There is familiarity about the preparations for the Raid Corsica I’ve not seen at other races. The race is now in its 18th consecutive year and many of the key staff have been coming for well over a decade, so the preparations are not as tense or frenetic as many other races. There are tasks to be done and arrangements to be made, but the meetings today at the ‘Camping Europe’ in the Pietrosella area were much like a gathering of old friends on an annual reunion.  It was all very informal and al fresco lunch and dinner were not interrupted too much by necessary work.

 

A few of the teams have already arrived at the camping ground, and they are easily spotted with their large vans, kayaks on top and surrounded by bikes and boxes.  Some, like the Czech teams, have had a long journey, and all have taken the ferry to Corsica and are looking forward to exploring the island. Tomorrow they will gather in the morning and begin the race with a fast afternoon race which will see them kayaking around the islands on the horizon.

 

The first of the many camping grounds the race will use is just south of Ajaccio, by the beaches fringing the Gulf of Ajaccio.  The hills and mountains which cover the island are close to the coastline and this afternoon were covered in heavy cloud rumbling with thunder, while on the beach it was sunny with clear skies.  There are signs of recent heavy rains on the ground and it seems teams may be in for some mixed weather in this race.

 

It is a race which is out of step with recent trends in adventure racing, happy to continue doing what has always worked and everyone enjoys doing, rather than changing for the sake of it, or for commercial reasons.  This is a very Corsican attitude as well, which is why the island is less developed than others in the Mediterranean.

 

The affection of the organising team for Corsica is clear too.  Many times today I’ve spoken with volunteers who said they came once and fell in love with the island and the people, or been told to write about how beautiful ‘Corse’ is.  No one has given me a glossy press pack on the island and its tourism, they don’t think they need to – the place will speak for itself.

 

It is a multinational gathering here, of teams and staff, and the experienced Spanish racer Dani Buyo,  now working on filming the race told me, “It is different here and that is good.  The race is very friendly as all the teams gather at the end of the day and for the restart of most of the stages within the day, so everyone travels around together   I think every racer should come to Raid Corsica once to see the island for the experience.”  

 

When I spoke with the race organiser, who started the event 18 years ago, and said it was impressive to have kept it going in the same place for all these years he just shrugged and said, “That’s life!”