Hardrock champ repeats at Reunion Island 100-miler
The race, which involves 10,000m of climbing, started at 9 p.m. Thursday local time
Photo by:
Imaz Press
On Friday evening, two of this year’s fastest and most accomplished ultra-trail athletes in the world took top honours at Grand Raid de la Réunion (also known as the Diagonale des Fous, or “Diagonal of Fools”), the 167.3-km mountain race on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, between Madagascar and Mauritius. The 2023 Hardrock 100 champion, France’s Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz, and last year’s UTMB champion, Katie Schide of the U.S., were the first male and female athletes to arrive at the finish. Dunand-Pallaz is only the third athlete to win both the Hardrock 100 and Diagonale des Fous in the same year (the other two are Courtney Dauwalter in 2022 and Julien Chorier in 2011).
Dunand-Pallaz, 30, led from gun to tape in his first appearance at the race, which two-time Quebec Mega Trail champion Kelsey Hogan described as “brutally challenging” in a feature about her experience at last year’s race published in Canadian Running’s trail special issue. The course crosses the island from south to north, while runners climb a shocking 10,000m; and the race starts at 9 p.m., so the first eight hours are spent in darkness. Dunand-Pallaz finished in 23 hours, 21 minutes and 23 seconds, almost an hour ahead of his compatriot, Germain Grangier, who finished second at UTMB in September; Grangier was again second on Friday, in 24:00:54. Jean-Philippe Tschumi of Switzerland was third, in 24:28:36.
Schide, who finished 11th overall, crossed the line in 26:34:26. At the time of publication she was the only female finisher; Camille Bruyas of France was in second position and Emilie Maroteaux, also of France, was in third position.
Francois D’Haene, who has won this race four times, managed an eighth-place finish Friday in 29:12:41, after dealing with a foot fracture and hip injury for the past several months.
Aurélien Dunand-Pallaz wins the 2023 #DiagonaleDesFous in 23:21:23!
Having won the @hardrock100 earlier this year, Aurélien joins @courtdauwalter (2022) and Julien Chorier (2011) as the only people to have won @GrandRaid974 and @hardrock100 in the same calendar year.
— Liam (@aidstationfireb) October 20, 2023
Thanks to the race’s close relationship with Quebec Mega Trail, there are a few Canadians on the course, including 2023 Quebec Mega Trail champion Kevin Biggs and 2022 Quebec Mega Trail second-place finisher Jeff Cauchon.
For full results, click here.
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