Grand Raid

The Grand Raid de la Réunion, also called La diagonale des fous (The Bishops'/Madmen's Diagonal) is a mountain ultramarathon race. The race takes place annually in October on Réunion island, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean, situated between Madagascar and Mauritius. The 166 km route with 10,000 m of elevation gain is reputed to be highly challenging, brutally difficult and one of the hardest footraces in the world.

Category of course
Three races are held at the same time:
 * the Grand-Raid or Diagonale des Fous — 162 km with 9643 m of altitude gain
 * the Semi-Raid or Trail of Bourbon — 93 km with 4920 m of gain
 * Mascareignes Raid — 61 km with 3036 m of gain

Dates of races in 2017

 * 25th edition of the Diagonale des fous: 19 to 22 October
 * 18th edition of the Trail de Bourbon: October
 * 7th edition of the Mascareignes: October

Death
This race has recorded three deaths since its inception. The 2002 edition was marked by the death of Gérard Bordage in the descent of the Kerveguen hillside and that of the Dutchman Guus Smit in the rampart of the Roche Écrite; while that of 2012 sees the death of Thierry Delaprez after a fall in a ravine at the Col de Fourche.

Related books

 * "Grand Raid Reunion Island", a 68 pages comic book edited by UltraBD