The arrival at the arenas… with fewer steps. The participants will have had some before! Midi Libre – MA
Xavier Douais, Nicolas Rainville et Benoît Goiset. Midi Libre – AD. B.
The presentation of the anniversary edition of the Nîmes urban trail took place this Thursday morning at the town hall. And we know a little more about the 42, 16, 10 km run and hike courses for February 16.
Let's start with some dizzying figures, delivered this Thursday at a press conference. For its 12th edition, the Nîmes urban trail will have a record number of participants: 12,000. From 42 nationalities, 92 French departments. “And 25% from Nîmes, specifies the deputy for tourism in the city of Nîmes. It's the perfect balance. The people of Nîmes will serve as guides for people coming from outside.”
Avoiding traffic jams
According to Benoît Goiset, associate director of the company Yeswerun, organizer of the event, this total places the Nîmes urban trail on the highest step of the podiums of urban trails, equal in participants with Rennes and ahead of Lyon, the historic urban trail: “There could have been more of us! We opened registrations in October and we were full in three weeks. But we had to limit.” To ensure that the Nut does not become such a crowded race that people end up trampling on it at certain points, the race management has even made it a point of honour to keep things smoother, with well-staggered starts: “We've had traffic jams in the past, we can't afford that anymore.”
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000“We're a long way from the 1,500 participants of ten years ago!,jokes sports assistant Nicolas Rainville. In ten years, the Nut has not aged a day and has improved over time.”
To get back to the numbers, then, the Nut is hitting hard for its tenth edition. No fewer than 39 emblematic sites will be crossed, a “best of previous editions”. Including eight new ones: the Franciscaines, the Jean-Bouin stadium, the Vacquerolles golf course, the Carémeau University Hospital, the Montaury IME, the Margeret Chouleur hotel, the Le Prolé bar and the vineyard plots of the Jardins de la Fontaine.
Unsurprisingly, it is the participants of the new distance, the 42 kilometers, who will be the most spoiled. With a foray into the west of Nîmes, among the golfers, the major projects of the hospital center (“it's going to be tough”, said the director of the CHU), or a passage in Valdegour. We are also quite impatient to see the return to the second REI (for the 16, 24 and 42 km), since the participants will have to do, in passing, a small obstacle course.
For all, the remodeled finale is very promising: descent of the Jardins de la Fontaine, Impérator, Carré d'art, passage in the brasserie du Napoléon, Coupole, Chouleur hotel, Levrette café, Lycée Daudet, Musée de la Romanité, Tourist Office and arenas, where the runners will be exempted from the multiple climbs and descents in the ancient aisles. “There will have been so many steps before that we will make a more classic arrival at the arenas”, smiles Benoît Goiset. Phew! It will then be time for the participants to go and freshen up in the village of Nut or in the surrounding establishments. The economic benefits of the event are estimated at “at least” 700,000 euros over the weekend.
And also: champions, solidarity, health
Headliners are expected at the event: Alsatian Sébastien Spehler, a world reference in the field of urban trails, winner of the Nut 2023 in 22 km, will be at the start of the 42 this year. He will meet Emmanuel Gault from Uzétien, recent winner of the 82 km of the Veni Vici.
Like last year Lastly, as part of a three-year support cycle, the Nut will entrust part of the proceeds to the Nîmes association Cigalières, which manages around twenty establishments in the Gard for the benefit of children and adults with disabilities, intellectual disabilities or developmental disorders.
A privileged partner of the event, the Carémeau University Hospital Center was represented this Thursday by its new director Frédéric Rimattei. The latter, who will personally participate in the 16 km, and who notes with joy that the number of runners increases from year to year, took the opportunity to deliver a public health message: “Physical activity is essential to stay healthy throughout life.”