Verdon Canyon Challenge - History in the Making?

Pyro / 17.06.2012

The Verdon Canyon Challenge has a long history in trail running circles. First established in 1993 as a 3-day, 100km stage race, the route, format and even race distances have changed, but the core 100km race remains as one of the best-established races in the French Ultra calendar.

This year, the 20^th anniversary, makes few changes from previous editions. There will be three races taking place, a 30km and a 50km alongside the headline 100km, though unusually all three courses start in different locations, the shorter routes starting part-way along and joining the main route. The courses themselves are often praised for their beauty as well as their technical difficulty, the limestone gorge paths, plateau, woodland and meadow trails and steep, hard climbing sections have been mentioned in many commentaries from the past years.

Similarly, the race means to make the most of its historic status with the representation of a medieval village in place of the traditional race village – while I’m sure the history of the event doesn’t stretch back quite that far, this should be another aid to the “friendly, laid-back atmosphere” to which the race briefing materials attest.

See All Stories On This Race