Reunion Island – What, Where, Why?

Rob Howard / 10.06.2017

The AR World Series and Raid in France have just announced the 2018 AR World Championships will be held on the Indian Ocean Isle of Reunion in November next year – cue adventure racers around the globe putting in a Google search to find out where that is!

Some will know I’m sure, as the island has held adventure races before, and hosts one of the world’s great mountain trail runs, The ‘Diagonale des Fous’ or Grand Raid de la Reunion.

French natives will know of it as it is part of their country – yes, really.  It may be south of the Equator but the island is officially a region of France; they spend Euro’s and speak French (and Creole).

To find Reunion on the map look 700km East of Madagascar, but stop before you get to Mauritius. It is an isolated island way out in the Indian Ocean.  It has a tropical climate (sugar cane is a major industry), few beaches and is volcanic.  The highest point on the island is the Piton de Neiges at 3072m (10,069 feet) which is an extinct volcano with several huge collapsed calderas, and the other main peak on the island is Piton de la Fournaise (2632m), which is said to be one of the World’s most active volcanoes. (It is currently erupting and has been for a while).

The island itself is only 39 miles long and 28 miles wide … and if you factor in that the whole interior is one vast volcanic mountain block rising to over 3000m … you can quickly come to conclusion it is steep and difficult terrain!  Raid in France are renowned for putting a lot of ascent into their courses and I suspect next year will be no different. Some of the trails there are so steep they have extensive rope hand rails for safety …

If you also factor in the oceanic climate and tropical rains, you get thousands of waterfalls and mile upon mile of intricate canyons.  Reunion is dream destination for canyoning, but there are very few mountain bike trails – there isn’t much of it that is rideable! There are lots of water courses, but few major rivers so sea kayaking should feature in the race, but it’s an exposed and often steep coastline. There are some coral reefs for diving and coasteering is an option, but I'm told there is a shark problem ...

Given its colonial history and position between India and Africa the population on Reunion is a cultural melting pot (the island was discovered by the Portuguese and under English occupation at one time).

Reunion is also an island with a strong history and participation in sports, particularly running thanks to the success and iconic status of the Grand Raid.  This is an epic run, crossing all the island’s main peaks and calderas on a route covering 162 km and with 9643m of ascent. If you grow up on an island where that is your ‘local run’ you set the bar pretty high when it comes to mountain running!

Adventure Racing history on the island is more recent with Gerard Fusil (Raid Gauloises founder) organising a multi-day race there several times in the early 2000’s.  It was never a very big event, but there will be some French raiders with experience of racing there.

So what can we expect from ARWC 2018?  Isle de la Reunion will be an amazing and iconic destination, one which does present some challenges for course setting, but offers outstanding opportunities for mountain trekking, ropes stages and canyoning.

For more information see; http://en.reunion.fr and http://www.grandraid-reunion.com/?lang=en