Act 3 - DYNAFIT MOONtain RACES COURCHEVEL - 12 August 2014

New provisional record for Jules Lapierre and stage victory for Stéphanie Duc in the 3rd stage of the Dynafit MOONtain Races Courchevel.

On Tuesday 8 July, the organisers of the association Courchevel Sports Alpinisme had had to cancel the 2nd stage of the Dynafit MOONtain Races Courchevel (DMRC) because of wintry weather and snow that had covered the last kilometres of this 9.3 km course (100 m of descent and 800 m of elevation gain) before the finish at the refuge located at an altitude of 2,300 m. Erik Clavery, 2011 trail running world champion, had taken advantage of more favourable weather the day before this cancellation to take on a major challenge: setting off hiking/trail running from the start of the DMRC, of which he is the patron, and reaching Nice via the GR5 in 6 days. After 330 km and 18,007 m of elevation gain, Erik arrived on the shores of the Mediterranean with a cumulative total of 56h09min of effort.

This Tuesday 12 August, the weather was capricious again, with heavy rain showers at the start of this night trail time trial, whose first start was given at 8.30 pm. But that did not discourage the 81 participants, who after a few strides were lucky enough to see the raindrops dissipate in the beam of their headlamps. Unfortunately it was impossible to see the full moon, hidden by the cloud layer, but the friendly finish at the refuge with the traditional soup from the cauldron prepared by Emilie Roux and Bernard Chardon delighted all the participants.

This autumnal weather did not displease Jules Lapierre, who took the new provisional record in 51min50s, previously held by Clovis Dalban-Moreynas, who drops to second place in the overall standings by only 5 seconds. Nicolas Perrier of the ESF Chamrousse set the best time in the ESF challenge standings and took second place of the evening in 52min21s. Third position went to David Barranger in 52min39s.

In the women’s race, the French trail running champion, Stéphanie Duc of the Terre de Running / Mizuno team, had also come for the record, but this time the conditions were not in her favour. Stéphanie won in 1h02min16s, but this time did not allow her to get ahead of Corail Bugnard of the Tecnica team, who with an excellent time in the first stage keeps first place in the provisional overall standings in 1h00min42s. This time, Corail also failed to improve her record and finished second in 1h04min40s, leaving Julie Soyer behind, who completed the podium in 1h08min04s. The youngest participant, Justine Tonso, born in 2000, of the Montagne Club Vésubien, finished just off the podium in 1h08min19s and Corine Chauchaix of the ESF Arêches won among the instructors in the ESF standings.

In the provisional “Region Series Alpes 2014” Skyrunning standings, Charly Allerme leads with 89 points and Corail Bugnard with 67 points.

The 4th stage and last climb of the season will take place on Tuesday 9 September, and for the occasion registration will be free for all participants who come in fancy dress, and at the end of the event the season’s record holders, man and woman, will be presented with a cheque for €500 as well as the Lionel Blanc trophy. The title of Region Series Alpes 2014 Skyrunning will be awarded to the man and woman with the most points, with a cheque of €150 for the winners, €100 for the runners-up and €50 for the third places. Many prizes will be drawn by lot and the soup from the cauldron will also be on the menu. If the weather allows, to close the season with a flourish it will be possible to admire a full moon brighter than usual. This phenomenon, called a "Super Moon", is extremely rare, so if you want to gaze at this star at 2,300 metres of altitude with a view of the glaciers, see you on 9 September.