Elise Poncet: athlete, race director
We all know the French athlete as a World Championship silver medallist, but her involvement with the sport does not end there.
When La Montée du Nid d'Aigle, Poncet's local race, made its first appearance on the World Cup last year it did so under her leadership.
“I work at the town hall of Saint-Gervais and one of my missions was to organize the race last year,“ says Elise. “In France, the mountain running culture is being lost with the emergence of trail running, but the Montée du Nid d'Aigle is one of the rare races that wants to keep this spirit and claim this discipline. This is why we wanted it to become a WMRA World Cup. A very nice reward for this historic race!”
It is not uncommon to find athletes in administrative positions in sport, but usually this is a step they take when their own competitive careers are over.
Not so with Elise Poncet; at last year's race she was 25.
“For me, it was an incredible human experience to organize it and to be able to welcome my foreign teammates that I see at the international championships every year. I am always well received at races in Italy or Switzerland, I really wanted to invite my mountain runner friends to run in my village too!”
It's a sentiment everyone can relate to; the pride and excitement of sharing your local race with friends from further afield. Even better when your friends include World and European champions and your local race is in the World Cup. Elise's friends came to her backyard and put on a show; fast times, intense racing.
A dream come true, though there was one downside for Elise.
“The experience was very tiring for me because I had decided to run the race. I wanted to play on the international circuit, but it was not a good idea to run and organize at the same time. I was very stressed and tired. I worked a lot before so obviously I didn't have a good race, and I got injured shortly after. I tried to do everything but it didn't work!”
It's a lesson most of us learn in our twenties.
The World Cup returns to Saint-Gervais this year and you can be sure that Elise Poncet will be there. This time though, she won't try to do everything.
“Soon I will leave my post at the Town Hall of Saint-Gervais and therefore I will no longer be the official organizer of the race. But since it's my heart race I stay a little in the organization for advice and support! And then I want to take the start in good condition this year to take my revenge compared to last year!”
Photos - Marco Gulberti, Corsa in Montagna.