Torn dera Val d'Aran - VDA
A challenge of 163 kms around the Val d'aran
Race Category
Running Stones
Finals Access
The tour of the Val d'Aran
A unique experience. The VDA, the Tour of the Val d'Aran, is much more than a race. It's 163 kilometres of demanding terrain, all of it in pure beauty.
It is to cross wild valleys, abandoned mines and cirques of lakes.
An adventure only for the brave, which allows you to contemplate panoramic views of the most important mountain range in the Pyrenees, to immerse yourself in the Aranese culture, to travel from the past to the present of a valley that leaves no one indifferent.
The VDA, with its 10,000 metres of positive height gain, starting and finishing in Vielha, is to discover one of the great spectacles of the Pyrenees: Torn dera Val d'Aran, the tour of the Val d'Aran.
At the race-pack collection, each participant receives three 30-liter bags. After filling them with the items of their choice and closing them, they can drop them in a place close to the starting line. One of the bags is taken by the organization to Bossòst, another one to Salardú, and the other one to Arties. Upon arriving in those aid stations, runners will be able to collect the bag. When the runner leaves the aid station, the runner in person will have to deposit the bag in the area indicated for this purpose. The organization will return the bags to Vielha.
How to get your bags in Vielha: The bags are returned to either the runner or a family member or friend, only upon presentation of the race-bib. The bags must be retrieved no later than 2 hours after the end of the race. After that time, the runner must come, in person, to retrieve their bag at the organization headquarters in Vielha.
The organization will take to Vielha the bags of runners who drop out, on condition that their withdrawal is registered. Because of logistical factors, the organization cannot guarantee that all bags are brought to Vielha before the end of the race.
Only bags supplied by the organization will be transported. Poles are not allowed in these bags. As the items in the bags are neither checked nor controlled, we will accept no claims on that matter. We recommend not to put any valuable items in the bags. We advise you to keep toiletries and spare clothes in Vielha.
For logistics reasons, UTMB® World series events only accept the UTMB® World series spare bags that are distributed during the check-In. Those bags are reusable, so we ask the runners who already have received one of those bags to reuse it each time they take part in a UTMB® World Series event.
Pacers are not allowed to set the pace in the race.
Assistance is only allowed at the following check points:
- Aid station: Bossòst
- Aid station: Salardú
- Aid station: Arties
Assistance is forbidden at the other aid stations, as well as at any other point along the route.
This assistance can only be given by a single person, without any specific material other than a bag with a maximum volume of 30 liters.
Assistance provided by a team of professionals, or any doctor or paramedic, is strictly forbidden.
