The AR World Championships - Costa Rica
Interview with Jacky Boisset and Myriam Guillot of Thule
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 25.11.2013
Social media is buzzing with news of teams that are in preparation for the upcoming Adventure Racing World Championships in Costa Rica. The recent changes announced by the ARWS concerning teams’ nationalities means that these World Championships will be the last to take place without nationality restrictions. The French adventure racing couple Jacky Boisset and Myriam Guillot , who have raced for several years with the Swedish team Thule, will be directly impacted by this new set of regulations.
SleepMonsters was fortunate to catch up with these two globetrotting racers for a quick telephone interview from Font Romeu in France as they were preparing their bags in anticipation for their Tuesday morning flight out from Barcelona.
Jacky and Mimi said that they are excited to be racing with teammates Albert Roca and Stuart Lynch. Albert is from Spain and Stuart from New Zealand so when I pointed out that they were racing for a Swedish team without a single Swedish team member they laughed and said that it wasn’t a deliberate reaction to the new set of rules, rather a decision that was taken immediately after the World Champs in Raid in France in 2012. The two Swedish teammates that they won the World Championships with in 2011 in Tasmania, Per Vestling and Martin Flinta, made it known that they wouldn’t be available for Costa Rica.
The new line-up has raced together before; in 2011 they beat the seemingly unstoppable Seagate (NZ) in Expedition Idaho (USA). Mimi added that this race was her favorite adventuring racing memory with the finish line in the middle of a beer festival and as it was Stuart Lynch’s birthday during the race, Jacky had somehow concocted a birthday cake and they had a proper celebration in the middle of the race!
Jacky, Albert and Stuart are all strong navigators and when asked if this fact had ever led to any tensions over route choices when they were racing, Jacky said that au contraire, it was relaxing to know that there was good back-up and that it really was like racing with a bunch of friends. So it is clear that the team dynamics are excellent and one won’t likely see any bickering over the maps.
When asked if they had any residual doubts following their withdrawal from the New Zealand race GODZone Jacky said that it had been an excellent learning experience for them, adding that adventure racing costs a lot not only in monetary terms but also on other levels so this race helped them define exactly what they want as racers. The World Championships have become their primary goal. Mimi added that as they had three races to run in China immediately afterwards they had no time to dwell on what could be perceived as a failure. Their success in the China races confirmed this attitude.
Nutrition plays a key part in their race strategy and as such they don’t pack any “junk” food, no chips, no gummy bears, etc. They have a French sponsor, Force Ultra Nature, who provides them with organic supplements like protein powder and chia seeds as well as a Swedish company called 24H-MEAL that provides high calorie meals for the armed forces. They both feel that this emphasis on nutrition is one of their strong points.
They closed the interview saying that they were impatient to discover the race route and Costa Rica. Their nomadic way of life since they left the French team Lafuma means that they haven’t seen winter in two years so racing in the tropics doesn’t pose a problem for them. Anyone who follows adventure racing will be aware of the difficulties of racing in tropical climates. Mimi said that Tasmania was “pretty wild” as far as insects and reptiles were concerned and Hong Kong had some “outrageous” spiders! So Mimi says that her mantra for dealing with any critters will be “no stress”. She continued on the subject of racing in hot climates saying that she is something of a hothouse flower who blossoms in the heat and really enjoys observing the luxuriant vegetation.
When asked in closing the interview what their objectives for the 2013 Adventure Racing World Championships in Costa Rica are they simply said, “To win, we want our title back!”
SleepMonsters
