The 7th edition of the Ard Trail takes place this Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March 2022 in the Loiret in Ardon. A nature race in Sologne that brings sports lovers together in a good mood with distances from 1.5km to 50km.
Running for all
The event is organized by the Ardon festival committee with the aim of energizing the town. For this 2022 edition, President Gwenaëlle Raigneau hopes to see people back in Ardon. Last year, the race was canceled due to the health crisis. The queen distance will be 50 kilometers but there will also be a 34km, a 21km, a 12km and a 5km timed. The courses will not offer a lot of elevation but several specificities explains Gwenaëlle Raigneau. “There is about 100m of maximum elevation on each race so the runners do not come for that. But they will find large forest paths, single tracks and even off-track on some routes. There are passages on private property.“Between 6 and 10 owners open their land especially for the races.
Event association law 1901 who has no desire to make a profit, simply to move the municipality. 1 euro from each bib will be donated to the Le Rire Médecin association.
Visiting a military camp
What makes the strength of the event is the mud since each year, the weather is capricious and the runners often end up with dirty business. This year, there will also be a highly anticipated passage, says Gwenaëlle Raigneau. “We are lucky to have an authorization to go through a military camp. So there will be passages in sandpits, it’s quite unique for once.“
– Ard Trail
Trail spirit
To ensure the proper organization of the weekend, more than 100 volunteers will participate to welcome, encourage and direct the hundreds of runners. “The trail spirit” should be there for the Ard Trail confirms the president of the Ardon festival committee. “People don’t come to break a record but more to have fun and have fun with family or friends. Everyone takes the time to capture the moment with photos, for example when they are in the mud or in the middle of the lake..” Because in the last kilometers, a passage of water will present itself to the participants. They will have the choice to get wet or to circumvent according to the desire.
The sports weekend will start on Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. with a 12km night race without classification in the middle of the woods on the military camp. On Sunday, the other races will punctuate the day with the start of the 50km at 8 a.m.. It is also the longest distance in the department. The last runners are expected on the finish line for 3 p.m. in a good mood and sharing. There will also be Nordic walking and children’s races.
More than 500 runners have already registered for the distances but bibs are still available until Friday noon.