he runs the 205 km of the Infernale des Vosges in 48 hours

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In this family from Guérande (Loire-Atlantique), we run or tour the world (no need to introduce Annie, world record woman for Ultra-trails)

Meeting this time with Guy, the youngest of the Martins, returned from the Infernale des Vosges, a trail of 205 km and 10,000 meters of altitude difference.

Bananas to keep you going

Setting off on September 13, 2024 with 6,500 participants, Guy Martin, who lives in Assérac, near Guérande, completed the trail in 48 hours, non-stop, without sleeping.

I ate 25 bananas on the route and a lot of soup at the aid stations, on this large loop in the Vosges massif, up to Ballon d’Alsace through the forests.

“It’s magical”

This is not Guy’s first attempt. In 1999, he decided to run to quit smoking. After numerous marathons which he completed in 2 hours 45 minutes, since 2010, he has chosen major trails such as the tour of the Gulf of Morbihan, 175 km, or the Grand raid of the Pyrenees, 160 km. “I left the races on the tarmac for the trails, in nature. I discover the landscapes, the countryside, the forests. It’s magical. I do one big race a year, and other, more modest ones, for example on the Pink Granite Coast in Côtes-d’Armor,” he confides to the Echo of the Presqu’île.

“Make myself happy”

Guy Martin is not looking for the score.

“No matter my place in the race, I take my time, I’m here to have fun.”

This is at the cost of demanding training, “all year round, after work, 21 km by the sea, three evenings a week near Pen-Bé and Pont Mahé, outdoors, even under the fleet and the cold”, and once a week, in La Roche-Bernard (Morbihan), “to train in the mountains, even if it’s not like in the Pyrenees or the Alps, but at least there is a little difference in altitude,” he quips.

I train without a coach, without a particular diet and I love beer.

Wolf howls

What he particularly likes is “running alone in the woods. In the Vosges, I was alone for 27 km, in a forest, at night, in the dark, attentive to the markings, every 50 m” (during trails, far from the start, runners can be very far from each other others, Editor’s note).

During the crossing of the Jura in 2022, he was able to hear the howls of wolves at night.

Guy Martin is planning another race at the end of the year, 24 hours in Brittany. He would also like to redo the Pink Granite Coast.

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