Ultra runner Mathieu Blanchard recovered nicely from a disappointing performance at this year's UTMB with a resounding victory at the punishing La Diagonale des Fous 100-mile race over the weekend.
The French-Canadian ultra runner DNF'd at the Mont Blanc race in August, after making the podium twice since 2021 and coming fourth last year, but this weekend he sought and found redemption on Reunion Island and took the top spot in 23:25:02. French runner Manon Bohard led the women's race in 31:49:55.
Translating as "the diagonal of fools," the race crosses Reunion Island, a French province that lies about 100 miles south of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. With 33,000 feet of elevation gain, the brutal course is considered one of the hardest footraces in the world, taking runners up the Piton de La Fournaise massif, an active volcano.
"I came here with no pretense, no ambition to perform, just with the desire to have an extraordinary adventure... And what an adventure!" writes Blanchard on Instagram following his victory.
"Trails tested me: dizzy descents, endless climbs, and that mud... It was stiff, technical, difficult... everything that I love. "
No word yet on what trail running shoes the Salomon runner wore to slay the course, but from the photos, it looks likely that he once again relied on his Salomon S/Lab Genesis (the same ones Courtney Dauwalter has worn to dominate four 100-milers this year).
Le Diagonale des Fous is the longest of several races that take place on the island simultaneously, collectively known as Le Grand Raid de la Réunion and it's highly revered by the world's best ultra runners.
Runners have 66 hours to complete the race, which begins at 9 p.m. so while overnight lows are in the 60s, the competitors take off with their headlamps on and climb Notre Dame de la Paix in the dark.
Last year, Katie Schide won the women's race, calling it "an experience you have to live/survive/endure to truly understand " and in 2022, Courtney Dauwaulter took gold in a stunning 21:37:36. Kilian Jornet has won the race twice, in 2010 and 2012 and Francoise D'Haene won it four times in five years.
