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Benjamin PEIGNE, from Team Envol Bretagne, gives us a summary of Laffrey’s Swimrunman. He explains to us his race but also those of the members of Team Envol What a joy to attend a swimrun event again!
This weekend was scheduled the SwimrunRun series by HEAD events at the large lake of Laffrey, south of Grenoble. An exceptional start list for the occasion following the cancellation of the ÖtillÖ World Championships. Some of the best French teams are there.
A strict health protocol had been put in place by the organisers. This was perfectly applied and orchestrated by the organisation once again amazing. No less than 800 competitors started on the 3 formats offered by the organisation: The sprint (12.20km RUN / 2.55km SWIM), the Classic (18.30km RUN / 3.80km SWIM) and the Vertical ( 24.30km RUN / 6.30km SWIM) – Merit Race ÖtillÖ.
Team ENVOL was strongly represented with 10 teams (9 in the Vertical format and 1 in the Classic). We meet as usual the day before for the pre-race briefing. What a pleasure to meet again, to discuss the race, to laugh and share our fears about what awaits us the next day.
On the performance side, on the Classic, Alexandre DUMOULIN is associated with Raphaël JULIO who was doing his first swimrun. Both ex-swimmers, they were able to do well from the first swim. Managing the rest of the race, they won this race in 2h30 with 18 minutes ahead of their pursuers. “I really enjoyed this hilly and mostly wild course. Running in front was very stimulating for us. We had 2 or 3 technical problems which turned out to be anecdotal but quite funny.”
On the Vertical format, an epic end of the race awaits the participants. After a long swim of 2500m, a run of 3.3 km with 200m of positive elevation takes the competitors to the vertical kilometre of the Grand Serre, 1000m of vertical drop for 1800m long, an average slope of 52% which has the reputation of be the one, see the toughest KV in the world.
In this little game, it is the duo Alexis CHARRIER / Sabina RAPELLI (Team ENVOL / VIGOR LIGORNETTO) which ignites the race and wins in Mixed class in 4:42, achieving at the same time the 4th scratch time. They told us with: “We are very happy to have been able to participate in this event, particularly due to the current Covid situation. We felt very well from the beginning to the end. After the first swim, we were in the lead of the mixed category and stayed on top till the end. To efficiently manage our energy, we decided to divide the course into three parts: swimrun up to the SwimRunMan village, the long 2.5km swim and the vertical km. We knew that we would need to push throughout the first section whilst keeping energy for the vertical. We had the luck to be able to share the first two parts of the course with our french swimrunnner friends, which help us both mentally and physically. The adventure got harder as we got to the vertical alone in an intense fog, with little to no visibility. Emotions were high when the finish line appeared in front of us after a long hour of pushing up the vertical kilometre, even more so when we realised that Alexis’ mom and her friend had made the effort to go up to the summit. The walk / run back down was as intense as the uphill! “
Alexis Charrier and Sabina Rapelli flying to the 4th place overall
Behind, the team led by Cédric FLEURETON and Albane BOSC snatched a nice 15th place in 5:01. Then comes a nice group shot, almost in the same minute for 36.37 and 38th place for the teams of Annabelle DIETRE and Emmanuel CHARPENTIER, of Marine BEAURY and Emily COMYN and Team Envol Bretagne of Benjamin PEIGNE and Paul PITHON. For Marine and Emily, this was their first race together, a great success as they took second place in the women’s race. “Competing for the victory for 4h30 and this from the start of the race, the fight was very intense, they had the same level as us in swimming, in running we were better on the rolling sectors but they passed us during the The victory is played in the KV, despite the advance taken over the 3kms, they gradually overtake us. What helped us at the end of the KV is to see our team … the team take off Brittany, we finished together and it’s good for the mind “
2nd in woman category for Marine Beaury and Emily Comyn
On the Bretons side, a contrasting race. A mixture between the satisfaction of the first part of the race mastered and the loss of time following the failure of Benjamin in the KV which wastes time and 13 places in the final classification. “Ideally placed at the foot of the last difficulty in 23rd place, we adopt a” fast “walk on the first slopes at 35%. Paul is in great shape, I hang on his belt to go as fast as possible. The sensations are less and less good, after 300m of positive elevation, I lose all my energy … the hypoglycemia is there, it must be managed. Paul puts himself in tractor mode, he pulls me, pushes me, encourages me, motivates me, … It’s tough morally but you have to hang on. A long Stations of the Cross, the effort is violent. I give everything. Marine and Emily join us, we will finish this event together. Exhausted and chilled by the 7 degrees at the top. “
Benjamin Peigne and Paul Pithon fighting for the ranking points
Claudia HILLE and Arnd HILLE 50th in 5:47 Yanis LINGE and Clement THERRILLION 67th in 6:18 For Team ENVOL JEFF – BENOIT 73rd in 6h30: “‘Another great race with Jeff! We had planned to do the race in 6.30am and we arrived in 6.30: 33. In other words, it happened exactly As planned! We took care of our mounts on the first part and kept some for the KV. We even ran down the 6kms after the finish! I had a lot of fun running with Jeff. We get along very well. well and we can progress. We can’t wait for the next race together “ Note, the duo Team ENVOL LES PREZ was forced to DNF in the KV because of a contracture in the calf of Mathieu PAGANINI.
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Benjamin PEIGNE, de la Team Envol Bretagne, nous fait un résumé du Swimrunman de Laffrey. Il nous explique sa course mais également celles des membres du Team Envol
