On March 19, 2022, trail running was invited in the capital. Indeed, lovers of 80, 45, 30, 18km trails or Nordic walking met for the 15th edition of the Paris EcoTrail.
A trail in Paris? You will agree that it is not commonplace. And yet, nearly 11,000 runners took to the trails of Paris in a festive and friendly atmosphere.
Among them, the elite runner Cédric Golea, member of the Holyfat 2022 Team. Accustomed to mountain ultra-trails, he chose to start his 2022 season by completely leaving his comfort zone. 80km with "only" 1500m of positive altitude difference, a race that did not fit his profile at all. But this choice was voluntary, to engage on a rolling race to work a little on his weak point. Speed.
He was not disappointed. Almost 14km/h average speed on the first 25km, that's what we call a fast start.
Unfortunately, he suffered a breakdown around km 35. Not being used to his fast races, it was difficult to predict how his body would react to this intensity. The strategy for refuelling is very different from the 20+ hour mountain ultras. For such an intense race, it can be interesting to take more carbohydrates alternating with lipids brought by Holyfat products (our energy bars or sugar-free purees)
Digestion is also a factor to take into account that varies a lot depending on the intensity of the race. On this side, Cédric did not encounter any problem and was delighted to note that Holyfat products were perfectly digestible whatever the intensity.
Despite these small complications, he finally completed the EcoTrail in 6h57 and finished 1st in his M1 category. A more than honorable performance that allowed him to learn a lot and will certainly help him for the next events.