Gear Ed Ryan went on an adventure to Mauritius this past weekend to run The Ferney Trail Race.

Love trail running? We found a spectacular trail race this weekend, The Ferney Trail in Mauritius, which includes endless reams of pristine trail, a mini jungle, fields of lush green sugarcane, 10-metre high waterfalls and more. And the best part? Once everyone has crossed the line, all of the profits made from the race are donated to charity. Now that is a race worth running!

You’ll need to pay a visit to Mauritius in order to race, another tropically delicious reason to put your name to this event, and can choose between 10km, 20km or 50km. There is something for everyone (even 4km’s of fun for the children).

Smiles for Miles

The CIEL Ferney Trail takes place in an area of Mauritius which is protected for its biodiversity. The powerful colours of the lively piece of nature produces a welcome assault on the senses from the moment you enter the start finish area – an impressive old sugar mill, till the last 50km ultra competitor crosses the line. In total, a field of 3,500 runners take part – meaning this could be the most popular race in the world when it comes to competitors-relative-to-population.

There are 1.3 million people in Mauritius so that’s a healthy participation rate (over 3000 are Mauritian) and the festival spirit and unabated smiles are a great advertisement for the Island.

I took some new gear (video reviews up later this week) I’d been waiting to test in the field and happily immersed myself deep into the heart of this landscape dominated by imperious gigantic trees of many genres and various endemic wildlife (including bats with over 1m wingspan). The little DJI Spark drone performed like a champion, while the battery was lively that is, it only runs up to 16 minutes. I also took a solar panel phone charger, which made me feel like I could just adventure for days in and out of the canopy of 7m high palms and other sub-tropical flora that looked like it could be hiding some stealthy dinosaurs or a lost tribe of pygmies.

I kept moving, concentrating on the undergrowth to avoid any sneaky mud pools or snaky root systems crossing the path. What felt like way too soon, I emerged back in the sugar cane fields and joined the party at the finish line. The festivity levels were as energised as I’ve ever experienced. A real gem of a discovery this Ferney Trail race, now in it’s 10th year, and I’ll definitely be back for the 11th.

PS. There is a lot to Mauritius outside of the resorts, Ferney is the perfect example.

– Those giant bats… they’re fruit bats, not those dastardly vampire variety.

– Did I mention the free coconut ice-cream at the finish? #bottomless

For more information, visit https://www.ferneytrail.com.

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