The consecration for Mathieu Blanchard. This Friday, October 18, the Frenchman won the Diagonale des fous, also known as the Grand Raid de la Réunion, a 175 km long ultra-trail with 10,000 m of elevation gain. Here are three things to know to get to know the 36-year-old runner better.
He won the Diagonale des fous for his first participation
As improbable as it may seem, Mathieu Blanchard triumphed on the Diagonale des fous on the occasion of his first participation. Before this 2024 edition, the Frenchman had never joined Reunion Island to compete in one of the toughest races in the world. “It was unexpected to win in my first participation, in a race of such magnitude”also delivered the runner once the finish line was crossed.
Above all, the native of Cavaillon (Vaucluse) achieved a great time, covering the 175 km in 23 h 25’02”. He arrived only 4 minutes more than Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz, winner in 2023, while the course had more kilometers in this 36e edition.
He has already participated in Koh-Lanta
Mathieu Blanchard is not only an ultra-trailer, he is also an adventurer. In October 2019, he had the opportunity to participate in the Grand Raid de La Réunion for the first time (he was also on the island), but he ultimately turned back. The reason was then unknown, until we discovered it in a TV show in 2020: Koh Lanta .
“I didn’t have time to find an argument when I left. I had a little pang in my heart, because the Diagonale des fous is six months of preparationhe confided at that precise moment. But Koh-Lanta doesn’t come around every year. My phone was taken from me during filming, I had a lot of messages when I got it back, I had to reassure everyone (laughs) ! »
During his adventure, Mathieu Blanchard was in the blue team, the one from the south of France. Although he did not finish the competition, he still described this experience as being “the adventure of a lifetime”.
Ten years ago, he didn’t run 3 km
If he ran the 175 km of the Diagonale des fous, Mathieu Blanchard could not say the same ten years ago. While he had just gone into exile in Canada, in Montreal precisely, a few months earlier, the Frenchman was gradually returning to running.
READ ALSO. The complete ranking of the Grand Raid de la Réunion won by Mathieu Blanchard
At the beginning, the ultra-trailer didn’t even run 3 km! During one of his first outings, in the Canadian cold, below -20 degrees, Blanchard did not achieve his objective. But through hard work and determination, he first ran the Montreal marathon in less than 3 hours two years later. In the end, he was able to run 175 km in less than a day. Unfailing resilience.
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