520km in ten days: the challenge of Francis Cutaia, the marathon runner from Saint-Raphaël

The Australian Ultra Marathon, the world's longest event of its kind, will challenge participants to run 520 kilometers in ten days. All this while self-sufficiently feeding themselves through the desert! A somewhat crazy challenge that will take place from May 14 to 23, between Alice Springs and Uluru, the world's largest monolith (348 meters), the famous red rock emblematic of the Australian continent. Twenty-five adventure enthusiasts, including one French woman and five French men, are expected.

Among them, Francis Cutaia, 53, from Raphaël, a former soldier in the 21st RIMa, who is far from being a "rookie" in extreme races: "For my 50th birthday, I did the Marathon des Sables in Morocco and, last year, the ultra marathon in Namibia where you had to cover 520km in 10 days under 55° during the day and only 9° at night. These are powerful experiences, especially with the other competitors, because we share a lot of things, we help each other morally during the race as well as in the evening at the bivouac." The bivouac, precisely, is an essential rest time every evening after about fifty kilometers under the blazing sun. Stages dotted with checkpoints where the doctor checks if the competitor can continue the stage.

"Avoid dehydration"

It's also an opportunity to stock up on water, provided while everyone's dietary intake (at least 2,000 calories per day) is provided. "It's essential to take sodium chloride to avoid dehydration," adds the marathon runner from Var. "With experience, you come to understand your body, you feel when you need to stop, slow down, walk. It's 80% mental and 20% physical. The first fear is, of course, injury. With the pain, waking up in the morning is generally difficult. During the race, for example, I like to listen to the silence even if I have a playlist with me."

A career soldier, Francis has been preparing seriously for this new challenge. "I just spent four months in Isola 2000 where I did 750km of running, snowshoeing, hiking, swimming and skiing ," he adds. "During my military career, I did a lot of walking and running. I went on missions abroad. You discover the meaning of life during these conflicts, you get out of your comfort zone."

His dream: an ultramarathon on each of the five continents

A comfort zone he'll be leaving for 10 days with other projects already in mind: "I'd like to do an ultramarathon on each of the five continents. Starting with Mongolia in 2026. In the meantime, I've planned to climb Mont Rose (4,635 meters) in the Mont Blanc massif in 48 hours in September 2025," concludes the Varois, supported by the Tégo association. "My saying? The difference between a dream and reality is a date. And to surpass yourself is to win. And you don't need to do 520 km to realize that."

Contact: [email protected]. Follow the journey on Canal Aventure's Instagram and Facebook pages.