From the Nantes vineyard, Guillaume (again) completes the Diagonale des Fous

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He grew up and lived in Loroux-Bottereau (near Nantes) until he was 24, completing a professional baccalaureate and a BTS in landscaping at the Briacé high school, in Landreau.

Today, at age 30, William Salace is Lorousain again and returns from Reunion Island where he completed the famous Diagonale des Fous, in just over 42 hours.

I had no predisposition to run ultra-trails in the mountains. My passion was horse riding, which I practiced at the Vallet equestrian center.

Flight to Reunion in 2020

But a change of life in December 2020 will turn everything upside down.

“I decided to leave everything to settle in Reunion where I work as a heavy goods vehicle crane driver. I knew absolutely nothing about this island when I arrived. I have everything to discover, and very quickly I fall in love with this piece of stone lost in the middle of the Indian Ocean, also called the intense island. I then heard about trail running (national sport in Reunion) and the organization of the Grand Raid and its four races including the legendary Diagonale des Fous.”

Spectator at the start

Without any real pretension of participating in races of such a distance, Guillaume Salace began running in the mountains and became familiar with the very technical and rugged terrain of the Reunion trails, the positive and negative altitude difference and the extremely changeable climate of this island which records more than 400 microclimates!

“I am attending the Grand Raid as a spectator, admiring the physical and mental feat of the participants. In a fit of madness, or unconsciousness, I promise myself to cross this finish line one day. Time to train! Determined, I begin very strict preparation to achieve this.”

This is how last year, with an Odysséa solidarity bibthe Lorousain finds himself at the start of one of the toughest races in the world.

“The Diagonale des Fous, it made me dream as much as it terrified me. I think it takes a little more than a simple desire to run to overcome it, you have to start by learning to remain humble towards the mountain and to constantly listen to your body.”

“Never again”

He will arrive at the stage of deliverance after two days and two nights, in 46 hours 25 minutes, at 772^e place.

Like many when crossing the line, the first words are “never again”. But I think we become a little addicted to this kind of sensation, so here I am re-registering for the following year!

For this 2024 editionthe organization decides to modify the route by adding 10 km, which makes the race even harder than it was last year.

“Following my first participation, my goal was to get closer to 40 hours, but with this extension I have to revise it upwards! This year, stress management was much more complicated, probably because I knew what sauce I was going to be eaten with. I also knew that the weather conditions were not necessarily going to be on our side. But I reassured myself by thinking about my training (more than 2,000 km over the year) and the fact that I was capable of doing it. I had already done it.”

Ranked 313th this year

The cold of the night, the rain and fatigue will not get the better of the runner’s determination.

I suffered a lot from the heat on the last part, I even felt a little unwell at the 160th km, before the last descent of the Colorado, the one which leads to the Redoute stadium and that of deliverance! Despite conditions and a more complicated route than last year, I crossed the finish line and the 175 km in 42 hours 4 minutes in 313th place with great satisfaction and pride. I still say to myself “never again”, but I am already looking for my next challenge.

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