Gerard Fusil\'s Racing Reunion

Rob / 20.12.2002

If you’ve come into AR recently you may never have heard of Gerard Fusil, but he’s credited as the man who started it all when he staged the first Raid Gauloises in 1989. Once it was established he moved on to set up the longest race ever held, the Elf Authentique Adventure in the Philippines, and now, after a few quiet years, he’s back with a new race called ‘Réunion d’Aventures’.

Any new Fusil race is going to attract a lot of interest and this one has an even greater attraction – it’s being held on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, a French department in the sun and an adventure sports paradise. Reunion is around 40 miles across and 13,000 feet high with a vast live volcano one end and some of the world’s best canyoning territory in it’s mountainous interior. A race here, set up by Fusil, could well be the highlight of 2003.

(Having been there 3 times and tried out trekking, canyoning, microlighting, snorkelling and diving, and had the most terrifying experience of my life on volcanic slopes that were a bit more molten than they first appeared I can say first hand this place is amazing. As a setting for a race it’s just about perfect. – Ed)

Accessible Adventure

Fusil’s track record might be a bit off-putting to the average racer, but this time around he’s promising something a bit more attainable, he says it’s for “good and very good amateurs”. It will be a supported race, with fixed overnight stopping times, for safety and to stop exhaustion, allowing everyone to have ‘more fun’. Sounds like he’s mellowed since the Raid Gauloises! There will be a short ‘adventure course’ option too.

It all happens between April 27th and May 2nd, and there’s a fixed flights/vehicle hire/ accommodation/entry package at around €10,000 for 6 people (team of 4 and 2 support). This departs Paris on April 24th and thought it’s not compulsory it’s almost certainly the best value. Sponsors, friends and families are encouraged to go along too, but places are limited to 30 teams so anyone interested should get in touch quickly.

We’ll put the contact details in a calendar entry which will be updated as more information becomes available.