The day the Défi died

For me it was in 2019, the day before the Défi actually happened. On the Friday before the Défi we received an e-mail message from the organizer telling us that due to a shortage of volunteers to man the stations, there would be only one water station in the course instead of the usual four.

For me, at least, this was the death knell for the Défi. I'm a slow skater who needs all the help he can get; one water station in the whole 128 Km course just doesn't cut it. When I registered for the event I was counting on the four water stations at the end of each phase that we always got in the past. And with less than a day to prepare for the lack of support on the course, my chances of finishing the Défi were doomed. 

I don't want to slam the organizers too hard on this, but if that is the level of support I'm going to get, then I'll prefer to do the event by myself on the day of my choosing and starting from my house (I live near Km 115 of the race course) and finishing at my house as well.

Anyway, I still tried to be optimistic and decided that I would at least start the race. Who knows? Maybe this year things would go my way and I would have a good experience after all.

I had not done the Défi last year and I was eager to try it again, even if I were not going to finish it. I left home on Saturday morning before 6 am with plenty of time, so even if the metro took a long time to arrive I would still be on time.

Well, the metro took ten minutes to get to the Pie IX station. I was still ok, still plenty of time to get to Verdun before seven am, the official starting time. But while I was in the metro my memory started playing games with me. I knew I had to go to the Verdun Auditorium, so that should be near the Verdun station, right? Why was my mind trying to convince me it was the De l'Église station? Funny...

So I got out of the metro at the Verdun station and started walking, but nothing seemed familiar. I walked for three or four minutes before I realized I was in the wrong neighbourhood. I ran back to the metro station (well, as much as it is possible to run carrying a large, heavy bag containing all my skating equipment) to go to the De l'Église. And the train took another ten minutes to arrive, so all my buffer time was gone, I would arrive late at the start line. Damn my bad memory!

When I saw the Verdun Auditorium I almost wept. What a sad façade it is presenting now. They are doing renovations on the building, so in some future year it will probably regain its old glory, but today it looks really bad, a ghost of its glorious past.

Because of all the construction around the auditorium, the regular starting place was gone, so I circled around the building looking for the organizers. It was 7h05, so I imagined that the skaters had already gone off, but the organizers should still be there, I thought.

I did the entire perimeter of the building looking for anyone, but there was no one in sight. I considered putting on my skates and doing at least a few kilometers in memory of the good old times, but ended up deciding against it. It felt to me that the Universe was telling me that this was not meant to happen, so I let go.

Over the years I have had a recurring dream where I'm at the beginning of the Défi, getting ready to start and then I find out that I forgot to bring my skates and have to run back home to get them. I always wake up relieved when I see that it was just a dream. But what happened today was a little bit like those nightmares. I did not expect my relationship with the Défi to end like this, with a DNS because I couldn't even find the organizers.

I went back home, logged in to Facebook and saw the video of the skaters beginning this year's Défi where they say that they started a bit late, at 7h05! So when I was looking for them, they were all still there. But because of the construction they had to move the starting point further down the path, close to the river, and I did not see them at all. What a shame!

So, now this is final: from now on I'll do the Défi on my own, using my CamelBak to carry the water and supplies; I'll choose a day when the weather and other conditions are more appropriate for me; and I'll start and finish from my house, which will save me some of the hassle.

If some day in the future the Défi returns to its former glory, with dozens of participants, tons of volunteers, four support spots and all the rest, I may consider re-joining. But until then, I'll prefer to do it on my own.

I want to wish the organizers and future participants of the Défi all the luck in the world, I feel no ill toward anyone. I just don't want to be part of such a bare-bones event. Skating 128 Km is already hard enough, I don't need the extra struggle.

Good luck, good skating and be happy!