
Great news was that also on the trip were a number
of South Africans, including two invited elites, Rory
Scheffer and Naomi Brand. Having known both for
several years, and rooming with Rory for the trip, I
had a great time hanging out with them as we enjoyed
two days of relaxed swimming, snorkelling, paddling,
sight-seeing and soaking up a bit of sun. Being mid-
winter in the southern hemisphere, it wasn’t too hot,
with some sparse cloud about, so the sunscreen was
only sparingly used. I had literally put a mag to bed
just before boarding the flight to the island, so I felt
I had earned a mini-holiday, and made the most of
the tropical paradise we encountered at the Tamassa
Resort, a vibrant four-star beach hotel at Bel Ombre.
There were several other South Africans staying in
the same hotel, most having found the race via online
searches for something different to do, and it was
great fun meeting each other in the hotel, or on the
bus ride to the Riverland sports grounds in Tamarin to
register the day before the race. The group included
grandmaster Ewa Hyra, formerly from Poland but
happily settled in Middelburg, Mpumalanaga in South
Africa for many years. We would both be running the
25km, so I told her I would be spending some quality
time with her on the trails, if I could keep up with her,
given her amazing list of running achievements!
In the Shadow of Le Morne
Roy had arranged for me to drive with the 50km
runners to their 5:30am start, so that I could
experience the vibe, and I saw something that really
stuck with me. As a commentator myself, I always
listen to other commentators to see what they do,
and what resonates with runners. I was blown away
by legendary Reunion-based commentator Jérome
Désiré as he asked all the runners to take hands and
make a pledge with him to go out there, run together
and support each other, and all meet again later at the
finish. Jérome is so good on the mic that he is flown
Last pic with Rory and
Naomi before they set
off at the 50km start
all the way to France to help with race commentary at
the famous Ultra-Trail Mont Blanc, and regularly flies
between the closely situated Reunion, Mauritius and
Rodrigues islands to do commentary – always with
his distinctive floral shirts and hat. He really created a
unique buzz amongst the runners, and made me look
forward to my turn on the start line a bit later.
The 50km starts in the dark at the foot of Le Morne
Brabant, a distinctive rock monolith (small mountain)
on the south-western tip of the island. Fortunately
runners do not need to climb this 556m-high summit,
but it has an interesting history worth sharing. In the
early 1800s, escaped slaves and marooned sailors
found refuge there, and legend has it that on 1
February 1835, a police expedition was sent to tell
these refugees about the official abolition of slavery,
and that they were all free men and women. However,
the slaves misinterpreted the arrival of the police
and scrambled to the summit, then decided to rather
throw themselves into the sea below than be taken
back into slavery.
There is apparently no physical or written proof of
this tragic story actually happening, other than a
now famous poem, but Le Morne has been declared
a World Heritage Site, with a monument built to the
slaves and said poem inscribed on it. The site has
become a leading tourist attraction for this part of the
island, but all of this was lost in the dark of the start
of the Dodo Trail. With headlamps aglow, the runners
Goosebumps as commentator Jérôme Désiré
sets the mood for the 50km runners
set off down a tarred road for a few hundred metres,
and then disappeared down the first trail. As I drove
with Roy to the 25km start, he told me about his own
running and hiking experiences, including running
the Dodo and coming to South Africa to explore
the Drakensberg mountains. I was picking up more
inspiration here.
Ready to Run
The 25km start is at the entrance of the Black
River Gorges National Park, another popular tourist
attraction on the island. Our start was only at 8am, so
I had some time to kill, but thankfully the organisers
had coffee waiting for the early arrivals. By the time
we did start, a few nerves had set in, but again,
Jérome soon had our minds back on the right track. I
found Ewa and a few other familiar faces in the crowd,
took a few pics, and then we were off. Macchabee
awaited, with the climb starting after less than a kay,
and continuing all the way to round about 7km. It
wasn’t too bad a climb, albeit slightly wet and muddy
here and there, and I found plenty of locals to chat
to as we climbed. Interestingly, many had been to
South Africa before, so we traded stories about our
respective homes, and running experiences. In spite
of the relentless climbing, I was really enjoying myself,
because as anybody who has ever done a race with
me knows, I do love a good chat!
As we climbed, the first few 50km runners caught and
passed us. Local runners from Mauritius and Reunion
were dominating, as expected, with Simon Desvaux
De Marigny leading as he chased a third consecutive
win. Just before the water table at the Macchabee
lookout point, Rory came blasting past me, in fifth
or sixth place, looking strong, but he told me that he
was struggling to keep liquids down, and vomiting
whenever he tried drinking. I found out later he had
been up with Simon for the early part of the race, but
then slowly dropped back as his stomach slowed him
down, and eventually finished eighth. Still, he seemed
in good spirits when I saw him.
Shortly after that I reached Macchabee, and I
simply had to stop for a few minutes to take in the
spectacular view. Tourelle looked like a small hill in the
distance – famous last words! – and the sea beckoned
us to keep going, so after a snack and a few pics with
Ewa, it was down the mountain we went. The descent
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