Ultra Spirit & Anomadventures | A Human Adventure
Sponsored by Café du Cycliste
Ultra Spirit is an ultra-trail like no other, placing emphasis on team-work, sustainability and experience, rather than just racing. Couple Carline and François D’Haene are the creators of the event, now in its second year. A three-day ‘human adventure’ over 100km, Ultra Spirit takes place in the Beaufortain Massif in the Haute-Savoie Alps and consists of teams of three runners who accrue points rather than race for time in order to compete.
There is a playful element to proceedings, where competition gives way to friendship and enjoyment, whilst still running, walking, climbing and laughing your socks off. Café du Cycliste ambassadors, Tom and Anouche AKA Anomadventures are currently editing a documentary called Ultra Naturel, involving Ultra Spirit and a number of other subjects in the ultra running and adventure world. Ahead of the release of their film here is their report on this year’s Ultra Spirit.
It's not a one-day race with a ranking, but three days of trail running for a total distance of around 100km in the highly technical terrain of the Beaufortai. There are activities throughout the day and a bivouac at an altitude of over 2000m at Beaufort, in an exceptional region that we hadn't yet discovered. We arrived in the sunshine on Friday at the Gymnase de Beaufort, where the runners were welcomed.
We didn't know it, but the event really brought everyone together. From Belgian mountain-racing enthusiasts to the world's greatest champions like Katie Schide, Camille Bruyas and of course Jim Walmsley, this year's UTMB winner. We were very impressed by the closeness of everyone and the humility of the world's greatest runners, with whom we shared meals. And what food it was, we should add. The emphasis on local cuisine was everywhere, and we enjoyed ourselves throughout the event.
Francois, who was in charge of marking out the route and running back and forth between the groups was also there to chip in. The atmosphere was always so friendly and the encounters with are always unexpected. We met legends such as Kilian Bron and Michel Lanne, and had some fascinating conversations about the meaning of sport and competition. We talked on the importance of the link with nature in outdoor sports, and how the event has a ban on mobile devices and encourages sustainable transport to base camp.
On Sunday it was already time to head back to Beaufort and enjoy the sunrise over the Pierra Menta opposite our camp. Our bodies were tired after two days of racing, but the atmosphere was as festive as ever. Michelin-starred chef Jean Sulpice took care of breakfast at the top of the Col de la Forclaz, under 10cm of snow.It was a magical, timeless scene. Ultra-trailers drink beer and party like everyone else of course and the most successful game was the Beer Mile: run up a hill, downing beers along the way.
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