2023-06-25 18:50:00
2,110 km run along the Breton coastal path (GR34) in just 25 days and 9 hours: this is the record set on Sunday on his arrival in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique) by the “eco-adventurer” Nicolas Vandenelsken, a feat intended to warn about climate change.
“That’s it, the record is broken, by just over two days,” rejoiced the athlete, reached by telephone by AFP shortly after his arrival.
“I am relieved and happy to have made this symbolic record. There were painful moments”, like these “blisters on the feet seven or eight days ago”, he says.
Nicolas Vandenelsken had wanted to set a new record to draw attention to the climatic upheavals and the erosion of the Breton coasts, a playground for trailers to be protected: “I use my legs to alert”.
“Every year, the coastline moves, I noticed it”, with for example “a forbidden path because of erosion” on its arrival in the Pays-de-la-Loire.
“It is directly impacted by climate change, we can see it with the naked eye, and then there is also the impact on biodiversity, the problems of green algae”, adds the “eco-adventurer”.
From his sporting achievement, Nicolas Vandenelsken will “make a film to retrace everything we have seen, to challenge people and get them to take action, to get businesses and elected officials moving on climate change”, says -he.
Leaving on May 31 from Mont-Saint-Michel (Manche), the 31-year-old runner has run around 82 km a day since the start of his journey, with more than 24,400 meters of cumulative elevation on this path known for its winding course and its steep relief.
Nicolas Vandenelsken, who had already completed 110 marathons in 110 days last fall, set off from 6:30 a.m. in the morning until 9:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. in the evening. One stage even ended at one o’clock in the morning.
Armed with a few dried fruits and gourds of sugar and salt water, he only took a short half-hour break for lunch, usually after 42 km of running, the equivalent of a marathon.
The previous GR 34 crossing record was held by Jéremy Desdouets, signed in June 2021 after 27 days, 11 hours and 35 minutes of racing.
An average hiker travels the GR34 in a hundred days, at the rate of 20 km per day.
25/06/2023 18:49:57 – Rennes (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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