Reunion Island has some of the best trail running in the world. Our online ed, Rae Trew-Browne, was recently there to explore as much of the island as he could, including running on one of the most active volcanos in the world. 

 

 

When I think about a volcano the first thing that comes to mind is that old movie called, Dante’s Peak, you know, the one where everyone is having a great time kicking back and enjoying life. Next thing the ‘dormant’ volcano erupts with such velocity everyone is left scrambling for their lives as massive fields of lava flow down from the peak, destroying everything in its path. Pierce Brosnan does what he can to save the day but there is only so much you can do when a volcano decides to show who’s boss.

 

Not an image you would like in your mind after hearing that you will be running on Piton de la Fournaise the following morning, Reunion Island’s active volcano, which also happens to have been erupting over the last few weeks before our arrival and is one of the top three most active volcanos in the world.

I was slightly nervous, to say the least, but after being assured by a local friend that the volcano is safe we set about preparing our kit. This was to be our second run on the island after running / fastpacking to the highest peak on the island, the Piton des Neiges, which tops out at 3070m above sea level.

Check it out HERE.

We started running just before the final descent into the outer crater of the volcano. At the lookout point, there is a trail that heads off to the left that traverses along the ridge before taking a twisty and steep descent into the outer crater. Running along the ridge the vegetation is still mildly green with a mix of black and red sand that makes you feel like you are running on another planet, instead of a different country.

The views from on top of the ridge were beautiful and bizarre at the same time. The outer crater sits prominently inside a circular cliff face that creates a bowl around the main crater. Once you dip down from the ridge line into the crater there is hardly any vegetation, just sand, rocks and dried lava fields. The rocks are different to anything I have experienced before, they are incredibly light and porous making it quite tricky to run on.

If I ever go to the moon I would imagine it would be like the terrain inside the crater, even though the soil is rich from the volcano there is little water so not much grows. As the gradients aren’t as severe as our first run we were able to set a solid tempo. The island offers such a variety of terrain, you can run on a different landscape just about every day of the week. The thick indigenous forests in the north and the dry, rugged moon landscape in the south.

As there is hardly any shelter inside the crater it can get incredibly hot, thankfully as we made our way down into the outer crater a thick cloud bank rolled in which cooled things down nicely. The path from the ridge above the outer crater to the ridge above the main crater is one of the straightest trails I have ever run on. 7km of dead straight single track through the outer crater played some serious mind games with me, as far as you could see the trail stretched out in front of us, making us wonder if we would ever get to the end.

 

Thankfully after a short climb we got to the top of the ridge above the main crater (which had been erupting a few days before). Unfortunately, we had just missed it and after waiting in anticipation for a few moments, wondering if we would see some deadly lava bursting through the earth we decided to traverse along the ridge above the main crater.

 

The route out above the main crater from the parking lot is a tough little out and back route and much to our surprise it was covered with thick indigenous forests. Since the soil is so rich from the volcanic eruptions and the fact that the one side of the ridge occasionally gets some rainfall, there is a lush patch of soft ground and tall green trees. An oasis in a landscape that is otherwise dry and dusty. With the thick cloud bank rolling in fast we once again found ourselves running through a forest in thick mist, as we had on the first run.

After enjoying the view from the lookout at the end of the ridge we turned back and made our way to the carpark where our transport was waiting for us. Since this route is a point-to-point run it does get a bit complicated with vehicle transfers. If a transfer is not possible, an out and back route from the main car park is the best option. There is also a circular route around the actual volcano which was unfortunately closed to us because of the recent volcanic activity, so if you are lucky enough to be there when it is open you can actually get right up and close to the crater.

For us, though, it was now time for some R&R before our run from Piton Maido down to the coast.

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