SaintExpress

SaintExpress

SaintExpress is the second half of the SaintéLyon. It starts in Sainte-Catherine, the village where the main race has its second aid station at km 32, and follows the same line to Lyon. The organiser calls the format a “maratrail”, with a more grassroots start and a kinder profile than the long race. It has run since 2010 and draws around 4,000 runners.

Aid is at km 12 in Le Camp (drinks only), km 26 in Soucieu-en-Jarrest and km 33 in Chaponost. The course closes at 16:00. Climbing and the GPX track are not yet published. The distance suits runners who have done a trail marathon and want a taste of the SaintéLyon night without the whole line; the organiser notes that several top runners came up this way.

Le Camp to Soucieu-en-Jarrest is fourteen kilometres in the dark. With the runner’s Livebib link, whoever is waiting in Lyon sees where she is on the line, how far she has come and an estimated finish. If the phone loses signal, the position is carried forward along the course and marked as estimated rather than freezing. The link opens in an ordinary browser, no account.