“The hardest part was participating”

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Quadriplegic, the former RC Vannes rugby player Pierre Tarance completed the Grand Raid of the Ultra Marin of the Gulf of Morbihan in 2024. He should be present again on the Gulf trails in 2025. According to him, the biggest difficulty was not the race, but being able to participate in it.

“The hardest part was participating”

From a challenge between friends 2019Pierre Tarance wanted to take part in the legendary Ultra Marin.

“The hardest part was participating. I was told “no”. A trainer told me that you are not born Breton, you become one. The Landais that I am has become Breton. And he's a little stubborn. My friends helped me not to give up. Elected officials were in my opinion,” he rewinds during the Trophies for the best Vannes athletes.

A 160 km feat

After a few adventures, he finally gets his bib. Time for training:

We thought it was easy. But after 500 meters, we said to ourselves: We're not at the end yet. We thought about it. I got back into sport. I lost 10 kilos.

With the volunteers of his new association Pierre qui Roule, they scouted the coastal paths. “We were told that it was not possible to do it. We therefore identified all the barriers of the GR34 to prove it,” he reveals. Pierre Tarance and the porters will have to skip 15 kilometers compared to the 175 km route.

In preparation, they did the “Kerpape Noz Trail” for the Telethon.

Pierre Tarance and his joelette* are also present at the Trails des Remparts (see video above). And comes D-Day during the Great Raid:

We covered 160 km* in less than 25 hours. We left around 30 hours. We were faster than the music. So, we had more aperitifs (laughs).

A new challenge in 2025

What does he remember? “My butt holds 25 hours of joelette. My mind remembers a great human adventure and new friends,” he says, highlighting difficult moments before the race:

Covid-19 has been hard to live with. My friends wanted to protect me.

The Pierre qui Roule association plans to align itself with Ultra Marin again:

We are preparing a trail in the Pyrenees (Euskal Trails 2025) to train. We are going to do the Ultra Marin again, this time completing the 175 km. We can say that we (really did it).

“It’s quite funny, because the organization came back to us so that we could participate. It was the opposite of last year. This means that we have won our “barrier” on disability. People with mobility issues have their place on the Ultra Marin. We said “yes” and we will participate in inclusive projects with them. We won our battle! », adds Pierre Tarance.

*In a joelette, it was impossible to complete the entire 170 km route. Good to know: contacted after the presentation of the next edition of Ultra Marin, the organizer did not wish to comment.

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