Location: La Roche en Ardenne, Ardenne, Belgium: https://goo.gl/maps/VwkGfeVtruvA3ccE6

Race Description

The start is from the Hotel Floreal and the first 800m are on the asphalt road, slowly uphill. After entering the footpath on the right, the first ascent begins; the harder part is between km 1.3 & km 1.6. Afterwards the ascent is easier and continues until km 3.4. After few flat meters, a fast and easy downhill begins. A sharp curve on the left at km 5 ends the downhill and here begins a footpath along a small river. Along the footpath, wet stones, wet roots and fallen trees require special attention. Around km 8.2 a second, but short, uphill starts. It is about 1 km long and it leads to a slippery downhill that ends at the banks of the river L´Ourthe. A couple of more km to reach another ascent: the first meters are the harder then, after entering a dense vegetation footpath, it becomes easier. At the top, the footpath is nervously proceeding through stones and trees for less than 1 km. Then a steep downhill begins to reach again the river L´Ourthe at its bottom. However immediately a new ascent begins: this time is longer but easier and it ends with the first refreshment point at km 14. The following km is mostly downhill leading again near the banks of the river. The footpath is covered by the wet stones and thus very technical.

Around km 15.5 a short but very steep uphill begins. Here few chains are helpful to complete the climb. Again, immediately after the top, it starts a short and slippery downhill, leading again to the river. The next km follows the banks until a clear signal that invites to cross the river. The first meters are characterized by deep water up to the hips. Then the level of the water decreases and it is easier to land on the other side of the river. Another km following the banks of the river until the fifth ascent of the day begins. The uphill is not so hard but the following downhill at km 19 is very difficult and technical. Once it is completed, there is only half km to reach another ascent; this is longer than the last one and ends around km 20.5. The next 2 km are runnable, leaving for a while the area near the river towards the fields of Hubermont. Once the next downhill begins, the footpath is again closer to the river. At about km 24, it begins a section of about 5 km with easy footpath and a mix of easier uphill and downhills. At the end of this section, there is the second and last refreshment point. It is very important because soon after it begins the last steep uphill of the track: almost 200 hundred meter of elevation gain in about 800 meters. When it ends, there are about 3 km to use all the remaining energies to run as much as possible. The footpath is larger and easy to run. After the label of the last km, the last downhill begins. As all the previous, it requires a special attention because it is slippery. After few meters from its ends, there is the second crossing of the river. It is very close to the finish line and therefore photographer and cheering people are there waiting for the runners. The last few meters of the race are along the path, which leads to the garden of the Hotel, where the finish line is located.

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Race Information

Official Route:  https://tracedetrail.fr/index.php/en/trace/trace/49095

Distance: 33.41 km

Cumulative gain +: 1450 M

Cumulative Loss-: 1466 M

Max Altitude: 421 M

Start Date & Time: 10/08/2019 at 11 a.m.

Start point: Hotel Floreal, Avenue de Villez 6, 6980, La Roche En Ardenne

Cost: 30 € (0.9 €/km)             

Air Temperature (at start): 17-18°C

Weather conditions: cloudy (partially windy)

Dominant Ground and status: footpath, wet (caused by the strong rain of the former days)

Technical difficulties: – river crossing at  Km 17 and at Km 33;  steep technical uphill at Km 15.5; steep technical downhill at Km 9.5, at Km 16 and at km 18.8

Refreshment points: two (first at Km 14; second at km 28)

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Race Results

Official Results: https://my5.raceresult.com/132821/results?lang=nl#3_60B8B1

Starters: 440

Finishers: 429

Absolute position: 19 

Absolute Male position: 18

Age position (M40): 4

Ratio my personal position/starters (%): 4.3

My time: 3H32´38´´

My Team name: none

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Race Equipment

Shoes: RAIDLIGHT REVOLUTIV (Size: UK 9 / EU 43; Color: BLACK/BLUE)

Shoes km at start: 11 km (brand new shoes!!!)

Anklet: Aptonia Decathlon (one per foot)

Socks: THYO SPECIAL TRAIL (Size: 41-43; Color: BLACK/ORANGE)

T-Shirt:  RAIDLIGHT XP FIT 3D (Size: M; Color: DARK BLUE)

Shorts: RAIDLIGHT TRAIL RAIDER SHORT (Size: M; Color: DARK BLUE)

Backpack: SALOMON S/LAB SENSE ULTRA 8 (Size: M; Color: BLUE)

Drink Equipment: – SALOMON HYDRAPAK SOFT FLASK 500 ML SPEED (Quantity: 2) – SALOMON HYDRAPAK SPEEDCUP (Quantity:1) – PRO ACTION MINERAL PLUS ENDURANCE (Flavor: ORANGE)

Food & Gels: – OVERSTIM´S UTMB BAR (Quantity: 1; Flavor: MANGO & GINGER) – OVERSTIM´S ANTIOXIDANT GEL (Quantity: 1; Flavor: CITRON) – OVERSTIM´S ENERGIX GEL (Quantity: 3; Flavor: CITRON) – OVERSTIM´S COUP DE FOUET GEL (Quantity: 1; Flavor: MOJITO)

Race belts: SPORTS AKILEINE

GPS/Clock: SUUNTO AMBIT 2 BLACK

Headwear: BUFF (Sbarua Trail 2016)

Glasses: KALENJI

Trail running Sticks: NOT USED

Headlamp: NOT USED

Wind/rain jacket: NOT USED

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Additional Information

If you want more information or technical details related to this event, please do not hesitate to contact me or comment below.

Other articles and reviews about Trail Running races at the following link: Trail Running Races | EmigranTrailer.

Kind Regards

Andrea De Filippo

Update: 09/08/2020