Raid International Gaspésie
Spotlight on locals for the Raid international Gaspésie's last hurrah!
Press Release / 09.09.2019
Carleton-sur-Mer, September 9, 2019. – From September 12th to September 15th, the Société de développement et de mise en valeur de Carleton-sur-Mer (SDMC) and Endurance Aventure invite you to take the pulse of the Raid international Gaspésie (RIG)! For a sixth and final year, the natural playground setting of the Gaspésie region shall serve as a backdrop for a spectacular sports event that will bring national and international athletes who are true thrill seekers together.
An exhilarating course between mountains and rivers
As in previous years, adventure racers will cross both the start and finish line in the host town, Carleton-sur-Mer, where peripheral activities will also be presented. This year, the course will take athletes back to a territory they have seen before, one that is far from having been fully explored, namely the Matapédia-and-les-Plateaux sector. This vast playground between mountains and rivers will also lead participants to the Miguasha National Park, a unique piece of natural heritage that boasts a fossil-rich cliff inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Strong connections between local communities
This year, the team is proud to announce a new partnership with the Micmac community of Listuguj, who quickly accepted to join the adventure. “We are very happy to collaborate for this event and provide our community with the opportunity to discover it,” affirmed Mr. Darcy Gray, community chief. Nouvelle, Pointe-à-la-Croix, and Matapédia are also event collaborators. “My colleagues from various municipalities have always shown great enthusiasm for the organization of the RIG. This undoubtedly contributes to the strength of our team and our notoriety,” expressed Mathieu Lapointe, mayor of Carleton-sur-Mer.
Spotlight on local businesses and inhabitants
Over the years, our region’s inhabitants and businesses have made this event their own and contributed to its success. For this reason, the RIG organization hopes to highlight this collaboration using a variety of means. To begin, there will be entertainment in certain areas around the start and finish line as well as along the course. Drinks and finger food from local businesses will be served. More of these public gathering spaces will be set up, inviting the local population to come out and encourage athletes and admire their feats throughout the event. What’s more, no less than ten checkpoints have been added to the course for each day. Rare and unforgettable discoveries await raiders at these checkpoints!
A well-established international popularity
The RIG continues to attract athletes from all over the world. This year, 150 athletes from Guadeloupe, Belgium, France, the United States, Denmark, Brazil, and Canada will tackle a course that was meticulously designed by the Endurance Aventure team, with just a touch of craziness.
Canadian teams are ever-present, including former Olympian, Lyne Besssette’s team (100aB7). Lyne is a loyal competitor who is returning for a sixth consecutive year. Competition will be fierce in the 300 km women’s category, where five teams will battle it out. After their impressive performances in previous years, all eyes will be on Gaspésie natives Marianne Desrosiers and Audrey Bastien, pioneers in this category. It seems that Gaspesians have caught the thrill-seeking fever, since 38 teams from the region will take part in the adventure this year, representing approximately 50% of the total number of registrations.
The heritage of the Desjardins Youth Prologue
From the very first edition of the RIG in 2014, the Desjardins Youth Prologue, which focuses on the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits and surpassing oneself, has made it possible for hundreds of young teenagers to take part in a unique experience. Again this year, teams of young people will be paired with a RIG athlete to complete the almost 20 km course involving different sports disciplines. The prologue’s legacy is tangible within the community. Alexis Bernier (Les bien RIGués team) participated in all the youth prologues. This year, he will cross the finish line of the 150 km event with his teammate, Félix Boudreau, a high school teacher. It will also be interesting to watch the performance of Les Charlots-Cartier Énergie Éolienne (Antoine Moses and Raphaël Arsenault) and Pharmacie Brunet Marie Dunn (Charles-Émile Leblanc and Alexandra Audet), two teams made up of past youth prologue participants!
The RIG will kick off at 1:00 p.m. on September 12th, with the start of the Desjardins Youth Prologue at Carleton-sur-Mer’s Antoine-Bernard school.
(And, of course, SleepMonsters will have Pyro there with live reports and photos from the course!)
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