Raid International Gaspésie 2017 - Wilder & Crazier

Rob Howard / 30.08.2017

Always with the aim of allowing athletes to experience strong emotions in the very heart of a rich and wild nature, the organizers of the fourth edition of the Raid international Gaspésie (RIG) have been ambitious! This year, most of the RIG will be held in the majestic Gaspésie National Park. Following an agreement with theSociété des établissements de plein air du Québec, the Société de développement et de mise en valeur de Carleton-sur-Mer (SDMC) and Endurance Aventure offer a wonderful playground for the 160 racers expected from September 7 to 10.

For more than a year, the organizers of the RIG have worked closely with the Park staff in order to pay tribute to this regional gem. The Park, which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, is known as a mecca for hiking in Quebec. Its steep slopes and magnificent tundra landscapes, punctuated by bare peaks of more than 1,000 meters, will marvel the participants.

As in previous years, racers will end their search for checkpoints in Carleton-sur-Mer on Sunday, where the peripheral activities will also take place.

The RIG in Short

The RIG is an orienteering and endurance adventure race performed by a team of two with technical assistance. In three days, the raiders have to cover 300 or 150 km in a range of non-motorized sport-nature disciplines such as running, swimming, cycling and canoeing, all spiced up with rope challenges crazy enough to make you dizzy!

Eighty teams are expected for this fourth edition of the Raid international Gaspésie. Among them, foreign teams come from South Africa, Czech Republic, the United States, France, Italy, Equador and, of course, Canada. Registered in the 300 km, Olympian cyclist Lyne Bessette is back for a fourth consecutive year. She will be part of the Espresso Sports team with Benoit Simard and they are well determined to win this year. The Gaspésie team Subaru New Richmond/La vie dehors, made of Robin Lever and Antoine Richard will also try to take the highest honors. Let’s not forget that the duo finished in the top 5 overall last year.

Desjardins Youth Prologue

With the aim of adopting and promoting healthy lifestyles and surpassing oneself, a competition is offered to young people. More than 200 secondary school students from the Gaspésie, Bas-Saint-Laurent and New Brunswick will participate in the Desjardins Youth Prologue. These young people come from the René-Lévesque, the Chic-Chocs, the Phares and the Eastern Shores School Boards, as well as the Micmac communities of Listuguj and Gesgapegiag. Each team will be accompanied by a RIG athlete. They will start at 1 pm on Thursday, September 7, at the Antoine-Bernard School in Carleton-sur-Mer. They will have to complete a race of about twenty kilometers by using running, cycling, canoeing and, perhaps, another surprise discipline, in which they will have to redouble their efforts!

Presentation Webcast

Through the partnership with the René-Lévesque School Board, the Team Presentation and the closing banquet, to be respectively held on September 6 and 10, will be webcast. This way friends and family of the 160 athletes will be able to attend these intense moments.

The kick off will be given on September 7th at 1:00 pm with the Desjardins Youth Prologue.

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