Grand Raid de La Réunion: The Story of a Legend

The Grand Raid de La Réunion is unquestionably one of the most iconic ultra-trail events on the calendar, thanks to its distinctive character, incomparable atmosphere and the difficulty of its five races. The best-known and most feared of them is the Diagonale des Fous, which crosses the island from south to north over roughly 100 miles, depending on the edition. This year, it is set at 180 km with 10,200 m of elevation gain. And despite the hardship, it remains a celebration.

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The event was the brainchild of Jean-Jacques Mollaret, a former member of the Chamonix high-mountain gendarmerie rescue unit (PGHM). Having lived on the island for several years, he drew inspiration from the Cross du Mont-Blanc to launch the Cross du Piton des Neiges in 1988, the first mountain race held on Réunion.

Convinced that it was possible to go farther and cross the island from one side to the other, he joined forces with friends and, after scouting a route using sections of the GRR2 (Grande Randonnée R2 long-distance trail), created the Marche des Cimes in 1989. It crossed Réunion in its entirety. Five hundred runners covered the 112 km and 5,400 m of elevation gain. A year later, the race was renamed the Grande Traversée (126 km, 5,000 m of elevation gain), with almost twice as many runners. In 1993, it became the Course de la Pleine Lune (129 km, 6,600 m of elevation gain). Fewer than 450 runners started. In 1994, it took its definitive name, the Grand Raid (130 km, 6,900 m of elevation gain). A journalist nicknamed it the “Diagonale des Fous”, a name that would last forever and perfectly capture the race’s difficulty.

Réunion’s terrain is highly specific to the island and bears little resemblance to the runnable trails found at the UTMB Mont-Blanc, for example. The trails are littered with roots, rocks, paving stones and uneven steps carved into earth or rock. On this course, people often say you can move faster uphill than downhill. Then there are the microclimates: over just 200 metres of elevation gain, you can go from stifling heat to biting cold, sometimes with dense fog thrown in for good measure.

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In these constantly changing conditions, the body takes a beating, and not only from the sharp terrain. Fortunately, runners tackling this inferno can count on the incredible, indescribable support of the local population, which has turned the Grand Raid into part of the island’s heritage over the years. Around every bend in the trail, locals are there to cheer you on, sometimes seeming to appear from nowhere.

To triumph here, or even simply reach the finish, a few precautions are essential. First, runners have to contend with oppressive humidity and heat, which limit effort and force a slower pace. Once you enter the cirques, the slopes become steeper and more slippery, often covered in roots, rocks and other hazards that demand constant focus, especially on descents. And on Réunion’s races, poles are banned to protect the trails, a key factor to account for in training.

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It is also worth working on surges, so you can switch back into race mode when the terrain allows it. Steep, technical, long and hot: that is the training recipe if you want to survive the Diagonale des Fous. The GR20 in midsummer, for example, can be excellent preparation, as can the Pyrenees, the Beaufortain slopes and the trails of the Caroux massif, which Antoine Guillon knows by heart. He is one of the Grand Raid’s leading figures, with a win in 2015 and seven podium finishes.

The Grand Raid’s roll of honour speaks volumes. For years, this highly specific race was effectively the preserve of local runners, accustomed to its treacherous and distinctive terrain.

Gilles Trousselier (two wins), Jean Philippe Marie-Louise (four wins), Patrick Maffre (three wins), Paul-Cléo Libelle (two wins), Richeville Esparon (two wins), Thierry Techer (two wins), Thierry Chambry, and Pascal Parny (two wins), all locals, dominated the first 20 editions of the Diagonale des Fous before the stars of modern trail running began taking over the island in the late 2000s.

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Julien Chorier (two wins), Kilian Jornet (two wins), Benoît Girondel (two wins) and François d’Haene (four wins) are among them. Ludovic Pommeret, Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz, Benat Marmissolle, Mathieu Blanchard and Baptiste Chassagne have since joined them in the record books.

Among the women, heroines such as Corinne Favre (three wins), Karine Herry (two wins), Nathalie Mauclair (two wins), Andrea Huser (two wins), Emilie Lecomte (two wins), Jocelyne Pauly, Emilie Maroteaux, Manon Bohard, Blandine l’Hirondel and Americans Katie Schide and Courtney Dauwalter have yet to eclipse Marcelle Puy, the local icon who won the event five times, in the hearts of Réunion’s people.

Today, the Grand Raid de La Réunion offers five race formats for every level, from the flagship Diagonale for the most experienced runners to the Mascareignes, alongside the Zembrocal Trail relay and the Métis Trail, added to the calendar in 2024.

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