After almost a month spent on the trails of Brittany and Loire Atlantique, Jérémy Desdouets succeeded in his challenge to finish the GR 34 in record time. A film retraces his adventure.
If the GR 20 in Corsica is part of a list some of the most popular hiking trails in France and in the world, other GR are less famous, but are still pieces of bravery when it comes to walking them from start to finish. It is notably the case of the GR 34 in the west of France, whose route follows the contours of the whole Breton coast. Between Mont Saint-Michel and Saint-Nazaire, the program is rather gargantuan with 2,104 km and 28,000 meters of positive altitude difference.
It was on this Sentier des douaniers that Jérémy Desdouets set off last June (the film below "Pérégrinations Bretonnes" retraces his adventure). The French trailer had in mind a new record on this route not always known for attracting the best French runners. It was enough to set a new benchmark once and for all, one that others should be quick to try and beat. In the meantime, Jérémy Desdouets completed his journey with a time of 27 days, 11 hours and 35 minutes.
The native of Hennebont in Morbihan knew the route perfectly. It must be said that Jérémy Desdouets has a solid track record on the trails of western France and elsewhere: 2nd in the Ultra-Marin (87km), 4th in the Challenge Ouest Trail Tour 2018, 4th in the Challenge Golden Trail Series France-Belgium, 31st in the TDS 2014 (UTMB), selection in the Brittany trail team in 2019 and in the Team Ouest Trail Tour for the Diagonale des fous 2019.
"I think the start was a great moment," explained the traileur to Trail-Endurance after his feat, recalling the best moments. "I was overcome with emotion when I crossed the line at the foot of Mont-Saint-Michel. A project like this involves a huge amount of physical and logistical preparation, with many people involved. Crossing the starting line was the culmination of all that, knowing that the hardest part was still to come!"
As for the most complicated moments, Jérémy Desdouets admits to having experienced them at the start of the adventure: "The worst, I'd say, was between day three and day six. With all the feedback from athletes who have done this kind of challenge, I was expecting to have this complicated moment after several days. Muscularly, I was doing really well, but articularly it was more complicated, particularly in the ankles and lifters. The technical nature of the first third of the course is very pronounced and I suffered as a result. Fortunately, I have a whole team of physiotherapists who rallied around the project. They provided the necessary care".
