5th TIME'S A CHARM for LUDOVIC POMMERET at DIAGONALE des FOUS

Published : 11/23/2021 - Categories : Stories

After a year of hiatus, over 20,000 fanatics lined the streets to see 3,000 runners take to the start of the 160km / 9,400mD + race, commencing in the South of the Island has long challenged ultrarunners with its notoriously tough terrain. It´ s 2021’s edition lived up to that reputation.

Réunion Island is a French department located in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar and the race is traditionally run over the Island’s most mountainous ground. Beginning at the town of Saint-Pierre at the south end of the island, runners made the northwest cut across the island, with plenty of climbing and descending on steep, technical terrain before reaching the finish line in the capital city of Saint-Denis. The true highlight of the race is traversing Réunion Island’s remote Cirque du Mafate, a high altitude volcanic ´furnace´ that's only accessible by foot.

With extreme conditions in the Mafate mountain range taking their toll, it was a real case of the last men standing as the temperatures reached 40-45 degrees celsius during the heat of the day. There is no one with as much experience and that knows the course and how to best manage the climatic changes of one of the toughest 100 miles races on the International Ultra Trail Calendar, than Ludovic Pommeret. The 46 year old Frenchman, after finishing 2nd on three occasions in 2014 and 2019, finally got his moment. He gradually worked his way up from 15th to join a very strong Daniel Jung (ITA) around the 108k mark after nearly 15 hours of racing.

The duo continued to run together for the remainder of the race, crossing the line arm-in-arm to claim victory together. It was a beautiful and well deserved moment in front of thousands of fantical Islanders and Diagonale des Fous fans, for not only both runners...but for Pommeret it was extra special.

Check the complete route here

Through the lens of Ryan Thrower, Dylan unfolds every detail of this new race experience, from the beauty to the insanity. The always calm, ever confident Portland native, he takes us on a rollercoaster journey through the true tests of physical and mental capabilities in an Ultra. This very raw account of Dylan´s Diagonale des Fous experience will leave you breathless. The documentary BEGIN AGAIN, will be screened exclusively on Sunday December 5th at 9:00am (PST) 6:00pm (CET) on Dylan´s Youtube Page.

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¨In all my years of ultrarunning, I’ve never encountered a race as complicated and difficult as what I experienced. Simultaneously disappointed and proud. Around the halfway point, I was feeling confidently on track for a great performance. It’s wild how quickly things spiraled out of control. Staggering up an impossibly steep climb in the fully exposed midday sun and completely out of fluids, my body came to a screeching halt. After a 40min break to cool and rehydrate, I resumed forward progress because the remoteness of my location gave me no other choice. The next eight hours were complete hell. Physical pain and existential dread accompanied every step along a course where every mile is demonically hard. But goddamnit I made it through.¨

Dylan Bowman

Meanwhile the 1st place finisher in Diagonale des Fous from 2019, Gregoire Curmer decided to take on the 105km / 6140 mD+ Trail du Bourbon. After finishing 8th at UTMB alongside teammate Diego ´Zpeedy´ Pazos, he was ready to add another result to his growing palmares. While he admits it wasn't easy with the heat of the day really testing him as the sun came up when he passed through Chemin des Anglais. He never had time to relax, as the chase from behind was ever present throughout the entire race, as Thomas Balabaud kept the gap around 15-20 minutes. Nonetheless the Chef from Chamonix, sealed another victory, extending his great tropical island record.