Each December since 2003 the association Ploeren Endurance (Morbihan – France) has organized a 24 run in aid of the AFM (Association Française contre les Myopathies). This event started simply as a relay run by club members but now the association is trying to create wider awareness of this round-the-clock run as a stand-alone race. This style of race is very attractive to ultra-marathon runners and each year the number of participants increases.
Anniversary
The Association will be running the 10th anniversary edition of the event on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th of December 2012. The organizing team members have set themselves the task of making the whole event bigger and better this year. Once again there will be four competitions on the menu, – individual runs of 24 hours, 12 hours and 6 hours as well as a 24 hour relay run by a team of six. But there will also be other attractions during the weekend. Local sports clubs will be coming to run their own endurance and demonstration activities in aid of the Telethon alongside the extreme endurance runners and to the rhythm set by musicians, singers and dancers.
A test run
Even though the four runs are not championship qualification races, they will take place on a 1000 metre circuit which is the standard for this type of event. The participants will pass through the Spi hall on each tour and will be fitted with timing chips so that they can follow their progress on an electronic screen. All these factors will enable aficionados of ultra-endurance running to test themselves on a single or double turn of the clock.
24 hour specialists
Since its creation, the Ploeren Endurance 24 hours has attracted runners of a very high standard. René Heintz, Jean-François Harruis, Christian Efflam, Jimmy Boubakeur and Frédéric Bertrand have all participated but many other specialists of the discipline have swelled the competitors’ ranks. The 2011 edition of the event saw the best ever participation with about a hundred runners in the three races. The organisers are delighted to see the amount they are able to give for research into neuromuscular diseases increase each year as they hand over the entire sum received from entry fees and donations. This year the ultra-marathon specialists will once again be present. Christian Dilmi, the Orleans runner who is twice winner of the 177km Raide du Golfe (2011 and 2012) has already announced his participation and will be one of the favourites.
Inscriptions and information
For more information and to sign up for one of the races please visit the site:
http://www.ploeren-endurance.fr/index.php