REUNION PREPARES FOR 3RDPANDATHLON
(Posted 30th August 2014)
Three Ponds will be hosting the 3rd annual Pandathlon in Reunion on the 14th of September. Launched in 2012 is the event a focal point for eco sport lovers, organized by the Regional Council of Reunion in conjunction with the World Wide Fund for Nature, in short WWF.
Depending on fitness levels are four power walk competitions available for participants to sign up to, from a modest 4 kilometres over the intermediate distances of 11 kilometres, 16 kilometres and then the champions distance of 27 kilometres. Participation is limited to 200, 800, 600 and 400 respectively in the four races. Elevation differences for the four categories also vary widely with the shortest distance only requiring 180 metres – hardly worth mentioning but then rising sharply to 910, 1.080 and finally 1.500 metres respectively, requiring well trained participants for that race to avoid exhaustion or worse.
Reunion is well known amongst her aficionados for excellent adventure holidays, hiking across hundreds of kilometres of marked trails into the rugged interior of the island and the Pandathlon idea was born by recognizing that there is strong demand for such sporting events both locally as well as internationally. While the organizers stress that it is not a competition, the participants will very likely see that in a different light as there are always records to be broken and personal best times to be accomplished.
Two journalists were invited at the initiative of the IRT, to cover the event. A reporter from the French website www.Planet.fr (6,000,000 visitors per month) will be on site to cover the event.
A comprehensive slideshow dedicated to the race, will be published online at the end of September. The online magazine Focus Online (788,674 visitors per day) will also cover the race for the German market, where interest in such sporting events is said to be growing in leaps and bounds.
Local Athletes Elvina Vidot and Raymond Tangatchy are the patrons of the 2014 edition of the Pandathlon. On this occasion, they will also be appointed honorary ambassadors by the IRT at the site of the event.
For additional information on Destination Reunion, a founder member of the Indian Ocean Vanilla Island Organization, click on www.reunion.fr
