How This Started…

May, 2010
Next year I celebrate half a century of existence on planet earth…the big 5-0.  I don’t feel like an old fart and really can’t complain that physical ailments have slowed me down tremendously…but the fear of that day of reckoning when I am no longer able to enjoy rigorous undertakings compels me to contemplate one last hurrah.

For some time I had been mulling a conquest of Kilimanjaro.  The highest peak in Africa at 19,000 feet (and the highest free standing mountain in the world), scaling this gem is a magical journey.  Researching the endeavor taught me this climb is a slow and steady ascent that despite the rigors shouldn’t be crossed off my list for a few years yet.  Regardless, Kilimanjaro would remain at the top of the list until fate stepped in.

There is an island off the coast of Madagascar which has intrigued me for years.  Reunion is a volcanic island reminiscent of the Big Island of Hawaii and the home of Piton de la Fournaise, one of the world’s most active volcanoes - one which you can hike right up to!  Reunion is in fact a hiker’s paradise, featuring miles of splendid trails, a wonderful culture (uninhabited until the seventeenth century, there is a melting pot of African, Indian, Chinese and French today) and enticing food (curry calamari, anyone?).

Alas, my first serious attempt to visit Reunion in 2006 coincided with a horrible mosquito borne virus plaguing the island. Chikungunya is not fatal, but infected over one third of the population (800,000) and ground the tourist trade to zilch.  So Reunion was dismissed for four years until I attempted to visit to the Yemeni island of Socotra.  When tensions between the US and Yemen jeopardized this trip, my buddy Mark prompted me to reconsider Reunion as a better alternative.  Thus I was motivated to buy a Lonely Planet guide on the island in December of 2009.

The Socotra venture was brilliantly diverted to Oman and it wasn’t until after that expedition that I actually got around to reading my Lonely Planet guide.  The temptations of Reunion resurfaced and within the guidebook pages I stumbled upon an event that struck me as a brilliant way to celebrate approaching decrepitude.  Le Grand Raid is an ultra-marathon event that challenges you to race across the entire island – roughly a ninety mile course!  Did I mention that the up and down elevation change is 9,200 meters?  I think I can tackle Kilimanjaro sometime within the next decade, but the gauntlet of Le Grand Raid would humble me today.

Here’s the challenge to celebrate turning fifty.  I have about sixteen months to train for an incredible journey.  Is this even a possibility?  I do not pose the question lightly because I am a Type I diabetic and Le Grand Raid is one of the world’s most demanding ultra-marathons.  The window of opportunity is closing quickly, so Le Grand Raid it is.