The 34th Diagonale des Fous, the Grand Raid de La Reunion, starts at 10pm on 15 October from Ravine Blanche in Saint-Pierre, with a field capped at 3,000 runners. The route covers 180km with 10,200m of climbing under a 66-hour limit, and this year's course has been altered to drop the Cilaos cirque, making it the longest Diagonale in the race's history.
The men's race is led by Britain's Tom Evans, who is listed as the UTMB 2025 champion and won Western States in 2023. He has no experience of the island, and the rules ban trekking poles, a restriction that removes a tool many European mountain specialists rely on. Switzerland's Jean-Philippe Tschumi arrives with the strongest local record, having finished second in 2022 and 2024 and third in 2023, while France's Benat Marmissolle, the 2022 winner, is targeting a return after injury.
In the women's race, New Zealand's Ruth Croft, listed as the UTMB 2025 winner, makes her Diagonale debut. She faces France's Manon Bohard, the 2024 champion, and Canada's Marianne Hogan, who finished third at UTMB in 2024 but abandoned the 2025 Diagonale with an injury and is seeking redemption. Sarah Vieuille, this year's TDS winner, and Claire Bannwarth are among the other contenders.
The depth of the entry owes something to events in Chamonix. French trail media report that several leading names withdrew from UTMB 2026, among them Kilian Jornet, Jim Walmsley, Mathieu Blanchard, Evans and Croft, which has left the Diagonale arguably as strong as the race it was expected to trail. Evans, Croft and Marmissolle are all now racing in Reunion instead.
Experience on the island has historically counted for a great deal. The Diagonale's long, technical descents, its overnight start and the heat and humidity of the lowlands have repeatedly favoured specialists over visiting champions, and the removal of the Cilaos section changes the pacing calculation without making the race any easier. Whether Evans and Croft can adapt quickly enough to beat the island's regulars will be the central question of the weekend.