Fancy racing along a slag heap? Welcome to Raismes
Every year for the last three decades, running fanatics from all over France have met up in Raismes, a commune within the Regional National Park, on the last weekend of September.
They come in groups, alone, with friends or as a family to take part in an extraordinary event: the Slag Heap Race. Expert or novice, young or old, the 5000 annual runners can choose the event which suits them best: ‘P’tits Quinquins’ (for the youngest: 0.7 and 1.2 km), ‘Familiale’ (3 km), ‘Furtive’ (8 km, 2 slag heaps), ‘Authentique’ (14 km, 3 slag heaps), ‘Sauvage’ (23 km, 4 slag heaps) or ‘Contrebandière’ (a 65 km race!). The latter was newly introduced in 2012, it having taken the organisers four years to draw up the route, less than 3% of which takes in motor traffic roads, forest, the rest being made up of six slag heaps and a cross-border incursion along the customs roads, where our “ancestors” once brought across tobacco and coffee.
Every year, a whole team of volunteers take charge of route marking, crèche facilities, a bag drop-off point, registration, results, a winners’ podium, t-shirts, communications, a medical station, a flea market, photos, brass bands, a refreshment stall, couscous at the finishing line, and more, in partnership with Raismes town hall, Porte du Hainaut Agglomeration Community and the Nord-Pas de Calais regional authority. The Regional Nature Park joint association has supported this event since its foundation. The overall aim of the organisers is to:
provide a high quality event for sports enthusiasts
bring together keen competitors and occasional runners
promote the health benefits of sport
respect our forest and slag heaps through a sustainable development approach
uphold and share the memory of the mining basin
Not to be missed!
Every five years, night-time races are also organised. They take place on a Saturday evening after dark. September 2013 will witness the next of these nocturnal ‘Course des Allumés’ events.
