6th DYNAFIT MOONtain RACES COURCHEVEL - 2 October 2012

Stéphanie Duc and Frédéric Perrin win the last of the 2012 season.

The 2012 season of the Dynafit MOONtain Races Courchevel (DMRC) ended on a high this Tuesday 2 October. The organisers of the association “Courchevel Sports Alpinisme” can be pleased today with the success of these night-time trail climbs of 9.3 km (100 m of elevation loss and 800 m of elevation gain) linking Courchevel 1650 to the Grand Plan refuge, held every full-moon Tuesday evening since 5 June, with 543 starts and 421 ranked runners.

Although the course distance stayed the same throughout the season, this original night race, which began in spring, evolved over the season as the days shortened.

The long days at the start of the season, which let participants start in daylight at 8.30 pm and watch night arrive after a few kilometres of racing, shortened at each meeting, and on this last stage of the DMRC the 76 participants set off in the dark from the very start. Once again the weather conditions were right and the moon was not long in showing its face, adding to the particularly festive atmosphere of this last meeting with a good number of participants in fancy dress. Generally, on full-moon nights it is werewolves that prowl, but on Tuesday evening, in the vallée des Avals, you could spot a gorilla, a chick, a pink rabbit, a cat, a cowboy, a convict, a Hawaiian, some Bigoudens and plenty of other outfits of all kinds.

At the finish, Lionel Blanc, the refuge keeper, had once again thought of everything with his team to welcome all these people and warm up the troops with his famous cauldron soup and a giant ratatouille. Some Bretons had also come to take part, arms laden with crêpes, which the other participants were able to enjoy at 2,280 m altitude.

In this joyful atmosphere, Stéphanie Duc of Team Running Conseil won in 1h04min00s ahead of Kaline Osaki in 1h10min34s and Elise De Rancourt of ASPTT Annecy in 1h12min51s.

Among the men, Frédéric Perrin won in 57min41s ahead of Gilles Tresserre in 1h00min21s and Grégory Acs in 1h01min14s.

Northern Alps regional Skyrunning title and DYNAFIT MOONtain RACES 2012 record for Stéphanie Duc and Julien Rancon

543 starts were given and 421 different participants were ranked in this 1st edition of the DMRC, held every full-moon Tuesday evening as a time trial (5 June, 3 and 31 July, 28 August and 2 October). Another opportunity had also been given to runners to be part of the DMRC overall standings at the national mountain running challenge on 21 July.

At the end of these 6 stages, which brought together a good number of renowned athletes such as Ludovic Pelle, Arnaud Bonin, Cyrille Gardet, Geoffrey Gras, Cédric Fleureton, Frédéric Thérisod, Marc Maroud, Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz, Joël Pellicier, Laurent Brochard, Mireia Miro Varela, Julia Combe, Céline Jeannier, Kaline Osaki, Anne-Lise Chamiot-Poncet, Caroline Freslon-Bette, Catherine Dubois and many others, it was the reigning French mountain running champion, Julien Rancon of Team New Balance, who took the 2012 DMRC record in 47min59s. Among the women, it was the French short trail champion, Stéphanie Duc of Team Running Conseil, who set the 2012 DMRC record in 58min28s. A €500 cheque, a complete Dynafit outfit, a Silva headtorch and a pair of X-Rider sports glasses were given to the two winners.

As this competition is on the regional Skyrunning calendar, winning the 2012 DMRC also meant that Julien Rancon and Stéphanie Duc were presented with the title of Northern Alps regional Skyrunning champion.