Raid Caneo Nature is the longest adventure race to be held in France and starts in Paris on Monday. The race is the brainchild of Gerard Fusil, who is regarded as the father of adventure racing. Gerard Fusil was the founder of the Raid Gaulloise and Elf Authentique Adventure, both expedition type adventure races and also organisers the annual Reunion D’ Aventure and Oman Adventure adventure race.
Teams competing in the Raid Caneo Nature adventure race will be gathering on the outskirts of Versailles this weekend, in order to carry out gear checks and receive a final briefing. Three non French teams, one each from Spain, UK and Belgium wiil be competing against the local teams which include Wisa Helly Hensan lead by Karine Baillet a distinguished French racer who has in the past won both the Reunion D Aventure and the Oman Adventure and is currently viaing for the lead in the adventure racing world cup.
The question is which where will her competition come from, perhaps from Helly Hansen UK whose team includes Ski Sharp who gave Karine a run for her money in the 1st Oman Adventure bike and run.
The race is for teams of 4 persons one of whom must be female, supported by a logistics team of one or two persons. All teams members need to have knowledge of sea Kayaking, canyoning, caving and orienteering and two bust be able ride and look after horses.
The race will start with a ride and run stage, with the riders being joined with two runners. The first stage can be quite crucial to the outcome, and can sometimes be a bit of lottery when animals are part of the equation. Minimum times have been set up in the ride and run legs, together with compulsory stops and inspection of horses.
All teams have been sent a route book and are at present mapping out the route to take them to Marseilles where the race is planned to end on 7th August. The Raid Caneo Nature has a number of stages with rest camps to allow teams to regroup, but on the stages teams will be racing non stop 24 hrs a day.
