5th DYNAFIT MOONtain RACES COURCHEVEL - 28 August 2012

Kaline Osaki and Frédéric Thérisod win the 5th

Once again the moon kept its appointment for this 5th stage of the DYNAFIT MOONtain RACES COURCHEVEL (DMRC). With the days getting shorter and the time-trial starts given from 8.30 pm, the 83 participants only enjoyed a few minutes of daylight before being plunged into night.

By headtorch light, the trail runners covered the 9.3 km course (100 m of elevation loss and 800 m of elevation gain), starting from Courchevel 1650 to reach the Grand Plan refuge perched in the heart of the mountain in the vallée des Avals at 2,280 m altitude, in an absolutely exceptional setting.

With 467 starts given and 377 different competitors ranked since 5 June, this night race appreciated by all is a real success, and the warm welcome of the refuge keeper Lionel Blanc and his whole team has a lot to do with it. Indeed, every full-moon Tuesday, Lionel not only prepares the soup and the finish buffet but also makes sure the competitors are comfortable by lighting small fires and putting up patio heaters and tents outside the refuge.

For this 5th stage of the DMRC, the volunteers of the organising association “Courchevel Sports Alpinisme” had taken care to place reflective marker poles at every junction, which lit up in the beam of the headtorches and so kept the runners from getting lost in the dark.

At the finish, plenty of young supporters waited for the runners, ringing bells to encourage them. Normally used to calm and solitude at that hour, the herd of cows penned at the foot of the refuge treated itself to a little late evening, enjoying the race, which was won by Frédéric Thérisod of Team Dynafit Courchevel in 51min51s ahead of Aurélien Dunand Pallaz in 53min40s and Mathieu Motsch of the club Colmar Marathon in 55min50.

Among the women, Kaline Osaki won in 1h04min16s ahead of Anne-Lise Chamiot Poncet of Team Dynafit Courchevel in 1h04min26s and Blandine Du Crest of the Club Courchevel Sports Alpinisme in 1h09min07s.

For the next and last climb on 2 October, Kilian Jornet and many other specialists of the discipline should be present to try to take the 2012 season record and pocket the €500 prize money with the Dynafit outfit at stake for the record, currently held by Julien Rancon in 47min59s and, among the women, by Stéphanie Duc in 58min28s.

For this final, which promises to be very festive, all participants who come in fancy dress will be offered free registration.