After weeks of intense preparation for the organizers and passionate training for the participants, the long-awaited first edition of “La Patrouille des Cèdres” took place on Saturday, March 8, in the pictorial Kfardebian Mountains.
The competition witnessed a jovial interaction between participants, which only confirmed the race’s ultimate objective to promote peace and friendship through sports and nature in the Land of the Cedars.
It was also a thrilling occasion for foreign contestants – French, Italian, Swiss and Kazakhs – to delight in Lebanon’s intricate nature, particularly its mountains which had unveiled all their marvels on that sunny and warm day.
The PDC’s start and finish line was located at an altitude of 1700 meters in Faqra Kfardebian. Participants, in teams of two, raced off at 9:10 am and began skinning up towards the first summit.
After a 16-kilometer glide across the mountains and a breathtaking ascent to the Mzaar peak, at 2460 meters above sea level – an itinerary carefully organised with Lebanese Adventure –, the first patrols started showing up just before 11:00 am, to plant a Cedrus Libani tree before hitting the final leg of the race to the finish line.
Once all 61 teams, both civilian and military – among which many participants from the Lebanese Army –, had reached the finish line, around 3:00 pm, the results were announced: the winners of the overall categories were Emanuelle Gianelli and Simone Gamba from Team Italy 1, and of the Lebanese military category, Rodolphe Akel and Hassan Al Mismar. As for the civilian category, it was marked by the performances of Christian Francis and Marco Cadorin, of Lebanon and Italy respectively.
The two winning Lebanese teams, one from each category, won a trip to Switzerland which will give them the opportunity to take part in the famous “Patrouille des Glaciers” that has been organized by the Swiss Army in the Alps for the past sixty-four years, and which is known as the most difficult and extreme backcountry ski race in the world.
This event was yet another opportunity for Bank Audi to bring a genuine testimony that Lebanon will always be the scene of goodwill events, and that its Cedars will forever hold a message of peace and hope for mankind.
All details on “La Patrouille des Cèdres” are available at www.audipdc.com
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