Patagonian Expedition Race
Racing for Barth Syndrome
Anne-Marie Dunhill / 31.01.2016
The contrast between the setting in which this interview took place and the wilds of Patagonia couldn’t have been more striking. SleepMonsters interviewed Olivier Renard, team captain of Patagonia4Barth, to find out more about the team as he was rushing through Paris on his way to a business meeting. The sounds of the French capital: traffic rushing, horns blaring, sirens wailing and raised French voices were clearly audible in the background yet Olivier Renard’s voice was as calm and steady as if we’d been chatting in a café.
Presenting each member of his team, Olivier naturally began with himself. He was a professional tennis player for fifteen years who was ranked in the top 50 players in France in the 90’s. He then transitioned to outdoor sports, completing several well-known ultra running races such as the Diagonal des Fous as well as an Ironman race, and starting his own successful business as an insurance broker.
When asked what had drawn him to adventure racing and the Patagonian Expedition Race in particular, Olivier said, “I like the challenge, doing different things. I want to know if I can get to the finish line, it really is the challenge that appeals to me. I decided to put together a team after seeing a television program here in France about the race. I’d never kayaked, so I learned. I’d never done mountain biking, so I learned.”
Due to his solid connections and reputation in the business world, Olivier was able to secure sponsorship from four well-known corporations in France: SwissLife, DNCA Investments, Ciprés Assurances and Natixis Global Asset Management.
Olivier went on to explain that after conceiving of the project to compete in the “Last Wild Race”, he approached a close friend, Eric Plantain, and they set about forming the team. Eric’s only condition for being a part of the adventure was that the team race for a cause as he had one that was close to his heart: Barth Syndrome.
According to the website, “Barth syndrome (BTHS) is an X-linked genetic condition.” It is a rare genetic disease that primarily affects male children. When Eric Plantain had to withdraw from the team due to an injury, Olivier decided to keep the name and race for the cause.
After Eric withdrew, Frédéric Decamps stepped in. (Both Frédéric and Olivier are based in the Côte d’Azur region of France.) Frédéric is also a former professional tennis player who has competed in adventure races as well as having his own business as a fitness coach for high-level athletes. In 2014 he competed in the Embrun Ironman in France.
Continuing his explanation of how the team was formed, Olivier said that after recruiting Frederic, he contacted the French mountaineering federation in search of a female adventure racer. Claire Grossoeuvre joined the team along with her husband, Wilfried. The Grossoeuvre couple are the most adventure racing experienced members of the team and they discovered the magic of Patagonia Chile during a world tour in 2009 and vowed to return.
Parents of two young children, they are based in Annecy. Claire has extensive mountaineering and adventure racing experience which includes the race organized by Gérard Fusil, Raid Caneo Nature, which was the longest adventure race ever organized in France (The race was 11 days.)
As parents of two boys, Wilfried and Claire took turns travelling down to the Côte d’Azur to train with their new teammates whilst the other one watched the children at home. Wilfried wrote a message to SleepMonsters detailing their pre-thoughts. He said, “We know that PER will offer us all what we are expecting when you are looking for beautiful landscapes, wildlife fauna meetings, hard conditions to go ahead and an exceptional adventure with 4 human beings.”
Writing about racing for a cause, Wilfried added, “Those kids are fighting every day to stay alive so we can fight 10 days in the name of them. It is the opportunity to communicate about this association, and to help those kids dreaming with a team in a remote area, with lightness and craziness.”
Concluding the interview as the captain arrived on the doorstep of his business meeting Olivier said, “I like the fact that each one of us brings different skills to our team and we are quite complementary.”
When asked for a team photo to illustrate this article, Olivier laughed and said, “Actually, we don’t have one at the moment because this weekend is the first time that the four of us will be training all together as a team.”
Patagonia4Barth will be wearing the race bib #17 and you can find out more about the rare genetic disease Barth Syndrome by following the links below:
Fondation BART France: http://barthfrance.com/1.html
English: https://www.barthsyndrome.org/about-bsf
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