ULTRA TRAIL IN MEXICO

Je cours aux côtés de Johan Steene et Pavel Paloncý durant 3 heures 30, j’ai donc la chance d’être guidée par mes compagnons de course.

Lorsque les premières grosses montées arrivent, les garçons font l’écart et je me retrouve seule dans la montagne Mexicaine sans GPS.

Je me perds rapidement une première fois car le balisage est discret. Je tourne durant 25 minutes environ avant de retrouver la trace.

Aussitôt, deux nouveaux compagnons me rattrapent, Thierry Corbarieu et Jérôme Chauvin. Nous faisons route ensemble et je suis donc à nouveau chanceuse d’avoir des guides.

Au bout de quelques heures, Thierry disparaît. Il enchaine la descente et se perd à son tour. Impossible pour nous de le localiser.

Nous continuons notre avancée avec Jérôme durant 80 km, pensant que Thierry était devant.

Du CP 1 au CP 2, une chaleur assommante nous tombe dessus, plus de 40 degrés au fond du canyon.

Malgré cela, nous avançons et restons soudés. Direction le CP 3, toujours en binôme, une ascension rythmée qui se passe plus que bien.

La nuit est là ce qui fait beaucoup de bien, car la température chute.

Ensuite, direction le CP 4, plus roulant. Jérôme est plus rapide que moi et me distance. Il a été pendant des heures mon mentor de l’Ultra, il m’a conseillé, encouragé et attendu.

Un compagnon de course parfait et bienveillant ! Encore merci à lui !

I'm starting to get lost on the trails, not seeing all the markers, and the incessant back and forth takes up a lot of my energy.

I didn't give up, though, and quickly found my way back at each point of doubt.

When I got to the heights before CP 5, I saw one last marker, so I kept going, turning, going back, up, down... and there was no other marker in sight.

I started to panic and decided to wait for the next runner, hoping that he had a GPS. I thought it might be Johan Steen, whom I'd left behind at CP2, or Pavel, whom I'd overtaken before CP4.

But no, it was 3 Raramuris coming. When I saw them, I ran towards them and explained that there were no more tracks and that I was lost - I'd been searching alone for an hour.

We decided to search together for over an hour. More precious strength wasted.

At one point, one of the Raramuris called the other two. They spoke a dialect I didn't understand and ran off without saying anything to me.

I call out to them but neither turns back. They run at full speed in the opposite direction.

Now I'm alone again, tired and scared. I broke down a little at this point and told myself that my race was over.

In a matter of seconds, I regained my courage and refused to give up!

I decided to climb as high as I could, still holding out hope that I'd see the village and find my way back.

I'd been lost for over 3 hours. When I got to the top, I could see the village and imagined that the track was on my right.

I asked a family of Raramuris who live in the middle of the mountain for confirmation and I went down at full speed!

I'm so disappointed and angry that I set off without a GPS that I think I'm in a trance.

When I arrived at CP 5, having finally picked up the trail with an extra 10km and I don't know how much D+, my first concern was that the Raramuris had already passed.

The people at CP reassured me and confirmed that no one had passed.

I immediately resumed the race as my new objective was to finish ahead of the 3 runners who had abandoned me.

The ordeal continued all the way to the finish, with me going up and down, looking for the course and gritting my teeth. Fortunately, I was able to play it safe throughout the race, which meant I was able to finish and not finish in a critical state.

When I arrived at CP 6, I was greeted by a family of Raramuris in their little tent - it was magical!

I made the most of it, knowing that I was hours ahead of the other girls, but also hours ahead of the Raramuris. Je pars avec un gros câlin du chef de famille.

Obviously, I'm reenergised for the end of the race. I still start talking to the scorpions and spiders.

I see some strange animals. These little hallucinations are good for me, keep my mind occupied... but above all it's time to go home!

I managed to get in touch with my friends and family, who reassured me from a distance, even though I'd made so many mistakes due to the lack of GPS.

I finally arrived, happy with the experience and disappointed at the same time with my beginner's mistakes. Once again, it will serve me well for the future.

It's one more experience, and what an experience!