Thibaut Baronian: Ultra Cape
AT THE HEART OF THE PROJECT
Ultra Cape follows Thibaut's first project on Santo Antao, in 2019, where he crossed the island (FKT of 96km and 6000D+, 15h57) and got involved in a school project. He sponsored a group of 4 schools in the Paul Valley, where he organizes trail-running trips.
Thibaut took his project further, wanting to discover the remaining islands. Combining biodiversity and education through a sports lens, his project was born in 2020, with the goal to cross all 8 islands passing through each summit while involving local NGOs and schools.
“We were not looking for an athletic exploit, we really wanted this trip to be a humane project!”
Thibaut Baronian
Trail runner
Regarding the donation to schools and beach cleaning, how did these activities contribute to making this project more satisfying than other sports projects?Using sports for other causes and being able to convey messages through sports was important to me. It is also a means of sharing our values with people from different backgrounds.
SPOTLIGHT ON CAPE VERDE
What do you hope people will learn about Cape Verde and its people by watching your film?
The atmosphere of Cape Verde must be experienced to be understood. The sympathy, kindness, and hospitality of the local population are incredible, despite the poverty and problems we do not know in Europe.
I also wanted to show the diversity of landscapes that we can find there, as well as promote responsible tourism.
Why did you choose this place and these people to work with? Why do they need help?
We chose to work with three different NGOs on three different islands, working to protect biodiversity in sensitive areas. These NGOs notably work to safeguard the turtles that lay their eggs in large numbers on Cape Verde.
The whole team is sensitive to these values of protection as well as education. We also contacted several school groups to know what they needed most, so we could be as helpful as possible. We were able to collect many sports, educational, and scientific material to bring to them!
Performance-wise, why was this project different from others? Did you have moments of fear, as if you were lost?
This is an obviously special project because, most of the time, we ran on unknown trails. I ran about 400km and 18,000d+ over 8 stages ranging from 22 to 85km, accompanied by Laurent. It took a lot of preparatory research to find trails and ensure that we could run them. Also, we sailed by boat between the islands, which was not easy in the middle of the Atlantic!
Also, we had some pretty scary moments, including several hours stuck on a cliff without finding our way. We also had no water for several hours. I have never been so thirsty in my life. Unfortunately, we have very few images of this moment because we were really in "survival" mode to find our way out!
“"The laughter and smiles were wonderful rewards, we shared beautiful moments, with NGOs but especially with the children in schools!" ”
Thibaut Baronian
Trail runners
How did people react upon learning about your crossing of the islands and the donations you made?
Everyone was extremely happy to welcome us, and all the laughter and smiles were wonderful rewards for us. We shared beautiful moments with NGOs but also with the children in schools!
Trail running is not a sport in their tradition. They were often very surprised to see us arrive from so far away!
How exhausting was it to run while combining that with beach cleanups and school visits?
Yes, the fatigue really built up as the days went by, between the walking, the boating, the beach cleanups and the school visits. We all came back from the project extremely tired (but happy!)
HELPING OUT FIRST, PERFORMANCE SECOND
Is it personally rewarding to do a project like this that reaches out to a community? And would you like to get more involved in the future?
Obviously yes, it is a very rewarding project personally and for all the team because it was not just about sports, let alone performance.
It was also a project to thank the Cape Verdean people who have always opened their arms wide to me during my travels and who give sincerely without expecting anything in return. It was a project about sharing, a value that I hold dear.
How can people contribute to support this social cause?
We are going to create a fund to continue this project with other schools in Sao Vicente (Mindelo) and continue to bring the donations (clothes, school materials, sports gear, ...) that we have had since 2021.
This represents a large volume, and the easiest solution is to send our donations by boat, and then collect them in the fall during our trail trips and distribute them in different parts of the islands of Sao Vicente and Santo Antao!
The idea is to make this project evolve thanks to you! So thank you !